Meet State Rep. Maxine Bell

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Idaho State Legislature

Representative Maxine Bell (R-Jerome)

Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, co-chairs the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. She’s currently serving her 12^th term in the Idaho State Legislature’s House of Representatives, District 26. Bell was born in Logan, Utah on August 6, 1931. She’s married to H. Jack Bell. They have one son, Jeff, and three grandchildren.

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Bell graduated from the College of Southern Idaho and Idaho State University. She is a retired school librarian and farmer. In addition to her service in the legislature, Bell served as the Woman’s Chair of the Idaho Farm Bureau from 1980-1992. She’s also been chairwoman of the Idaho Commission on Women and vice chair of Jerome County Representative Women.

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January 4, 2013

Rep. Bell: Idaho’s Budget Woes And The Push To Repeal The Personal Property Tax Are A “Perfect Storm”

Rep. Maxine Bell, a retired school librarian from Jerome, was first elected to the Idaho Legislature in 1988. She’s the longtime co-chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which crafts the annual state budget. We spoke December 10. Q: It seems clear that the personal property tax is going to be one of the defining issues […]

December 7, 2012

2013 Idaho Legislature Committee Chairmanships Announced

The 2013 Idaho Legislature is ready for business. Now that the organizational session has wrapped up, and committee assignments have been made, lawmakers will launch into what’s sure to be a packed session one month from today. Here’s a list of committee assignments for the Senate. One of the panels we watch closely is the […]

December 6, 2012

Idaho’s Legislature Has More Women Than Most States

The 2013 Idaho Legislature is more than a quarter women. The Legislature has actually lost three women from the previous session. Still, the male to female split at Idaho’s Statehouse is better than the national average. The National Conference of State Legislatures’ data show women make up 24 percent of state lawmakers nationally. So, does […]

December 5, 2012

Idaho Has Older-Than-Average Legislature, Does Age Matter?

Idaho is one of the youngest states in the country. We’re third youngest, right behind Texas (#2) and Utah (#1). The median age here is 34.6, according to the most recent Census. More than 30 percent of Idaho is made up of people 19 and younger. Like most states, the people who make laws and […]

February 2, 2012

Budget Co-Chairman Says Public Hearing is Painful but Worthwhile

Idaho budget writers will spend Friday morning listening to constituents. The Idaho Statesman reports it’s just the second public hearing of its kind in 92 years. In 2011, Joint Finance Appropriations Committee Co-Chairs Rep. Maxine Bell (R-Jerome) and Sen. Dean Cameron (R-Rupert) decided to open Idaho’s budgeting process to the public. Cameron says the idea […]

January 3, 2012

Rep. Maxine Bell: We’re Not in a Position to Lower Taxes at This Point

The Idaho Legislature convenes January 9th. In advance of the session, we interviewed several legislative leaders and asked them about Idaho’s economy and what the state could be doing to boost growth and job creation. Rep. Maxine Bell (R-Jerome) is co-chairman of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee. JFAC is the committee that crafts the annual […]

December 13, 2011

Power Brokers: Meet Five of Idaho’s Most Influential Legislators

We’ve been asking policy makers, news media and special interest groups, “Who are the Idaho legislators with the most influence?” The list we came up with isn’t especially scientific. But by and large, these names came up repeatedly. That’s not surprising because each lawmaker who made our list is either a party leader or chairperson of […]