Legislators’ inboxes were flooded with email this week as a number of controversial issues are making it to the floor for final votes.
On Tuesday I presented H140, an attempt to stop some instances of mandatory vaccinations. I was pleased that it passed the House 49-21; it is now awaiting another public hearing in the Senate Commerce & Human Resources Committee.
In the Senate there was some controversy over S1109, and Lieutenant Governor McGeachin cast a tie-breaking vote to kill the proposed State Board of Education program. The Idaho Promise mentor program would have spent nearly $400,000 to hire 7 new employees who would serve as mentor coordinators in high schools. The mentor coordinators would have helped high school students who faced barriers for career readiness. The bill details and vote count can be reviewed here.
45 of Idaho’s 115 school districts are gearing up for the March 9th election day. Voters will decide if they should approve or renew school bonds or levies totaling $298 million. You can review the details of each measure here.
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I’ve listed some of the hot topics being discussed at the capitol below. I want to represent what the people of rural Idaho think, not the special interests of the Treasure Valley, so please take a minute and email me your thoughts on these issues. (Click on the blue font to follow links).
H238 Wolves: This legislation would change the designation of wolves in some big game management units to "predator" and allow them to be hunted to reduce their populations. The minimum population would be 50 packs consisting of at least 500 wolves. The federally approved Idaho plan only mandated 15 packs and 150 wolves. Although collaring the wolves is required by law, Fish & Game has not done so, and there is no way to document the total wolf population. This legislation would ultimately create wolf sanctuary areas by restricting population control measures to 5 Big Game Management areas, which would further exacerbate the devastation of livestock and wildlife in other areas. While this may seem like a good start to reducing wolf population, are the new restrictions worth the change?
H175 Mandating In-Person Instruction in Schools: Superintendent Ybarra proposed this legislation; she claims it will help ensure that students are provided with access to in-person instruction (where safety requirements can be developed at the local level). The legislation mandates that school districts should attempt to the greatest extent practical to provide in-person instruction to any students who need it. While this sounds like a good bill the vote was very close in committee because the superintendent added language expanding the mission of our public schools. The legislation states that a thorough system of public schools includes ensuring "Students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for meeting challenging academic achievement standards and succeeding in the workforce and in life". Do you think this is a quantifiable responsibility for the Dept. of Education?
H215 Education Savings Accounts: This legislation would create a $35 million grant and scholarship program that would allow up to 70,000 students to use a $500 voucher for educational expenses at the school of their choosing. Students from families earning less than $75,000 would be eligible. Legislators have received hundreds of emails from concerned home school families who do not support this legislation because they think it gives too much control to the State Board of Education. The bill’s sponsor claims that the bill will not interfere with or change any of the rights of Idaho parents to homeschool. The sponsor also says that the bill will not allow any regulation of homeschooling or give the state permission to monitor home school education. For those of you who have not emailed me on this issue yet, do you think this could be a good program?
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* 95% of Idahoans have access to broadband internet.
* The Idaho Department of Health & Welfare Infant Toddler Program (ITP) has experienced 25% enrollment growth in the last 8 years.
* In 2020, the Idaho Department of Lands sold 37 cottage sites and 7 commercial properties for $18 million in revenue.
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+ GOOD: 15 of Idaho’s 105 legislators were recognized by The Club for Growth as "Defenders of Economic Freedom" based on their lifetime voting scores. Details of the rankings and scorecard can be reviewed here. Lawmakers must vote for policies that reduce the size of government and support pro free market principles instead of just pro-business trends.
- BAD: The Idaho Attorney General's Office sued 3 convenience stores for alleged price gouging (of fuel) last summer. Even though Idaho had the lowest wholesale-to-retail margins in the US, and they had not raised their prices during the COVID "emergency", the 3 Idaho companies agreed to a million-dollar settlement. Not agreeing to the settlement would have allowed the AG’s office to go on an extended investigation into all of the companies’ business filings. As a result of the AG's actions the senate introduced S1041, which will change the law to limit price gouging to increasing prices during an emergency. The AG’s investigation last year was based on the decrease of wholesale and not retail prices. The bill passed unanimously in the senate and will be voted on in the house next week.
--UGLY: The house passed the largest supplemental in the history of Idaho. It provides $369,000,000 to cover unexpected Medicaid expenses from last year. This unsustainable spending steals money from schools, roads, and other general fund requirements.
We all know that money has influence, even more so in state government. During session I will track the money and keep you informed about budget concerns. This week:
$ JFAC approved an extra $240,000 for the Soil and Water Conservation budget even though neither the agency nor the governor requested the extra money. When I asked to add $30,000 to the military division to help support training of the Civil Air Patrol, that increase was rejected because “the governor did not request it”.
$ JFAC did not approve my motion to stop taxpayer money from supporting biased, partisan content on Idaho Public Television. The full budget request will go to the House for a vote next week.
$ There is $2,557,941 of taxpayer money going to Idaho's four public colleges and universities specifically to advance critical race theory and the “social justice” ideology. These programs include things like implicit bias and skewed anti-racism training for faculty members, bureaucracies that discriminate against students based on sex and race, and programs to encourage students to participate in exclusively left-wing activism. Overall, at least $20,456,534 has been identified to support the massive social justice infrastructure built by these institutions.
Do you think this dark money should be cut from their budget, or should the legislature fully support their budget? Several big businesses (below) have requested that we continue to support these institutions’ radical policies as usual (Note that HP and Micron are members of the World Economic forum).
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