Week 8 flew by lighting fast with more legislation than I could reasonably share or even keep up with, but I will do my best to share a few with you. Remember, you can search bills by number or topic at Session Information – Bill Topics AND http://idahosession.com/index.html
H163-Parental Rights passses on the House floor 67-3-0 and heads to the Senate Education Committee for a hearing on Thursday where it passed unanimously and is now headed to the Senate floor.
H194 relates to the appropriation to the Public Schools Educational Support Program’s Division of Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind for fiscal year 2023. It passed the House floor with a vote of 68-1-1 and is headed to the Senate.
H162 would amend, repeal, and add to existing law to revise terminology and other provisions regarding virtual health care. It is sponsored by Representative Redman and passed the House floor with a vore of 69-0-1 (Wroten absent).
Four new bill drafts were introduced in the House Education Committee on Monday. RS 30286 Home School Definition by Representative Yamamoto passing 11-4; RS 30456 Community College Accreditation by Representative McMann passing 9-7; RS 30474/H227 School and Public Library Materials by Representative Nelsen passing 10-6; and RS 30489 Abstinence Definition by Representative Ehardt passing with a voice count.
In House State Affairs on Monday, Representative Monks presented H191 which amends and adds to existing law to provide that procurement decisions shall not be based on environmental, social, and governance standards. It was passed out of committee and then passed on the House floor 59-10-1. Representative Barbieri presented H197 which would amend, repeal, and add to existing law to revise provisions regarding the legislative review of administrative rules. It was passed out of committee, sent to the House floor, and then returned back to the House State Affairs Committee.
H 167 would add to existing law to provide for the crime of critical infrastructure trespass, to provide penalties, to provide exceptions, and to authorize the attorney general to prosecute certain persons. This legislation was returned to House Ways & Means.
S1038 Freedom in Education Savings Account was killed on the Senate floor with a 12-23 vote. Most likely one of the most controversial pieces of legislation this session. School Choice is being debated nationwide and Idaho is nowhere close to being finished with that debate. The votes on the Senate floor were as follows: AYES – Bjerke, Carlson, Den Hartog, Foreman, Hart, Herndon, Lenney, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Toews, Trakel, Zuiderveld. NAYS – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Burtenshaw, Cook, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hartgen, Just, Lakey, Lee, Lent, Rabe, Ricks, Ruchti, Schroeder, Semmelroth, Taylor, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Winder, Wintrow. This legislation was sponsored by Senator Tammy Nichols and Senator Brian Lenney.
There were 3 new School Choice pieces of legislation discussed in the House Education Committee on Tuesday. They didn’t have RS or bill numbers, it was just a discussion. which is somewhat unusual. One of those drafts, was then introduced by Representative Clow on Thursday and failed by a vote of 7-9. AYES – Clow, Wiśniewski, Hawkins, Price, Mendive, Ehardt, Hill and NAYS – McCann, Lanting, Nelson, Garner, Sauter, Berch, Mathias, Galaviz, Yamamoto.
H204 was presented by Representative Joe Alfieri which would amend existing law to provide for State Board of Education member elections. Representative Hawkins madea motion to pass, but Representative Clow made a Substitute motion to hold in committee. That substitute motion passed 9-3. AYES (hold in committee) – McCann, Clow, Garner, Lanting, Nelsen, Sauter, Beerch, Galaviz,Yamamoto and NAYS (allow to vote to pass out of committee) – Mendive, Hawkins, Price. Five members were absent because they needed to be in another committee to present a bill.
After Tuesday’s House Education Committee meeting, Lanting was boasting to a lobbyist about his voting. “I probably have the lowest score of any Republican in the house and I’m proud of it.” he said. When he’s referring to Conservative scores and boasting about how proud he is of his being the furthest from conservative, aka liberal. This should be concerning!
Senator Ben Toews presented S1099 which would add to existing law to enact the Protection of Pupil and Parental Rights. It was presented in the Senate Education Committee and passed with a vote of 7-2. It should receive a vote on the Senate floor this coming week.
Wednesday was a day that will never be forgotten in the House Education Committee as 2 “library bills” were presented. H139 which would add to existing law to prohibit distribution of certain materials to children was presented by Representative Jaron Crane and Senator Cindy Carlson. The second, H227 would add to existing law to require selection and access policies for public libraries and public school libraries. It was presented by Representative Jack Nelsen. The difference between the two? H 139 has consequences if the law isn’t followed and H 227 is written by librarians that have had over a year to clean the pornography out of libraries and haven’t considered starting. Needless to say, there aren’t any consequences in this legislation.
H 139 testimonies and Q & A will go down in 2023 history. Alex Stein called in as a constituent against the bill pretending to be a pedophile. It surprised 99% of us in the room, but brought some shocking truth to the issue. Chairman Yamamoto handled it well by responding, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” Humor is how I deal with uncomfortable situations too. H 139 had a substitute motion to send to General Orders which failed 8-9. AYES (allow to move out of committee to be amended) – Boyle, Clow, Mendive, Hill, Ehardt, Wisnieski, Hawkins, Price and NAYS (keep in committee, kill) – Garner, Lanting, Nelsen, Sauter, McCann, Berch, Galaviz, Mathias, Yamamoto.
The original motion was to hold H139 in committee. The motion passed 9-8. AYES (hold in committee, kill) – Garner, Lanting, Nelsen, Sauter, McCann, Berch, Galaviz, Mathias, Yamamoto and NAYS (keep H139 alive) – Boyle, Clow, Mendive, Hill, Ehardt, Wisnieski, Hawkins, Price. Unfortunately, these votes were all taken without hearing from the majority of the people in the room that were there to testify. The chairman allowed people that lived outside the local area to testify, but all of us that were local were not given any time to testify. This is very upsetting to me as I have sat in that committee for weeks, months listening to presentation after presentation from stakeholders all over this state. Groups, lobbyists, and agencies are given hours upon hours to present in front of this committee while WE THE PEOPLE are silenced time and time again.
H 227 received a very passionate hearing. As you can imagine, people were very upset with what they had just witnessed with H 139. Again, people from outside the local area were allowed to testify. Many of them were testifying for the second time that day concerning the library bills. All the while, the majority of those of us living locally didn’t have an opportunity to testify even one time. The chairman tells us we can submit our written testimony but what good is that when they have already voted on the bill? I personally have been denied the ability to testify 4 out of 6 times in Education committees. It’s sad to say that 3 of those times had nothing to do with crowded rooms, time crunches, or too many people signed up to testify.
On a positive note, Representative Elaine Price asked a question I had been wanting to ask, GOD BLESS HER! She asked the presenter of H 227, Rep. Nelsen, “Do taxpayers pay for cell phones?” He replied, “No.” “Do taxpayers pay for libraries?” Representative Price asked next. “Yes.” Nelsen responded. Taxpayers SHOULD NOT BE FORCED to pay for SMUT FOR MINORS! I DON’T WANT TO PAY FOR PORN FOR MINORS! I DON’T WANT TO PAY FOR PLAYBOY, PENTHOUSE, OR THIS EVIL, SEXUALLY EXPLICT MATERIAL FOR MINORS! And…IT IS ILLEGAL TO HAVE THIS SMUT ON YOUR PHONES!!! So, if Representative Nelsen’s reasoning is that “porn” is on the kid’s phones so it’s ok to have it in books, we have a big problem. Porn on phones = illegal, porn in books = not illegal! Time for common sense to become a little more common!
RS 30549/H272 Sex Education Parental Permission is legislation that says a child in public school may not participate in any instruction in sex education without written parental permission. Representative Elaine Price introduced this RS in House State Affairs on Friday. It should receive a hearing this coming week. Senator Ben Toews will be sponsoring this legislation in the Senate. Representative Price also introduced RS 30556 legislation to prohibit state funding and school property for sexually explicit productions, events, and literature where minors are involved. This bill should receive a hearing this week as well.
Some other legislation we saw this week:
RS 30560/H 273 Property Tax sponsored by Rep. Andrus amends existing law to provide that a property tax budget may be reduced by initiative or referendum. It should receive a hearing this upcoming week.
RS 30418/H 274 Communications Security sponsored by Rep. Hill adds to existing law to prohibit state employees from using or downloading TikTok on a state-issued device, to provide that the state shall implement controls to prevent the use of TikTok on state-issued devices, and to provide a penalty. It should receive a hearing this upcoming week.
HJM 2 sponsored by Senator Hart is a House Joint Memorial that states findings of the Legislature and calls on Congress to restrict the jurisdiction of the federal courts from hearing cases regarding state legislative authority to legislate on abortion. It passed the committee and should be heard on the House floor this upcoming week.
H 242 presented by Rep. Andrus & Rep. Ehardt It would add to existing law to provide for the crime of abortion trafficking, to provide certain requirements and restrictions on a civil action, and to provide prosecution authority for the attorney general.
H 82 sponsored by Rep. Gallagher adds to existing law to enact the Idaho Dietary Supplement Act, which provides that the production, marketing, distribution, sale, and use of dietary supplements that were legal as of July 1, 2022, in Idaho shall remain legal in Idaho, regardless of any changes to federal law or regulation. It passed the House floor 51-13-6 and is headed to the Senate Health & Welfare Committee.
H 173 sponsored by Rep. Boyle & Rep. Hill amends existing law to provide that a foreign government or foreign state-controlled enterprise shall not purchase, acquire, or hold any interest in certain types of property in Idaho. It passed the House floor 69-0-1 and is headed to Senate State Affairs.
H 182 sponsored by Rep. Brent Crane & Rep. Ehardt adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding silent prayer. It passed the House floor 65-4-1 and is headed to Senate State Affairs.
H 189 sponsored by Rep. Ehardt & Rep. Sage Dixon adds to existing law to prohibit public contracts with companies that boycott certain business sectors. It passed the House floor 53-17-0 and is headed to Senate State Affairs.
H 190 sponsored by Rep. Ehardt amends existing law to require that credit unions and banks holding state funds not boycott certain industries. It passed the House floor 59-11-0 and is headed to Senate State Affairs.
H 191 sponsored by Rep. Monks Amends and adds to existing law to provide that procurement decisions shall not be based on environmental, social, and governance standards. It passed the House floor 59-10-1 and is headed to Senate State Affairs.
H 231 adds to existing law to provide that certain persons and institutions must take reasonable steps to restrict the access of minors in certain instances, to provide for a civil action in certain instances, and to prohibit the use of public facilities and public assets for sexual exhibitions. It should be heard in House State Affairs this week.
H 91aa sponsored by Rep. Scott would add to existing law to prohibit the state government and its employees from paying membership fees or dues with public funds and to provide exemptions. The vote on the House floor is very interesting.
Read third time in full as amended – FAILED – 31-38-1
AYES – Alfieri, Andrus, Barbieri, Boyle, Cannon, Clow, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dixon(1), Ehardt, Gallagher, Hawkins, Hill, Holtzclaw, Kingsley(Crawford), Lambert, Mendive, Mitchell, Monks, Palmer, Price, Redman, Scott, Shepherd, Skaug, Tanner, Vander Woude, Wisniewski, Young, Mr. Speaker and NAYS – Allgood, Berch, Blanksma, Bundy, Burns, Cheatum, Chew, Dixon(24), Durrant, Ehlers, Erickson, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Green, Handy, Healey, Lanting, Manwaring, Mathias, McCann, Mickelsen, Miller, Nash, Necochea, Nelsen, Petzke, Pickett, Raybould, Raymond, Roberts, Rubel, Sauter, Weber, Wheeler, Wroten, Yamamoto
Absent – Horman
Friday and Saturday, I had the great opportunity to be a mentor at the Idaho Teen Leadership Forum. It was an incredible experience. These young adults blessed me and the speakers were inspiring! This year’s focus: Faith in the Marketplace. My two favorite common focuses were that relationships with people are very important and God has prepared you for what He puts in front of you. I was able to attend the Idaho State Prayer Breakfast with these teens as well. What an absolute blessing!!! I’m so thankful for the opportunity!
Canyon County Lincoln Day was also this weekend and IT WAS AMAZING! It is always so much fun to be able to see so many friends!! My only regret is that it didn’t last longer so I had more time to spend with more friends. Thank you to all of those that put so much time and effort into making this event so wonderful!
PLEASE REMEMBER THIS WEEK:
- Pray for all of our leaders and their families.
- Seek TRUTH! Please do not believe what you see or hear in socia
l media or on TV. Communication is key! - Relationships are important! You never know where someone has come from, what they have gone through, or what they are facing…BE KIND.
- IFRW Red Jacket Days are Monday and Tuesday, March 6th and 7th at the Capitol.
- Join TVRW (Treasure Valley Republican Women) Tuesday, March 7th at 6PM at Bob’s Restaurant in Nampa (I-84 & Franklin exit). Idaho State GOP Chair DOROTHY MOON will be our special guest. It is a free event, however dinner will be available for purchase. All are welcome! Come enjoy a night of fun and get to know people from all over Idaho! We hope to hear a few updates from legislators as well.
- Prayer is at 11 AM on Thursday on the west side, Garden level of the Capitol. Capitol Clarity is at noon.
- Calvary Chapel AWARE Conference Biblical Citizenship & Liberty for Idaho is April 2, 2023 from 1-5PM @ Sawtooth Middle School in Meridian
- Idaho GOP Events website hosts the information for Lincoln Days across the state.
- ADMINISTRATIVE RULES -VERY IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW!
- Idaho Session A great site for following the 2023 Legislative Session
- Legislation by Number
- Legislation by Topic
- Senate Link
- House Link
- Testifying before Committees
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!!