Senator Melissa Wintrow
This week we faced sexist comments from the House, misguided bills attacking higher education and inclusion programs, and bills disenfranchising voters. In this storm of troubling legislation, I found a little break in the clouds after facilitating Idaho Day with Sen Cook and hosting former Rep Linden Bateman, who shared a passionate speech about his love of Idaho. He made me remember why I fight so hard for our district and remain steadfast in my service. Even in the face of the most treacherous storms, the promise of light remains.
My committees in the Senate:
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Progress on my Legislation
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S1098 -- Increasing Access to Prescription Contraception -- KILLED BY SENATE
- The Senate killed S1098 for the third year in a row with a 18-16 vote Monday. I am truly in disbelief that such a common sense bill was killed. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get this bill through the Senate to increase access to prescription contraception beyond the traditional 1-3 months. I’m at a loss as to why this couldn’t pass. Increased access to contraception decreases unplanned pregnancy and improves health and economic outcomes for women.... So dismayed by this vote as it really could have helped a lot of women.
S1089 -- Repealing Idaho Code 18-6107, Rape of a Spouse -- PASSED BY SENATE
- The Senate voted unanimously this week in favor of S1089a, to remove some exemptions from Idaho's rape laws, making it clear that spousal rape is rape. The bill has been sent to the House for its consideration.
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Idaho Day Celebration
Thursday, March 4th was Idaho Day! Idaho Day is a commemorative day created by the Idaho State Legislature in 2014 celebrating the “rich history, cultural diversity, unique beauty and boundless resources” of Idaho. The day started with a celebration and music in the Senate with words from the bills original sponsor, former Rep. Linden Bateman of Idaho Falls. There was a virtual happy hour the evening of the 4th titled “100 Years of the People’s House”, commemorating the dedication of the Idaho State Capitol 100 years ago.
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Tune into the Minority Report to get an update on #IDLEG
#IDLEG UPDATE
 SJR102-- The Senate voted 24-11 in favor of SJR 102 which seeks to amend the Idaho Constitution and allow the State Legislature to call themselves into session with the presence of 60% of each house. I opposed this legislation; if the threshold were 2/3 it may be more acceptable. However, with their fixation on gaining power and control, I don't think this is a good idea. If the special session in the fall was a dress rehearsal for special sessions in the future, I don't want to see "opening night."
 .... H226-- The House killed this great bill on a 36-34 vote, which would have allowed the State Board of Education to receive almost $6 million in federal funding to support early childhood education over the course of three years. On the House floor, Rep Shepard stated that he was opposed because it would “make it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child, I don’t think that’s a good direction for us to be going. … We are really hurting the family unit in the process.”
H223 - makes it a felony for a friend of family member to assist with ballot delivery (read voter suppression). So if you help an elderly neighbor deliver a ballot, Rep Moyle's bill makes that a felony! This passed the House and was referred to the Senate State Affairs committee. If you want to make something a felony, how about punish the person who may be destroying ballots instead of preventing people from helping each other? Wow!
 H220 - seeking to halt all public funding, from all levels of government, to Planned Parenthood or any other entity that provides abortions or abortion counseling, or any person or entity affiliated with them, for any purpose. This passed the House and was referred to the Senate State Affairs committee. I'm so tired of the preoccupation on controlling women's health care.
H101 - a bill to deny the Attorney General to provide legal advice to state agencies, which is part of the state budget. This passed the House and is in the Senate State Affairs committee. If this passes, you can undoubtedly expect that taxpayers will foot the bill for more expensive legal fees as people shop around their ideas until they find someone to defend them.
H271 - In its continued power play, the House voted to kill the Attorney General's Budget, a Constitutional Officer elected by the the entire state. With the House GOP behaving this way, there is NO WAY I trust this group to call itself back into session. Wow! Speechless.
H176 - $175M in rental assistance funding to Idaho renters passed the Senate. Finally! The bill only needs to go to the Governor's office for a signature and will be deposited for use soon. NOTE: It has taken 8 weeks to get this money to people in need when it took the governor a mush less time this summer. The legislature is not equipped to work efficiently in an emergency.
S1110 - makes the ballot initiative process nearly impossible by increasing the signature threshold to an unreachable amount so only big money special interest groups could get something on the ballot. This is one more power grab by our legislature. The bill requires 6% of registered voters from all 35 legislative districts, double the current requirements, to sign a petition before a citizen’s initiative can even be placed on the ballot. If it becomes law, even though the voters in 34 legislative districts agree to the importance of an initiative, one district can veto the effort.
Additionally, this week the Senate passed S1150. This bill further restricts the initiative process by requiring all signatures to be gathered in Idaho only. This would take away the initiative rights of those who are Idaho citizens and registered to vote, but are not physically in Idaho such as military service members stationed outside the state, business contractors working outside the state, and students studying abroad. The bill will now move to the House for its consideration.
Senator Ali Rabe's SB 1088, to improve transparency for tenants in Idaho, passed the Senate this week. Thirty percent of Idahoans rent and rental vacancy rates are down to just 1% in many areas of the state, including the Treasure Valley. Currently in state law, landlords can charge fees to tenants without notification--not in the lease or rental agreement, nowhere. S1088aa requires that fees be included in the lease agreement or other written notice and ensures that changes can not be made without a 30 day notice. This transparency measure is an important step for Idaho renters. The bill has now moved to the House for its consideration.
S1081 The House killed the supplemental appropriations bill for the catastrophic fund that pays the bills of indigent patients served in hospitals. Another, "Wow!" is all I can muster.
H216 MEDICAID Expansion budget - this budget got approved in the Senate!
JFAC cuts $400,000 from BSU's higher ed budget over "social justice" concerns. Are you kidding me? Programs that are focused on understanding the history of racism, sexism and other oppressive practices are being targeted and censored. Wow! What's next, a good old fashioned book burning down at the public library? Rep Nash, a JFAC member challenged Rep Giddings and Rep Nate who attacked BSU and read about a private college that just last month hired a director of diversity and inclusion and a long list of priorities for their university to increase unity. Guess the university? Brigham Young University.....
I wish I had more 's to report, but this legislature has truly turned against a government that serves the people and serves its own motives instead. I have never been more disappointed in the legislature that I am this year.
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Driver Authorization Cards - A Moral Imperative
The Senate Transportation Committee had a meaningful bill to consider this week: S1132 would create a method for individuals to get a Driving Authorization Card regardless of your status in the country after supplying documentation of who you are (like a birth certificate) and where you live (utility bill) and demonstrating driving knowledge and skills.
We heard compelling testimony from a wide range of stakeholders who supported the bill: IACI, the largest business organization in the state representing 300 businesses, insurance companies, the Catholic Church, chambers of commerce, the Dairymen's Association, agriculture groups, community members, and some very passionate young students that came to testify all the way from American Falls.
Most people acknowledged that this could increase road safety and increase the feeling of safety as workers use the roads. Studies conducted in states that have adopted similar measures show a substantial reduction in fatalities, hit-and-run accidents, and alcohol-related crashes. This card is not the same as a driver’s license because it merely permits the person to be authorized on the roads—not to vote, not to buy a gun, and it is not an endorsement of a person’s legal status in the U.S. It simply affirms that that person has completed driver competency requirements and can provide documentation they are who they say they are.
In Idaho 3.3% of our workforce are undocumented immigrants and as a group they contribute more than $21 million annually in local and state tax revenue. Additionally, 40% of the agricultural workforce of Idaho are migrant workers, including a whopping 70% of the dairy industry. The myth that this measure would somehow increase the amount of undocumented workers in Idaho quite frankly falls flat because most of our surrounding states, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, California and Utah already provide a driver's authorization cards. Once again, Idaho falls behind in the humane treatment of its citizens and public safety.
The bill sponsor, Sen Vick, made it clear that 50% of the food on our table is provided by undocumented workers. Wages in the dairy industry start at $13.00 per hour, well over minimum wage, yet even in the pandemic when folks were out of work, the Dairymen said they could not get people to work. I translate "people" here to mean "white people" who are citizens. So the issue isn't wages; the issue is that white folks who are in the country legally don't want to do this labor. Period. I worked on a farm in the fields from age 14 - 22; this is hard, back-breaking work that not many people like to do. The wages, quite frankly could be higher, but if we want to continue to have AFFORDABLE food on the table, we better start facing the truth of this issue and treat our workers putting food on our table with a little more dignity. The Catholic Church made it clear, this is a moral issue and one where we need to show compassion and humanity.
A GOP Senator made a motion to hold in committee, so in an effort to compromise, I made a substitute motion to send the bill to the floor of the Senate to allow the whole body to vote. Unfortunately, the republicans on the committee disagreed with their colleague who introduced the bill, and it failed on a party-line vote.
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Speak Out Like a Mother!
The assault on women has continued at the statehouse this week with the House refusing to pass legislation to accept federal grant funding that would increase access to early childhood education and childcare throughout the state. Let me repeat that....the House rejected $6 million to help working families. Speechless!
Rep. Charlie Shepherd, R-Riggins claimed “any bill that makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child, I don’t think that’s a good direction”. After coming under fire, he later walked back these remarks, but the lesson here is that he felt ENTITLED enough to say it in the first place.
The sentiments he shared, the BIAS (whether conscious or unconscious), simmers just under the surface, until it bubbles up in a vote or in this case, a vote and sexist public comment. And he's not the Lone Ranger in the legislature, otherwise more bills would pass that favored women experiences and rights. Sexism is alive and well in the Idaho legislature. We see it in decision after decision. I couldn't even pass a bill to expand access to prescription contraception for women. We don't have full time kindergarten and pre-school because of some of those same sentiments. I have fought year after year to enlighten people about survivors of sexual and domestic violence to the point we couldn't pass a common sense law to keep firearms out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers because of gun rights.
In a "pop up" response on the Statehouse steps, women, with their families and allies, responded to a legislature where the majority party continues to ignore their needs and shows little regard for their everyday life challenges.
I was deeply inspired and profoundly moved by these women who took time to speak out at the very seat of power so intent on ignoring their needs. Never forget that YOUR voice is valuable, and the people writing laws SHOULD work for and with YOU—speak up and hold them to account.
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School Days
Those who have followed me for any length of time will recognize that education is a major priority for me. I had the absolute joy this week of meeting via Zoom the 5th-graders in Ms. Borjian’s class at Hidden Springs Elementary. These incredible young people were wonderful to engage with and I was thrilled to answer their insightful questions about government, politics, and the legislative process.
I also had the privilege of greeting the 5th-graders of Adams Elementary for a Q&A while on a walking field-trip to the capitol. It’s always such a treat to share the People’s House with the youngest citizens of Idaho. One of the greatest honors of my job at the statehouse is introducing the next generation to democracy in action.
It can take a LOT of work to get things done at the Capitol. In the many steps to and from committee, floor, and other various meetings I succeeded in my goal of walking over XXXXXXX steps in the Steps for Schools program. Sponsored by Blue Cross of Idaho, this earned $500.00 for Shadow Hills Elementary School. With an active and engaged student population, I am excited to see how they choose to put the funds to use!
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Family Medicine Residency of Idaho
I recently had the privilege of a guided tour of Family Residency of Idaho’s Raymond Clinic facility led by the Director of Nursing and another nurse. They provided me with a valuable glimpse of their organization, operation, and how this type of community health center benefits growing communities like ours!
Statewide the Idaho Primary Care Association operates 91 clinic sites in 52 communities. These providers offer care to vulnerable populations with a focus on preventative care, managing chronic health conditions, and ensuring quality health outcomes. Idaho’s Community Health Centers administer a variety of services including medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy. As a Qualified Federal Health Center the Raymond Clinic houses some of the most in-need residents through the legislative support program.
I salute these incredible caregivers and the hard work they do to keep Idaho communities safe and healthy—thank you!
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District 19 Town Hall
Our third District 19 town hall was a huge success on Thursday, March 4th! I’m so honored to represent this district with Reps Necochea and Mathias. We had a great turnout of 75 constituents and were able to address some of the wins and losses at the statehouse in the past few weeks as well as answer important questions from our community. Thank you to everyone who showed up to participate! You all keep me going.
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Legislative Resources:
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Eye on Boise: the latest Boise and Capitol news daily by Betsy Z. Russell; get an overall understanding of the main events during the legislative session
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Idaho Legislature Website: the statehouse is open to the public, you are also welcome to join remotely via:
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Remote Testimony: follow this link to register to give online testimony through the committee agendas
Vaccine Updates
Idaho launched a Covid-19 vaccine pre-registration system on March 5. This system allows Idahoans who want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to save their names to a statewide list so that vaccine providers can easily find people who want the vaccine. You must be eligible to get the vaccine, but you can add your name now, and you will be notified when the vaccine is available and you are eligible to receive the vaccine.
Also, the non-profit Crush the Curve now has a chat function, a web form, and a phone line at 208-391-7036 to help people find vaccine appointments.
Vaccinations are currently being administered to Idahoans 65 and older and a variety of frontline workers. Please note that Idaho is now restricting vaccine availability to those who live or work in Idaho.
The Federal Food and Drug Administration approved a third vaccine under an emergency use authorization, late last week. This is a one-dose vaccine developed by Johnson and Johnson. It is being shipped now and should increase available doses in Idaho this month.
Currently, Idaho has 121,561 people who have received the first dose of either Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines and 136,027 people who have received the second dose and are fully vaccinated. In Idaho, we have administered 79% of the doses provided to the state.
Sign Up for Health Insurance
Your Health Idaho has announced a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) from March 1 through March 31, 2021. During this time, any uninsured Idahoan who meets exchange eligibility will be able to sign up for comprehensive health insurance coverage that begins April 1, 2021.
To enroll, visit Your Health Idaho or call 1-855-944-3246 with questions.
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