State Capitol Roundup

Staff report

The Idaho Legislature adjourned Sine Die on April 10.

The Senate adjourned Sine Die at 2:42 P.M.

The House adjourned Sine Die at 2:49 P.M.

(The Idaho State Capitol, January 9, 2024. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

Governor Brad Little thanked his legislative partners from across the political spectrum for their support of 99% of his IDAHO WORKS plan.

The Legislature passed Governor Little’s school facilities and tax relief bill while fully funding LAUNCH, the program designed to help graduating high school seniors stay in Idaho to fill jobs in high demand.

“Once again, we finished a legislative session marked by milestone achievements that will greatly improve the lives of Idahoans for generations to come,” Gov. Little said. “Idaho is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, with one of the strongest economies anywhere.”

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed HB 710, the bill on libraries and prohibited materials.

Little vetoed SB 1323, relative to public utilities. Little says the bill “would create a carveout for water companies to operate in Idaho as a monopoly.”

Little vetoed SB 1314, on the state investing in silver and gold. Little said the bill failed “to take into account the many additional costs that will be borne by taxpayers for the storage, safeguard, and purchase of commodities such as gold or silver.”

Gov. Little allowed two bills— HB 726, administration appropriation; and HB 770, transportation funding— become law without his signature.

Among the bills that didn’t pass– SB 1416, on emergency medical services in the state. It stalled in the House State Affairs Committee after passing in the Senate.

Democrats have been critical of the session, on issues including abortion, libraries, and summer lunches. Speaking to an Idaho Democratic Party event in Moscow via video conference on April 10, Rep. Lauren Necochea urged action. “Our little caucus does make a difference, every day when we’re in there, and we can make more of a difference…if there are more of us,” she said.

(Gov. Little’s State of the State and Budget Address, January 8, 2024. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

In reviewing the session, Governor Little highlighted several initiatives, including:

• House Bill 521, which increases funding by a net of $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to address unmet capital construction needs in school districts and improve student achievement.
• $150 million in new property tax relief.
• $200 million to fund repairs and improvements on local bridges.
• $302.8 million in ongoing transportation funding to cover the state’s known deferred maintenance and safety gaps.
• $30 million to ensure a stable water supply.
• $20 million in additional funding for the state to manage and expand access to Idaho’s great outdoors.
• $6.6 million to continue the fight against invasive quagga mussels.

(The Idaho House of Representatives. January 12, 2024. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

“We responsibly invested in school facilities, workforce, roads, bridges, water, and other infrastructure while delivering even more tax relief for our state’s hardworking families and businesses,” Little said. “Our state budget is structurally sound and we are more than ready for anything that comes our way.”

Posted April 14, 2024

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State Capitol Roundup

by Sophie Spanbauer

Idaho Public Radio State Capitol Bureau

U of I McClure Center

BOISE- Now in its 13th week, the Idaho Legislature is hoping to wrap up its business in the Statehouse.

On Wednesday, April 3rd, lawmakers moved to recess for a week to allow Gov. Little time to review legislation passed by the House and Senate chambers. Lawmakers will return on April 10.

One of the bills up for gubernatorial review is House Bill 710, also known as The Children’s School and Library Protection Act.  

The proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Speaker of the House Mike Moyle, R-Star, President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, R-Boise, and Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa. House Bill 710 was debated on the Senate floor in the morning and the House floor in the afternoon on Wednesday.  

Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene, debated in favor saying, “The small number of books that I’ve seen, and it is a small number, that would fit the definition of harmful to minors could easily be put behind a desk and kept out of the reach of children. And we’re talking about maybe 10 books, maybe 20 books. We’re not talking about hundreds of books. So, I would contend that there is no fiscal impact, that it would be easy to keep this out of the reach of minors in an adult-only area which could just be behind the desk. If there’s parents that want their children to have access to that, all they have to do is look behind the desk and ask for that, but it wouldn’t be accessible to minors. It feels sometimes like we’re acting like the material in question…it’s like we’re talking about material that doesn’t fit the definition that is in this bill. So, I just wanted to point that out that this material is the same material that people would be criminally charged for if they were not a librarian or a teacher.”  

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(Photo: Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, presents House Bill 710 on the Senate floor. Apr. 3, 2024. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, D-Boise, debated against House Bill 710. “We know that Idahoans value local control and parental rights. However, under this bill, one person from anywhere can decide what is allowed in Idaho’s public libraries because there’s no taxpayer requirement, there’s no residency requirement, and there’s no library membership requirement. So, someone from Florida can send a list to an Idaho rural library and they now have 60 days to review these items. There’s no requirement that this challenger has to read these items. They can just send these lists to libraries anywhere in Idaho, which will require our librarians to carefully review these materials.”

In her concluding statements Sen. Semmelroth said, “I would just ask, why have libraries and books been targeted and banned throughout history? Knowledge is powerful. Ideas are contagious and those who value freedom of expression and diverse perspectives know that intellectual freedom and free thinking is critical for a healthy democracy. So, to my librarian friends, to parents, and to our local communities, I urge you to keep protecting democracy. Keep resisting censorship. History will remember your voice and will remember what side you were on.” 

House Bill 710 passed the Senate floor in a vote of 24 to 11 and was transferred to the House floor that same day. The House of Representatives had another fierce debate over the bill, and ultimately passed in a vote of 45 to 24, with one Representative marked absent. House Bill 710 was delivered to Gov. Little on the morning of April 4th for his consideration.  

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(Photo: Dr. Jim Souza shares insights into the workforce challenges he has faced concerning Idaho’s abortion ban laws. Apr. 3, 2024. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

A presentation on workforce challenges concerning women’s healthcare that had previously been canceled last week by the Chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee, Rep. John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, was given on Wednesday morning in a committee room. The presentation was led by the CEO of the Idaho Medical Association Susie Keller and the President and CEO of the Idaho Hospital Association Brian Whitlock. 

During the presentation, Keller explained, “In February of this year the Idaho Physician Wellbeing Action Collaborative compiled data into a report that was published by the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare. And this report shows that unfortunately between August of 2022 and November of 2023, we lost about a quarter of Idaho’s OGBYN physician workforce. So, using publicly available data, the report shows around little over 50 OBGYNs, about 22% of those women’s health physicians, have either left the state or retired from practice. So now we’re at about 210 OBGYNs. During that same time frameIdaho lost five of our nine maternal-fetal specialists, those are folks that take care of high-risk pregnancies.” 

The panel of speakers included multiple physicians sharing their stories navigating Idaho’s abortion laws including struggles with recruitment, Ken McClure from Givens Pursley LLP providing current legal realities, and the CEO of Valor Health Brad Turpen who shared his story of the difficult decision to close the labor and delivery unit due to an inability to consistently staff the program.

Susie Keller provided closing remarks for the presentation. “As you’ve heard, regardless of what happens with the U.S. Supreme Court, Idaho still needs a maternal health exception to our abortion ban. It will bring clarity to the legal environment for treating these pregnancy complications. It will reduce uncertainty and fear amongst physicians and patients as well. It will help stabilize our workforce and it will help with recruitment of new providers into the State of Idaho.”

Posted April 7, 2024

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State Capitol Roundup

by Sophie Spanbauer

Idaho Public Radio State Capitol Bureau

U of I McClure Center

BOISE- March 29th officially marked a week since the original target sine-die date of Mar. 22nd for the 2024 Idaho Legislative Session. Appropriation bills struggling to pass through the House and Senate Chambers are what is keeping legislators from packing up their boxes and heading home.

One of those appropriation bills, House Bill 734, was one of the most contentious votes of the Session. House Bill 734 provides appropriations for Idaho’s Colleges and Universities for the fiscal year 2025.

The sponsor of House Bill 734, Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, opened the debate for the proposed legislation on Wednesday by explaining, “House Bill 734 is the secondary Appropriation Bill for our universities.” Rep. Petzke finished his opening debate by saying, “I’d also like to point out that we once again included language around DEI spending, very similar language to what we used last year that says that they may not use State appropriated funds to support diversity, equity, and inclusion or social justice ideology as part of any student activities, clubs, etc., and they have to turn in a report to the legislature to verify that.”

(PHOTO: Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, debates in favor of House Bill 734. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, debated against the bill saying, “Just with the Boise State and University of Idaho alone, they have over fifty positions dedicated to LGBTQ and DEI. And so, we may say we’re not spending any State money, but the fact that they’re getting other money from another source to fund what we’ve said we don’t want them to fund and we’re still giving them 3.8 million dollars, I say we reduce this budget 3.8 million dollars and then they can take the 3.8 million dollars they’re putting into the DEI and LGBTQ agenda and it’s a wash. So, we should not be funding this nonsense in our colleges, and for that I am going to be a red light on this one.”

Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, debated in favor of the bill saying, “We have the CAMP programs for migrant workers. We have student support services where all types of students go. LCSC has a Native American population, and there is a group and an office where they can come because many of those students are first-generation students that have never been outside of their own culture. And so, I think we need to be careful that we are not saying that every single dollar that is spent is going in a nefarious way.” When the dust settled and the votes were tallied, House Bill 734 passed the House floor in a 38 to 30 vote with 2 legislators marked absent. House Bill 734 now sits on the Senate’s third reading calendar for further consideration.

There were multiple bills this week that failed to pass the Senate floor, including Senate Bill 1445, which was the proposed enhancement budget for the Welfare Division of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. A section of that budget provided $545,300 for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, which is a federal program that provides lunches during the summer for low-income Idaho children.

Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, D-Boise, debated in favor of the bill. She read an email from Theresa Vawter of the Idaho Foodbank stating, “This program is particularly important because in Idaho we have over 40,000 children who experience food insecurity in the summer and these rates are consistently higher in rural areas. This program will allow children, particularly in rural Idaho who struggle with hunger in the summer when they don’t have access to free and reduced lunches that they would receive in their schools, it would provide them with access to lunches and help address their food insecurities. This is an important program; Idaho will just only be responsible for the administration for it.”

Sen. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, debated against the bill arguing, “The problem that I see is this program is easy to abuse. If we’re giving kids a debit card, anyone can utilize that card and again, it was pointed out that they can take this anywhere they want to that takes food stamps, like the gas station, and be able to utilize it. Our national debt is growing by 1 trillion dollars every hundred days, and now we’re going to add more onto this. There is no such thing as a free lunch, Senators. But this is something that I feel is creating a problem because it is creating the environment of putting kids on welfare so that they continue to want to be on it.”

The debate concluded with 10 Senators voting to pass, but ultimately 25 votes in opposition led to the end of the road for Senate Bill 1445.

Posted March 30, 2024

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State Capitol Roundup

by Sophie Spanbauer

Idaho Public Radio State Capitol Bureau

U of I McClure Center

BOISE- This week marked the potential halfway point for the State of Idaho’s 2024 Legislative session.

Following the vote to remove Rep. Megan Blanksma, (R-Hammett), from her leadership position; the House Republican Caucus elected Rep. Jason Monks, (R-Meridian), as the new Majority Leader in the House of Representatives.

The Legislature experienced no shortage of activity this week, with debates on House Bill 399 kicking off the week in the House chambers on Monday morning. According to the bill sponsor, Rep. Blanksma, this legislation, “gives the Board of Medicine the authority and power to require production of any necessary information from Health and Welfare and provide an annual report to the Legislature by January 31^st of each year on maternal mortality data.” Rep. Blanksma explained, “The data has been continued to be collected over the past year. It’s available, it just needs to be reviewed and we need the report.”

Rep. Tony Wisniewski, (R-Post Falls), was the first to debate against the bill referencing data gathered from 2021, “if we look at the pregnancy related mortality and include in that the maternal mortality, we have a grand total of fourteen deaths. So, if we’re going to spend this kind of money and effort on maternal mortality we really ought to in the sake of fairness and proportionality consider spending a lot more money on heart disease, cancer, accidents, Alzheimer’s disease and so forth.”

After the debate was closed and the votes were tallied, House Bill 399 was passed to the Senate in a 52 to 17 vote, with one legislator marked absent.

***

House Bill 406 has continued along its path in the legislature as it hit the third reading calendar on Thursday morning in the Senate Chambers following its passage through the House on January 29th. Co-sponsored by Sen. Todd Lakey, (R-Nampa), the proposed legislation, “adds to existing law to provide for the crimes of trafficking in fentanyl and drug-induced homicide.”

Sen. Phil Hart, (R-Kellogg), debated against the bill. “I think what this bill does is it scoops up people who are not trafficking and calls them traffickers.” He later stated, “The judge ought to have discretion for those who maybe would more benefit from a rehabilitation program that I think the judge ought to have that option. And so, we’re taking away some of the checks and balances that I think need to protect Idahoans.” In his concluding statements, the Senator from northern Idaho explained, “I believe if we pass this bill, we’re going to put so many more people in prison we’re going to be here two or three years from now funding a new prison for Idaho, because I think we’re going to increase our prison population by that much.”

(Sen. Phil Hart, (R-Kellogg), debates against House Bill 406 on the Senate floor. Jan. 15, 2024. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

Sen. Chris Trakel, (R-Caldwell), debated in favor of the bill. “I’m sorry if you are an addict and you are connected, you’re still breaking the law. It’s still against the law. It needs to be off the street and removed. If we remove the demand for it by having harsh punishment its simple economics- they’re not going to come here to sell.”

After an extensive debate from across the Senate floor, House Bill 406 was approved 28 to 7. The bill will be sent to the Gov. Little’s office for his consideration.

***

Fentanyl continues to be a hot topic in the Statehouse, with House Bill 411, a bill to legalize the use and possession of fentanyl detection slips, having its first hearing in the House Health and Welfare Committee on Thursday morning.

(House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, (D-Boise), presents House Bill 411 to the House Health and Welfare Committee. Jan 15, 2024. Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

Co-sponsor of the proposed legislation, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, (D-Boise), explained, “This will just be very helpful for people to be able to cheaply and easily make sure they’re not being inadvertently poisoned by fentanyl.” There was no testimony made in opposition, leading to a unanimous vote from the Committee to send House Bill 411 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation.

***

On Thursday, the House State Affairs Committee introduced House Concurrent Resolution 26, which says the legislature is going to look at the proposed affiliation between the University of Idaho and the University of Phoenix. A public hearing would be the next step in the process.  

Posted February 18, 2024

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Little delivers 2024 State of the State Address

by Sophie Spanbauer

Idaho Public Radio State Capitol News Bureau

U of I McClure Center

BOISE, IDAHO – Idaho Gov. Brad Little delivered the State of the State and Budget Address on January 8, kicking off the 2024 Legislative Session. 

(Photo by Sophie Spanbauer)

Education continues to be a top priority for the Governor, as he shared some of the success from last year’s implementation of the Idaho LAUNCH grant program.

 LAUNCH covers 80 percent of the cost of enrollment in an education or training program for high-school graduates seeking an in-demand career. The scholarship was unveiled last year during the 2023 State of the State and has since received over 12,500 applicants.

“The interest in LAUNCH far exceeded everyone’s expectations, and we’re excited for these young Idahoans,” Little said.

Little said that while there was much progress made during the last session, more work needs to be done to improve the conditions of the state.  

Little unveiled, “Idaho Works,” his plan to strengthen Idaho’s water and transportation infrastructure as well as a 2-billion-dollar investment over the next ten years for school facilities and unmet capital construction needs. The Governor expressed his concern over the condition of school buildings across the state and referenced touring a school whose cafeteria had raw sewage seeping beneath it.

Gov. Little says “Idaho Works” will be addressing various student-related issues by doubling the funding for school advisors and recommending a new Statewide Student Behavioral Health Initiative for additional suicide prevention.  

“Idaho Works” also aims to curb human trafficking by sending two teams of Idaho State Police troopers to our “lawless southern border” to be trained on better tactics to respond to human traffickers as well as acting as a force multiplier. Little expects that the state troopers will return to Idaho with a greater knowledge on how to stop human trafficking in Idaho, as well as the skill set to train their fellow law enforcement colleagues.

Human trafficking is not the only concern facing our community, Little said.  

The “Idaho Works” plan also works to revitalize Idaho infrastructure- specifically concerning the repair or replacement of the last third of Idaho’s bridges. Little explained that there are nine-hundred bridges in Idaho that have been rated poor or predate the moon landing.

 “We have put $400 million into this effort in the past few years, and it’s time to buckle up and finish the job,” Little said. Gov. Little said that by continuing to invest in transportation, particularly in rural areas, commerce will be more easily facilitated and provide property tax relief. He believes that by prioritizing transportation projects now, Idahoans will benefit for generations to come. 

Outdated infrastructure is not the only concern facing our community, Little said.  

The Governor also called out social media as one of the primary causes of the mental health decline for youth, calling it addictive and a platform for bullying. He continued to explain that social media makes kids compare themselves to artificial standards of beauty and lifestyles and replaces quality time with friends and family. Little called upon lawmakers to pass reforms this session that would better protect children from the harmful effects of social media and referenced legislation passed in Arkansas and Utah as an example that requires social media platforms to confirm parental permission and to verify their users’ ages before opening an account. Little also explained how he banned the popular social media app “Tik Tok” in state government to protect private data and information from being obtained by the Chinese government. 

Little ended his speech by referencing the late Governor Phil Batt and his unrelenting human rights leadership, determined fiscal conservatism, and enduring love of Idaho. He shared an anecdote from Batt’s first week as a legislator where he stood up in the Senate chamber and said, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

The Governor concluded by saying, “Let’s get to work for the people of Idaho. Let’s focus on the big things. And let us all aspire to leave a legacy like Governor Batt – a legacy that will outlive us all. God bless Idaho.” 

*****

The full transcript of the Governor’s 2024 State of the State and Budget Address can be found here: https://gov.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024-sots.pdf

The full video of the Governor’s 2024 State of the State and Budget Address can be found here:

The FY2025 IDAHO WORKS Budget Highlights can be found here: https://gov.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/fy25-budget-highlights.pdf

Posted January 14, 2024

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U- Idaho Soccer Loses to Grand Canyon, 2- 1

The Grand Canyon University women’s soccer team (1-5-1) used two late goals from sophomore Maria Monterroso to win 2-1 over Idaho (0-8-0) Friday night at GCU. Monterroso’s goals in the 78^th minute and 85^th minute turned a 1-0 halftime Idaho lead into a GCU victory.

“We need to pay more attention to detail in order to become a successful team even when the game is on the line,” Idaho coach Derek Pittman said in a statement released after the game. “We need to be able to close out games and be strong enough mentally and physically.”

(Idaho’s Josilyn Daggs fights for the ball against GCU’s Maria Monterosso in Friday night’s game. Photo courtesy Grand Canyon University Athletics)

GCU had the advantage in shots, 31-8, as the Lopes held the Vandals to two shots in the first half and six in the second.

A scoreless game was broken up In the first half with an own goal by the Lopes  in the 27th minute. The ball bounced off a GCU defender with the assistance of sophomore Gabby Leong, giving the Vandals a 1-0 lead at halftime.

“We did things well for portions of the game,” Pittman said. “For moments we fought really hard and for periods of the match we did the right thing. We were dangerous on the attack, tough defensively and set pieces came together.”

Up next for The Vandals: a game against Arizona on Sunday at noon PT. The game will be telecast on the PAC- 12 network.

Copyright 2014 Idaho Public Radio

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