Hello District 19,
The Idaho Legislature is still in session, making it one of the longest in Idaho’s history. Unfortunately, we have done little to improve the lives of Idahoans. Please see our updates below.
Emergency Powers at Risk
While Governor Little signed SB1110 and declined to protect the rights of voters, he vetoed legislation seeking to restrict the powers of the governor in disaster emergencies. Democrats opposed both emergency powers bills, House Bill 135 and Senate Bill 1136. Senate Bill 1136 failed to receive enough votes in the Senate for a veto override. The House voted by a slim margin to override the governor’s veto of HB135. It will now head to the Senate where we hope the veto will be sustained.
We believe it is critical the executive branch can respond quickly to protect Idahoans in emergencies. Read our statement about the governor’s vetoes here.
Also in the Legislature This Week
We started off the week with a small victory. The House moved SB 1150 to the amending order rather than pass it. As the bill sponsor stated clearly on the floor, the legislation is designed to prevent those backing an Idaho medical cannabis initiative from collecting signatures in the parking lots of legal cannabis shops in Ontario, Oregon. There were concerns expressed – mostly from military veterans – about how the bill would impact service members. The legislation requires ballot initiative signers to be physically present in the state of Idaho. This would exclude service members on assignment outside the state, Idahoans serving missions and others from the process.
The House passed SJR 102 in a 54-15 vote. It would allow lawmakers to call themselves back into session whenever 60% of the members of each house request it. Unlike SJR 101, this resolution would require the legislature to declare what topics it intends to discuss. The measure will now go to voters on the November 2022 general election ballot, who must approve it by majority vote to change the Idaho Constitution. We are opposed to this resolution because, as the current legislative session reveals, more time in session is not producing better results for Idaho. This could allow us to creep into a full-time Legislature or incentivize lawmakers to convene a special session at election time for political purposes.
The House GOP passed a bill to discourage educators from teaching anything in relation to “social justice,” as a way to pacify extreme-right wing legislators, who have held both the K-12 and higher education budgets hostage. HB 377 passed on a party-line vote. Read Democrats’ release on the legislation here.
The State Board of Education declared on Thursday it has received no verifiable claims of indoctrination. Listen to the Idaho State Board of Education’s press conference here. You can send a message to House members here in support of fully funding higher education.
We are disappointed with the lieutenant governor’s launch of a task force to root out so-called “indoctrination” in education. This witch hunt is a waste of taxpayer funds and threatens to curtail free speech in the classroom as well as honest conversations about history and racism. Many Idahoans are leveraging the opportunity to share positive stories about Idaho’s education system, which you can do here.
Lauren’s Corner
In House Ways and Means, a concurrent resolution was introduced authorizing this year’s Legislature to recess until September 1st. I believe this is an unprecedented move for our state and prompts constitutionality concerns. One Republican legislator tweeted that the intention of the long recess could be to pass legislation to give incumbents time to move if redistricting put them in a new district. We cannot allow such games to be played with our democratic processes.
I was dismayed that a new version of the unpopular income tax bill passed the House again. We could better serve Idaho if we used those funds to reduce property taxes and increase the grocery tax credit. We ought to take a balanced approach by also investing in education. You can send a message to the Senate about this new bill, HB 380, here.
Chris’s Corner
I feel like we’re stuck in that part of the session where we’re forced to ‘hurry up and wait.’ While a lot of time is spent in the Capitol Building, I wish we had more to show for it. We did get the chance in State Affairs this week to tackle agency rules but no legislation. That’s not necessarily bad.
In the House Resources and Conservation Committee, we discussed SB 1211 – this year’s wolf bill. It was passed to the House floor in a party-line vote. The primary reason I voted against the bill was the same reason the Department of Fish and Game was opposed: the bill drafting process did not include key stakeholders early enough and, consequently, the bill needs some tweaks.
Vaccine Reminder
Residents over the age of 16 are now eligible to receive a COVID vaccine and availability has increased substantially. Please visit Idaho’s pre-registration system to book an appointment. Crush the Curve Idaho also has consolidated information about vaccination sites with available appointments.