What are we all still doing here? 

• HB220 which denies any public funds to entities or physicians that provide abortions. Let me be clear, no public funding goes towards safe/legal abortions as it is. This bill is another attempt to restrict a woman’s liberty to access a safe and legal abortion. In January 1973, the United State Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade that the Constitution of the United States protects a woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. It struck down many U.S. federal and state abortion laws and it is the law of the land.
  
  We now have over 50 years of Supreme Court precedent upholding a woman's right to choose, and it has been reaffirmed time after time -- in Planned Parenthood v Casey in 1992, in Whole Women's Health in 2016, and as recently as this last summer in June Medical v Russo. And just a few weeks ago a similar 6 week ban was struck down in South Carolina by U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis.
  
  Judge Geiger Lewis said in her decision “...law libraries are chock-full of judicial opinions affirming a woman’s right to abort a pregnancy before viability, although the authoring judges and justices of those decisions were and are personally fiercely opposed to woman having such a right. Those judges’ and justices’ individual opinions on the matter was and is immaterial to their rulings. And, that is as it should be.
   
• HB316 which will revise provisions for health districts and gets rid of the CAT fund and requires people to enroll for Medicaid or get on the insurance exchange. I opposed this bill due to a lack of stakeholder engagement AND the risk to involuntary holds regarding behavioral health cases. The amendments will delay the law going into effect until March 1, 2022, in hopes that we can work out some of these issues. I suggested to simply run a different bill next session, but leadership prefers this way. I will keep a close eye on this process to be sure that we aren't harming people or behavioral health care facilities.
   
• SB1111a amending law to hold local elections on even years. I voted for the original version of this bill but the House made "hostile" amendments that would have negative impacts on local election processes and increase partisanship. Mayors all over the state have been writing me about the problems. I hope that this bill does not move forward as is; I will vote against the amendments. 
   
• HB362 which will increase transportation funding through sales tax. I wrote at length about this bill last week. This appears to be what the majority party calls "the hostage bill" that won't be heard until the House clears the bills that the Senate would like.  Games again. 

Polls Patrol -- Voters' Access to the Ballot

The 2021 legislative session is unprecedented in the blatant power grab by the legislature in efforts to consolidate power to its benefit. Not content with merely stripping the Governor of emergency powers, the legislature has also set its sights on Idaho voters. Here are some of the voting and election bills that have been introduced this session.

• S1110: Citizen Ballot Initiatives--  I voted in opposition to this bill that effectively strips Idaho citizens of the ability to bring citizen initiatives to the ballot. The increased requirements to an already onerous process are simply ill-spirited and meant specifically to permanently preclude voters from bringing the question of medical marijuana to the ballot. In a not-so-stunning turn of hypocrisy Gov. Little signed this terrible bill into law mere days after asking the legislature to sustain his veto of bills shifting power away from the Governor’s office.
  
  I reluctantly voted to sustain the veto of S1136 that clipped the Governor's authority, but not after letting him and the Senate know how displeased I was with their fight for power INSTEAD of focusing on what the people need -- PROPERTY TAX RELIEF.  That's all I hear about and we still haven't addressed this need even after the Democrats have been trying to push legislation forward.  
  
  My floor statement before casting my vote:  "Interestingly, this vote is about who has the power to run our government. This legislature dedicates itself to shredding power norms. And the the gentleman on the second floor is intent on helping the legislature do so. I find it deeply troubling that the gentleman on the second floor wants my help to protect his power and yet won't help save the power afforded to our citizens. The only thing worse than that hypocrisy is this body's hypocrisy. This entire session has been about power consolidation, something I do not support.
  
  Therefore, while I am embarrassed by this body's attempt to strip everyone they disagree with of their power to govern, I will vote to uphold the gentleman's veto."
  
  There were 30 bills introduced this legislative session to address irrational fears about "election fraud" (which has never been legitimately proven) and to limit or constrict voter access to the ballot. Thankfully, there are many bills still stuck in committee or that have failed in one body, but it's alarming to see the number of bills introduced in efforts to make voting more difficult. Here are a few bills left:
   
• HB255: Additional Voter ID Requirement --This is another misguided bill that would create extra steps in elections that are simply unnecessary. Idaho does not have a voter fraud problem and this a prime example of the legislature proposing a solution without a problem.  
   
• HB223: Ballot Delivery -- I oppose this legislation because it would make criminals out of Good Samaritans. This bill would prohibit an individual from delivering a ballot belonging to someone else. The bill’s statement of purpose admits that this is not an issue in Idaho but proponents are exploiting the Big Lie to further disenfranchise Idaho voters. If you want to address fraud, then create a penalty for people who tamper with a ballot. This passed the house, but it awaiting the amending order in the Senate. 
   
• HB299: Prohibits Extra Credit for Voting -- This bill would prohibit universities and colleges from offering extra credit for voting. This is a fine line for me since I work at a university; we want students to vote, but we don't want someone offer a reward that could be misconstrued as favoring a specific candidate or issue. This does not preclude faculty from informing students of how to vote and get registered; it does disallow any type of points or grade reward for going.  This passed both chambers.
   
• S1166: Same Day Voter Registration Restrictions and Provisional Ballots -- Fortunately this bill appears to be languishing in committee, but should this rear its ugly head I will vote opposed to it. Voter access is foundational to a functioning democracy and we should be making it easier not harder to vote.
   
• H355: Names on the Ballot -- Candidate names for federal, state, county, and city offices are rotated on election ballots. For all other offices candidate names appear on the ballot in a random, but fixed order. The purpose of this legislation is to rotate candidate names on ballots in other races where the number of registered voters within a political entity exceeds 100,000. This is a great bill that Rep Nash put forward but is stuck in State Affairs. 

•  SB1183 - 6 Week Abortion Ban -- Unfortunately this legislation headed to the Governor’s desk on Wednesday. I am continually dismayed by the attempts this session to infringe upon a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and remain steadfast in advocating for a woman’s right to choose what is best for her and her health. 
   
•  SB1211 - Killing Wolves -- A bill was introduced to increase the amount of wolves allowed to be killed to 90%. A reported 1,500 wolves roam in Idaho right now and the goal is for 150 to be maintained. This goal will be achieved by hiring contractors to kill the wolves as well as allowing people interested in killing wolves to hunt basically year round. I know that most ranchers favor this bill, but there are other ways to deal with wolf depredation than what may decimate the population. This bill passed the Senate quickly and is in the House. I voted against it. 
   
•  S1205 - Firearms and Federal Government -- The second amendment is NOT under attack in Idaho, but based on legislation being proposed by some of my colleagues at the statehouse, you understandably may think it is. Senate Bill 1205  is, to put it bluntly, feels like a piece of insurrectionist legislation. There are those who believe we are truly in a battle with the government and worry about excessive overreach in gun regulation, locally but mostly on the federal level. This is simply not true—Idaho has some of the strongest protections for firearm owners and more legislation gets introduced each session to make those laws more lax and lenient. However, even without this insidious intent, the effect of this law would be chilling in situations that put the most vulnerable among us at risk. A prohibition on local law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities will lead to unintended consequences for victims of violent crime at the precise moment when our government should be protecting them. So, if a sheriff or police officer is asked to assist a federal agent in a domestic violence incident involving firearms and they help protect the victim by taking a firearm or working with federal agents, they will be fined $1000 dollars and charged with a misdemeanor.