Representative Heather Scott - District 1
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On May 12th, the legislative session ended with a disagreement. The Senate voted to return home permanently until January of 2022 and let the governor handle all decision making. The House voted to take a “recess,” a precautionary measure to stop the Governor from violating the Constitution or state law once again if another “emergency” arose. One thing is clear. If the citizens don’t wake up quickly and understand the process, how their legislators are voting, and who they are actually working for, Idaho will soon become like California. Executive branch bullying and excessive lobby money are quickly turning Idaho into a state that most will not recognize in five years. Remember, every policy and law that is passed, both bad and good, is ultimately funded by the legislature because the legislature appropriates all money. Each state legislators' vote offers insight into their beliefs, principles, and willingness to follow the constitution. There is a link at the end of this update where you can find out if your legislators are protecting your rights and how they are spending your money. Good legislators who are fighting hard for the citizens are growing weary and need citizen help! There is so much more on this issue, but for now, I will stick to only a summary of what happened during the 2021 Idaho legislative session.
Over 925 pieces of draft legislation were written, 682 of those were introduced as bills, and 364 were signed into law that will go into effect TODAY, July 1st. Many of these laws were initiated by executive branch-controlled bureaucratic agencies, regional associations, and lobbyists. Every bill that was considered can be reviewed at this link: (LINK). Below is a list of the bills that may interest or affect you and your family in some way, along with some short commentary.
Taxes:
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Homeowners should never be taxed out of their homes! With the increased growth in Idaho, this is a great concern to most of the citizens I talk to. There were several good bills (one had 50 sponsors!) that were not allowed to be heard by leadership. These bills were creative and would tie a homeowners’ tax exemptions to actual assessments, so when property values go up, so would your exemption. Unfortunately, elections have consequences, and these good tax cut bills were suppressed. Here is a list of some of the tax bills that did pass:
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Property tax laws that will:
- Allow disabled veterans to transfer their property tax reduction and homestead exemption upon a change of homestead. (H120)
- Revise the property tax deferral program to reduce the applicable interest rate, increase the funding available and the household income threshold for, and include property held by a life estate or trust. (H309)
- Increase the homeowner’s property tax exemption to $125,000, changes to the property tax relief (circuit breaker) program, and the disabled veteran’s property tax benefit. Also provides that homes with an assessed value exceeding 125% of the median home value in the county shall not qualify for circuit breaker and be referred to the property tax deferral program. Also revises the timing for reclassification of property for assessment purposes after a sale and revises limitations on taxing district budgets. (H389)
- Require tax notices to be sent to taxpayers to include information about the expiration dates of all bonds and levies approved by voters. (S1105)
- Provides for the right of a taxpayer to appear in person or through a representative of his choice at a hearing of the Board of Tax Appeals. (H277)
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Grocery Tax:
We will not get any repeal of the grocery tax
until House leadership changes.
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Sales tax laws that will:
- Clarify the application of the sales and use tax to manufactured homes. (H171a)
- Require that a person presenting a sales tax exemption certificate or resale certificate to a seller shall have the burden of proof in the case of an audit by the Tax Commission. (H032)
- Require that the sales and use tax shall not be charged to certain nonresidents and nonresident business entities purchasing vehicles in Idaho. (H210)
Income tax laws that will:
- Reduce state individual and corporate income taxes from 6.925 percent to 6.5 percent and will allow for a one-time 9% income tax rebate on individual income taxes paid for 2019. (H380)
- Revise the calculation of Idaho taxable income with regard to certain business losses. (H170)
- Provide for a rebuttable presumption regarding evidence of a taxpayer’s expenditures. (H217)
- Provide for the treatment of certain federal relief moneys when calculating Idaho taxable income. (H251)
- Revise the adjustable basis of depreciable property for the purpose of income tax deductions. (H276)
- Allow for a pass-through entity to pay state taxes at the business entity level, thereby reducing federal tax liability for owners of these companies. (HB317)
Emergency Control Powers - Balance of Power
Most Republicans were committed to reforming the Governor's powers during an emergency. The large corporate lobby group, Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI), supported the Governor’s unilateral approach to power during emergencies and fought against almost every bill the House drafted to rein in the governor’s emergency control powers. Senators appeared terrified of the Governor, and of IACI who generously fund most of their re-election campaigns. There was lots of drama concerning these bills that I will spare you most of the pain of. In the end, we managed to pass a few watered-down bills.
Two bills easily made their way to the Governor's desk with a strong 2/3 vote. The emergency control bills (S1136 and H135) were both vetoed by the Governor, leaving it to the Senate and House to override the vetoes (2/3 vote needed to veto). Unfortunately, the Senate had Republican Senators that voted with the majority of the Democrats and the failed on S1136. The House easily passed a veto override on H135 on a 48-19 vote. The Senate once again did not override. The end result is that the two bills got watered down to 4 bills. Here is a list of the Republican Senators that voted with the Democrats to not override the veto in case you are interested:
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Balance of powers and emergency powers bills passed will: |
- Revise the powers of the Governor during a declaration of disaster emergency by providing that constitutional rights must be protected. (H391)
- Provide that the Governor may not alter, adjust, or create any provisions of the Idaho Code during a disaster emergency. (H392) *Note that this is already in the state constitution, but was ignored. *
- Revise the powers of the Governor during a declaration of disaster emergency by providing that any orders, proclamations, or rules must be narrowly tailored to allow persons to work, provide for their families, and contribute to the economy of Idaho. (H393)
- Authorize the Governor to proclaim a state of extreme emergency subject to certain powers, duties, and limitations, provides that certain constitutional rights shall be protected, and clarifies that the governor may not alter, adjust, or suspend Idaho Code during a state of extreme peril. (S1217)
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Elections laws passed will:
- Prohibit the use of private moneys for the administration of elections. (S1168a)
- Prohibit foreign contributions, independent expenditures, and electioneering communications. (H245)
- Provide for bond and levy election disclosures on ballot questions or accompanying statements regarding the impact on taxes. (H066)
- Permit political subdivisions with very small populations to hold elections at large instead of by subdistricts. (H136)
- Provide that a candidate for precinct committeeman must have been a qualified elector in the district for at least six months. (H198)
- Require the signatures of voters to be verified and prohibits the use of electronic signatures on initiative or referendum petitions. (H290)
- Prohibit college faculty from providing or offering to provide college credit to influence a student's vote. (H299)
- Require the signatures in all 35 (instead of 18) legislative districts to qualify a ballot initiative or referendum petition. (S1110 BALLOT INITIATIVES)
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An election bill was passed by the House to allow for post-election audits of absentee ballots at the county level (H349), but the Senate held the bill in committee like many other good bills. See the bottom of this newsletter for more good bills held.
Other New Laws:
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Firearms: Prohibits Idaho government entities from enforcing or supporting the enforcement of new federal actions regarding firearms and firearm accessories and components. (S1205)
This law establishes numerous small arms weaponry and accessories in Idaho (such as AR-15's, reloading equipment, magazines of any size, and other items) and declares them as necessary for Idahoans to defend themselves. By declaring these items necessary for Idahoans' defense, we are setting up a future court battle in the U.S. Supreme Court where we use the 10th Amendment and the 2nd Amendment to overturn these unconstitutional measures. The bill instructs the Attorney General in Idaho that he must defend this law and do everything he can to protect Idahoans' right to keep and bear arms, and if he refuses to defend the law, the legislature through a "concurrent resolution" can appoint someone from their body to intervene on behalf of the people!
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Hemp: Industrial hemp (NOT MARIJUANA) is now legal to grow, process, transport and research in Idaho. (H126)
Wrongful Conviction: Provides for a claim of compensation for persons who were wrongfully convicted. (S 1027)
Rape: Repeals an exemption from rape if the victim was a spouse. (S1089a)
Cloud Seeding (Chemtrails): Authorizes the water resource board to sponsor or develop local or statewide cloud seeding programs. The water resource board would be able to contract with any individual or organization for consultation, assistance and further research related to cloud seeding. (Cloud seeding is already happening in Idaho) (H266)
Wolves: This law expands opportunities for the management of wolves. There is now a year-round trapping season on private property for wolves, an unlimited number of tags available, and expanded methods of take. The bill also provides for the control of depredation of wolves on livestock, domestic animals, and wildlife populations. (S1211)
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The current Idaho wolf population count for this year is 1,556 wolves, more than ten times higher than the 150 wolves required in the Wolf Management Plan for them to be considered fully recovered.
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Occupational licensing Laws: Occupational licensing laws were passed to require the state licensing authorities to issue a license to individuals who haves completed an apprenticeship if other requirements for licensure have been met (H178). Another law establishes a streamlined licensure by endorsement process for military members, veterans, and spouses (S1083) and establish a sunset review process for occupational and professional licensing laws. (S1084)
Parental Rights: Provides that an emergency or disaster declaration shall not be considered a compelling governmental interest sufficient to restrict parental rights. (H246a)
Public Funds-Opioids: Establishes the state-directed opioid settlement fund, in which moneys from the state’s legal settlements relating to opioids will be deposited. Moneys in the fund will be used to support opioid abuse prevention and recovery programs. (H315)
Public Health:
- Replaces state financial aid to public health districts with additional aid from counties. The additional county aid will come from funds previously used for county medical assistance and the Catastrophic Health Care Cost Program. (H 316a)
- Requires that public health orders that extend to everyone in a county must be approved by the board of county commissioners. Additionally, this legislation creates an infraction for individuals who violate countywide public health orders. (S1060)
- Clarifies the authority of the director of the Department of Health and Welfare to issue orders of isolation, quarantine, or restricted access and provides for expedited judicial review of such orders. (S1139)
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Juvenile Bills:
- A bill to provide that children with serious behavioral health conditions will not be removed from their parents’ custody because the parents have requested in-patient hospital treatment or another out-of-home placement for such children. (H233)
- A bill that provides for placement of juveniles in the custody of the Department of Health and Welfare in qualified residential treatment programs when appropriate. Additionally, this legislation allows for foster care to be extended after a person’s eighteenth birthday if certain conditions are satisfied. Foster care may not be extended after a person’s twenty-first birthday. (H336)
- A bill clarifying that a temporary guardianship may not last longer than six months, unless extended for a period of up to another six months. (S1133a)
Recreation, Water, and Environment:
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Authorizes a voluntary water quality pollutant trading program in Idaho and provides the Department of Environmental Quality authority to regulate the program. (H099)
- Provides that for purposes of notices of claim of stock water use on federal land, a claimant may claim the date of the first grazing permit issued on the federal grazing allotment, pursuant to federal grazing authorizations, as evidence of the date of priority, unless the claimant has evidence of earlier stock water use on the federal land, which shall then establish the claimed date of priority. (H186)
- Clarifies that when a landowner enters into a recreational access agreement with the Department of Fish and Game and both the landowner and the Department agree to certain restrictions on motorized vehicles, the Department is authorized to enforce those restrictions, provided recreational users are given notice of the restrictions. (H187)
- Clarifies that for purposes of the limitation of liability of landowners toward persons entering land for recreational purposes, the term “land” includes water facilities, parks, and campgrounds and clarifies that recreational activities include traveling across the land owned by others for the purpose of recreating. (S1020)
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Other bills passed will:
- Extend protection from civil liability related to the coronavirus to July 1, 2022. (H149-Coronavirus Limited Immunity Act)
- Tenant's security deposit for a rental managed by a third party shall be held in a separate account at a federally insured financial institution. (H152)
- Urban renewal district boards may use the power of eminent domain only if all members of the board are elected and provides that a board with one or more unelected members may only advise the use of eminent domain. (S1044)
- City health ordinances apply within city limits only. (H074)
- Extended the immunity for businesses from liability for the spread of Coronavirus for another year. (H149)
- Delegation of parental powers to a temporary caregiver through a power of attorney and establishes requirements for temporary care assistance programs, which assist parents in finding qualified temporary caregivers. (H191a)
Abortion (Murder):
Lobbyists continue to pass watered-down “pro-life” bills that actually allow for the murder of rape and/or incest conceived babies in the language. The bills also have hidden exemptions for hospitals and other situations. So, while the short title sounds good, the bills are not. The reason these Boise “Pro-Life” lobbyists run these bills is so they can go back to their donors and say they passed something and use them for fundraising. Please do not be deceived on this issue. Some legislators claiming to be “pro-life” are voting for bills that kill babies, because if they don’t, these lobby groups will bully them and attack them in the next election cycle. (We have proof!)
Idaho law recognizes that life begins at conception, a fetus is a baby, and to kill the baby is murder. It goes on to say that there is an exemption to prosecution for murder if you are a mother or a doctor involved in an abortion.
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The abortion bills that passed were the following:
- Prohibits the use of public funds for abortion. (H 220a) This law allows public funds to pay for abortions in certain cases and exempts hospitals completely.
- Prohibits an abortion following detection of a fetal heartbeat (H366) with exceptions in certain cases. It also re-defines “abortion.” The law was written is such a way that it does not become law and has no effect unless the courts rule in favor of the issue in another state. (Wishful thinking and not moving the needle to end abortion)
- Provides that certain printed material regarding Down syndrome be made available to physicians, hospitals, or other facilities providing abortion and abortion-related services. (H302)
I have tried to run the abortion human rights act for the past 3 years and have been denied a committee hearing (most recently) by chairman Brent Crane. Please pray for legislators’ eyes to be opened and for a heart change for mothers thinking about killing their unborn babies.
Transportation:
- It is now illegal to hold a GPS device in the hand while driving even if you are not manually entering information into it. (H005)
- You can drive off-highway vehicles to travel on portions of state highways to connect trails and provide access to services in rural areas. (H129)
- The Idaho Transportation Department can use an alternative method to evidence perfection of a motor vehicle title to address service disruptions caused by COVID-19. (H049)
- There are increased in certain driver’s license fees which will fund county license offices. (H161a)
- There is increased fees for snowmobile use which will fund snowmobile-related services and establishes a new state snowmobile avalanche fund (H229a), and a new streamlined snowmobile and off-highway vehicle licensing and oversight. (H086)
- There is increased funding for state and local transportation through sales tax to fund large infrastructure projects. (H362)
- A new process for electronic motor vehicle registration will be implemented to hopefully reduce the number of services that must be completed in person at a DMV office. (S 1102)
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Education:
There were many good bills sent to the Senate education committee from the House that were killed or not given a hearing. The teacher’s union and education lobby control Idaho government run schools. That is likely why they pressured Senators to kill many good bills, including the following:
- A bill protecting teachers from being forced to join unions and pay union dues (H174)
- A bill promoting parental rights in schools (H329)
- A bill encouraging in-school classes instead of virtual (H293)
- A bill allowing voucher money to stay with the child
- A bill allowing parents to "opt-in" instead of "opt-out" of comprehensive sex education for their children (H249)
- A bill protecting free speech on campus (H364)
- A bill to eliminate August elections when turn-out is low and it is common to pass bonds and levies for schools while no one is watching. (H106 and S1061)
- A bill to allow Strong Student Scholarship money to pay for private school tuition-voucher money to follow the student. (H294) (failed on Senate floor)
My advice to parents who have children in government run schools has remained consistent. Consider other options.
Education Laws passed include:
- A law to limit the authority to close schools or adopt measures to prevent the spread of contagious or infectious disease in schools to the Governor, the State Board of Education, or the school board. Public health districts will have an advisory role. (H067)
- A law to limit the authority to close state institutions of higher education or adopt other measures to prevent the spread of contagious or infectious disease at the institution to the State Board of Education and the college’s board of trustees. Public health districts will have an advisory role. (H 068)
- A law to prohibit noncompetitive contracts with state institutions of higher education unless certain conditions are satisfied. (H141a)
- A law requiring that public schools offer in-person instruction, to the extent possible, during a state of emergency. (H175)
- A law that allows qualified retired school bus drivers to be rehired during a bus driver shortage while still receiving PERSI benefits, without affecting their benefits. (H203)
- A law to prohibit public schools and public institutions of higher education from making distinctions among or classifying students on the basis of race or color or from compelling students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to certain beliefs. It also disallows the expenditure of public education moneys on prohibited purposes. (H377) (Critical Race Theory)
- A law to allow public schools to issue a workforce readiness and career technical education diploma to high school graduates who satisfy special diploma requirements. (S1039a)
- Enables school districts to establish kindergarten jump-start programs for children whose score on a kindergarten screener indicates that they are not ready for kindergarten. (S1075)
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Legislators in the House killed several bad bills this year thanks to citizens paying attention and contacting their legislators. Thank you for your efforts as they do make a difference. Here are a few of the bad bills the House stopped:
- A bill that would have criminalized free speech and protests on public property based on the protest's proximity to a private dwelling (H0195),
- A bill to fund COVID testing in schools (1210), and a $6 million grant to fund a bureaucratic structure for kids age 0-5 and also would have provided critical race books for these kids (H226and S1193),
- A big insurance bill being sold by a Representative as a 10th amendment bill. (H147) Video below.
- A bill to raise the age of smoking for adults to 21 (S1087). Video below.
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CLICK HERE to watch my testimony against a bill to outlaw smoking for adults age 18-21. The bill failed. |
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CLICK HERE to watch my testimony on a bill by big insurance and the feds. The sponsor tries to make the argument that we are exercising our 10th amendment by passing a bill "before" the Federal Government forces us to. You cannot make this stuff up! The bill failed 31-37-2. |
Funding State Government
I believe we need to fund responsible government. This means scrutinizing every tax dollar so we don't fund bloated, inefficient, and corrupt government. Ultimately, the majority of your state legislators seem to be addicted to federal money and are blind to any of the strings attached. (State elections have consequences.) We are quickly being federalized by accepting every dollar and will soon look a lot like California. Despite the COVID panic, state tax collections were coming in well ahead of predictions. Add the two CARES Act funding rescues pumping money into Idaho, and you can see Idaho with a projected $700,000,000 or more budget surplus, and Idaho agencies with more spending money than they EVER had in Idaho history. Agencies were making up new ways to spend the money they did not anticipate.
President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was announced and promised up to $5,300,000,000 MORE federal assistance headed Idaho's way. (Yes, that is BILLION, and that amount exceeds Idaho's entire budget...it's beyond obscene.) All this money is borrowed from our grandchildren. Idaho is at a serious crossroads: What is the price for our sovereignty. Would legislators sell out the citizens for $5.3 billion "pieces of silver?"
Senate Bill 1204 set up the structure for taking the $5.3 billion dollars of federal money and all strings attached. This bill is sacrificing Idaho's independence and making Idaho dependent on the Federal Government. Here is how the vote went:
House:
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Senate:
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You can view a comprehensive summary report of what happened and a description of over 200 bills HERE. There is an in depth look at spending with helpful charts and graphs to see how much and where the money is being spent. Details of total monies funding each agency is also listed. This is a very helpful resource.
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You can also watch my town hall that occurred a few days before the end of session in Priest River HERE or clicking on the photo below:
Idaho's Broken Legislative System and Process
 Our legislative process has become broken. Rather than the legislature being an "arena of ideas" as it was designed to be, it is dominated by a few power brokers who clearly don't have the best interests of Idaho in mind. Here's how it works:
Legislators draft new bill (law) ideas and bring them to the proper committee for consideration; but rather than simply scheduling a hearing for debating and voting on the bill, the committee chairman might hold the bill (put it in the drawer) instead of allowing committee members the right to hear and vote on the bill.
There is nothing in the legislative rules of procedure granting this power to committee chairs, instead this power has evolved as a legislative "tradition." In fact, Mason's Rules of Legislative Procedure specify the role of the chair is to facilitate the work of the committee by scheduling bills on a prepared agenda.
Tradition has replaced proper legislative procedure. This happens in the House and in the Senate. It happens to new bills, and to bills already passed in the House, but then held in the Senate chair's drawer. These "drawered" bills then become game tokens in the strategy and power-brokering between leadership of both chambers and the legislators involved. Some chairmen also offer to hear your bills in exchange for you voting the way they want you to on a bill.
The Senate and House Health and Welfare Chairmen refuse to allow bills to be heard in committee to protect citizens from forced vaccinations, vaccine passports, mandatory masking orders, or out of control Public Health Districts. (Remember, these health districts are regional governments with no ability to vote these bureaucrats out of their position.) If you have concerns about these issues, please talk Senator Lee Heider District 15, Boise area, or Representative Fred Wood-District 27 from the Burley area, as they are directly responsible to hear these types of bills.
Below are a few of the bill’s chairmen are “locking” in their drawers and refusing to hear. When a chairman ignores other legislators bills, it diminishes representation of the citizens of that legislator’s district. Citizens deserve full representation by their elected legislators. These chairmen should be held accountable by their constituents.
Committee Chairman and the Bills they Held:
Senate State Affairs - Sen. Patti Ann Lodge - 30 unique bills held
Bills include: Treasurer Gold & Silver Reserves, Business Bill of Rights, Gun Rights on School Property, Ending Governor Emergency Declaration
Senate Local Government - Sen. Jim Rice - 10 bills held
Bills include: Lemonade Stand Freedom, Property Tax Cuts,
Senate Education - Sen. Steve Thayn - 10 bills held
Bills include: Parental Opt-In for Sex Education
Senate Transportation - Sen. Lori Den Hartog - 9 bills held
Senate Commerce & Human Res. - Sen. Jim Patrick - 8 bills held
Bills include: Vaccination freedom protections
Senate Judiciary - Sen. Todd Lakey - 5 bills held
Senate Health & Welfare - Sen. Fred Martin - 5 bills held
Bills include: Prohibiting Forced Vaccinations, Prohibiting Mask Mandates, Limits on City Quarantine Orders
Senate Resources & Environment - Sen. Steve Vick - 3 bills held
House Business - Rep. Sage Dixon - 12 bills held Bills include: Electrician Apprentices
House Agriculture Affairs - Rep. Clark Kauffman - 3 bills held
House Commerce & Hum. Resources - Rep. James Holtzclaw - 7 bills held
House Education - Rep. Lance Clow - 11 bills held
Bills include: Repeal Common Core, Repeal SBAC Test
House Health & Welfare - Rep. Fred Wood - 8 bills held
Bills Include: Vaccination Freedom
House Judiciary & Rules - Rep. Greg Chaney - 10 unique bills held
Bills include: Free Range Parenting, Rent Control Prohibition
House Resource & Conservation - Rep. Marc Gibbs - 9 bills held
House Revenue & Taxation - Rep. Steve Harris - 10 unique bills held
Bills include: Grocery Tax Repeal, Other Property Tax Cuts
House State Affairs - Rep. Brent Crane - 10-15 unique bills held
Bills include: Small Arms Protection Act
House Transportation - Rep. Joe Palmer - 13 unique bills held
House Ways & Means - Rep. Paul Amador - 7 unique bills held
Bills include: Abolish Abortion, No Forced Vaccinations
 Every vote your legislator makes offers insight into their beliefs, principles and willingness to follow the constitution. Below is a link to a website that tracks Idaho legislators' votes, and scored them. How do your legislators’ rate? Click below to find out!
Here is a link to a non-profit (Idaho Freedom Foundation) that tracks all Idaho legislators' voting records. Bills are scored using a rating metric based on adherence to the constitution, if the bill grows government, if it hinders private business, along with other standards. Where does your legislator stand? Will you hold them accountable?
Want to get involved but not sure what to do? Click HERE or on the 101 Things graphic below to figure out what you can do to help keep our Republic.
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Congratulations! You finished reading the entire newsletter.
Have a wonderful Independence Day!
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