That’s a wrap! The good, bad and ugly of this year’s Idaho legislative session
The Idaho Legislature usually can be counted on to generate embarrassing headlines, and this year was no exception. But it wasn’t all bad. Some of it was good, while some of it was just plain ugly. Here’s our breakdown of the 2024 Idaho legislative session:
Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, meets with other representatives before the start of the House session in February, before she was ousted as House majority leader.
THE GOOD
School facilities funding. One of the biggest announcements in Gov. Brad Little’s State of the State address was a proposal for $2 billion for school facilities. We weren’t sure it would get done, but legislators tacked on an income tax cut to make it more palatable to conservatives.
Contraception. Legislators passed a bill to require insurers provide at least a six-month supply of prescribed contraceptives, which should be a no-brainer in a state that bans abortions. Want fewer unplanned pregnancies? Increase availability of contraception.
Agricultural Protection Areas. Legislators overwhelmingly passed a bill that provides landowners with an additional option when considering protecting agricultural land in the state.
Bills stymied. Legislators killed a surprising number of bad bills, such as a bill to repeal voter-approved Medicaid expansion and a bill to force school districts to allow employees to carry guns in class. Legislators rightly killed a bill from Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, that would have changed the definition of “embryo” or “fetus” to “preborn child,” and a bill to give a tax credit to people who don’t want to send their children to taxpayer-funded public schools. A ridiculous bill from Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, that would have imposed a $420 fine for possession of any amount of marijuana was rejected, and a proposal to eliminate a domestic terrorism law that dates back to when Idaho was dealing with the Aryan Nations also died.
THE BAD
Of course, it wasn’t all good news.
Mandatory minimums. Legislators passed mandatory sentencing minimums for fentanyl trafficking, taking away judicial discretion. We all know that mandatory minimums don’t work, and this promises to further clog Idaho’s jails and prisons. In case you haven’t noticed, the Idaho Department of Correction is having a hard enough time handling the people it has in custody.
ITD property. Legislators killed an already-agreed-upon deal to sell the Idaho Transportation Department headquarters on State Street. Hello, lawsuit, wasting more of Idaho taxpayer dollars. Little neither signed nor vetoed the ITD funding bill, allowing it to become law while simultaneously criticizing it. He’s good at that.
Library books ban and bounty bill. The Christian nationalists finally got their bill to scare Idaho libraries into removing any books with gay characters from their shelves with the latest law that opens the door for patrons to sue if they don’t like a book on the shelves.
In vitro fertilization. Legislators failed to protect in vitro fertilization, an issue that is vital right now after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that fertilized eggs are humans and their destruction is tantamount to murder. (See Julianne Young’s “preborn child” bill above.)
Abortion. Legislators also failed to fix Idaho’s strict abortion ban, which is sowing confusion and fears in the medical community, leading doctors and patients to flee the state. The failure to address the health care crisis in Idaho, this year, caused by the failure of so many to read the abortion bill before passing it, is potentially the most consequential failure. Legislators had a year to with it, and to not deal with it affects almost anyone who needs a doctor. Inexcusable.
Ouster. Idaho Republicans ousted Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, as majority leader because she tried to get the budget committee to go back to handling budgets the way it used to.
“Ballot harvesting.” “Ballot harvesting” sounds ominous, but this really is just an infringement on legally eligible voters trying to get their ballot to elections officials to be counted.
THE UGLY
Pronouns. Solving those important problems that no one knew existed, Republican legislators passed a bill that would allow teachers to not use a student’s preferred pronouns. In a related bill, Republicans approved a bill that incorrectly conflates the definitions of “sex” and “gender.”
Summer lunches. In a move of pure cruelty and ignorance, Republicans killed a $16 million federal grant that would have fed children over the summer, based on arguments that “rich” kids would abuse the program, and admonishing poor children to work for what they get.
Racism. Even though they passed the resolution, it took a lot of tooth-pulling to get some far-right legislators to decry racism following a racial verbal attack including use of the N-word directed at University of Utah basketball players staying in Coeur d’Alene for the NCAA Tournament.
Cannibalism! Sure, we’re all against tricking someone into unwittingly eating human flesh, but the bill by Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, was based on a prank video she saw while traveling on a plane.
Little. Once again, we find ourselves disappointed in the lack of courage demonstrated by Gov. Little, who failed to stand up for transgender students by signing the bills that wrongly conflate the definitions of gender and sex, and allow teachers to ignore students’ preferred pronouns. Little also signed the terrible library book ban and bounty bill, and allowed the ITD bill to go through even though he noted that it “unfairly” canceled the property sale.
Meanwhile, Little saw fit to veto a bill exempting water companies from oversight by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission and a bill to allow the state treasurer to invest in gold and silver. We find it strange what he chooses to veto and what he allows to pass. The best part of the legislative session? It’s over.
