Senator Melissa Wintrow
Senate Minority Leader
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WEEK 8 - LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
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REST IN PEACE
GOVERNOR PHIL BATT
March 4, 1927 - March 4, 2023
It's fitting that Governor Phil Batt passed away on Idaho Day, a day commemorating our love of Idaho. He is one of our greatest leaders. I had the honor of organizing Idaho Day last year and Gov. Batt joined us in the Senate; we celebrated his life and a choir performed his original music. I always respected his accomplishments, but I never knew what a talented musician he was!
I only met him a few times, but I was always moved by his presence. Thank you for your service to Idaho!
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YOUNG VOTERS AND ACCESS TO THE BALLOT
GOV'T SHOULDN'T BE MAKING IT HARDER TO VOTE
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I was honored to join Idaho Young Democrats and student leaders who held a press conference on Friday denouncing efforts to make it harder for young people to vote.
 H124 eliminates student photo IDs as an acceptable form of identification at the polls. Despite zero known cases of fraud or misuse with alternative forms of identification, this overly burdensome photo ID law risks depriving otherwise eligible Idahoans of their right to vote.
Idaho has seen the highest growth in registration for voters 18 and 19 years old in the nation, with a 66% increase from 2018. The rise in youth participation has been followed by efforts to prevent college students and other young people from voting. HB 124 is one of several Republican-led attempts to put barriers in front of the ballot box during the 2023 legislative session. It will be heard on the Senate floor next week and will probably pass.
“Make no mistake, Idaho elections have a proud history of being safe and fair. There is no evidence of voter fraud or student IDs being used in a way that is less safe," said Idaho Young Democrats President Kaylee Peterson. “However, it is not the first example of the Idaho Legislature offering up solutions to non-problems — and only by doing this have they whittled away at the constitutional rights of every young adult in this state.”
GOP legislators continue to justify ballot restrictions, gaslighting voters about the "big lie" of rampant voter fraud. There is no rampant voter fraud! Instead, there are legislators who deny the data indicating that our election processes are secure, and continue to whittle away at our rights and access to the ballot.
I continue to fight alongside students to protect their rights and access to government.
Watch the press conference by clicking here...
There have been about a dozen bills introduced by GOP lawmakers that would result in more restrictions to the ballot including attacks on absentee voting and the initiative process.
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Rollback of No-Excuse Absentee Voting
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HB 205 repeals our decades-old right to cast mail-in ballots without having to give a reason. No-excuse absentee voting has been in effect since 1970. It is a safe, secure, and popular way to cast a ballot in Idaho. During the 2022 general election, 129,210 Idahoans made the decision to vote by mail, a majority of which were registered Republicans. This bill would make it harder for Idahoans — particularly people living in rural communities, the elderly, students, and people with disabilities — to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot.
Fight voter suppression efforts in Idaho by contacting your state legislators today!
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THE MOST DANGEROUS BILL
OF THE SESSION PASSES
Our fundamental right to the initiative and referendum process is under attack again by the Idaho Legislature. This shouldn’t surprise anybody. Since Idahoans voted in 1912 to add to the Constitution their initiative and referendum rights, the Idaho Legislature has historically shown disdain for the process every time the voters use it successfully.
Between 1984 and 2021, for example, the Legislature made five attempts to take away the people’s rights to the initiative process or make it harder.
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IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE ....
CHILD CARE FUNDING VOTED DOWN (I'm so mad!)
JFAC voted on Monday to remove about $38 million from state budgets for the coming year that would have gone to child care providers and to efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect. With the costs of child care increasing at alarming rates, this is a huge hit to families just trying to make ends meet. Instead of fighting about bathrooms and human sexuality, how about help families with the real needs they have?!?
S1056 MILITIA BILL PASSED (I am still in shock!)
Senate State Affairs passed a bill on party lines that will empower the growth of militias in our state. Sen Foreman admitted that was the affect/purpose of the bill and the committee still passed it! I'm shocked and dismayed because of Idaho's history of racism and association with the Aryan Nation in northern Idaho. We need to learn from our history instead of repeating it.
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A LITTLE GOOD NEWS ON A CLOSE CALL
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A BILL TO ELIMINATE A MARRIAGE LICENSE FAILS by 1 VOTE
S1025, sponsored by Sen Herndon, thankfully failed by one vote on Friday after a long debate. Sen Herndon doesn't want government involved in marriage, which doesn't sound all that bad. However, I fear that once we take the county clerk out of the picture and only have an 'officiant' verify the parties' identities and ages, he may want to come back and define who can become an officiant. I can just see certain people wanting to limit that role to certain clergy which could limit gay marriage. I've learned from experience that some folks patiently chip away at laws until they get what they want, and Sen Herndon's first bills of the session revealed his priorities: forced pregnancies with no exception for abortions even in cases of rape/incest and anti-trans legislation around bathroom use. The county clerks' legislative committee met and opposed the bill due to their concerns of the potential to exploit minors and vulnerable adults. I worked so hard on child marriage laws to let this bill put more minors in harms way.
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BILLS ATTACKING FIRST AMENDMENT/LIBRARY CONTENT HELD IN COMMITTEE
After three hours of heated debate and after the state police had to pay a visit to the committee, two bills aimed at prohibiting harmful material in libraries were held in committee.
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H139 bans “harmful materials” from libraries and imposes fines on libraries that violate the ban. H227 requires libraries to implement policies for selecting and removing materials, and for parents to question materials or restrict their child’s access. HB 227 does not codify any civil or criminal penalties.
These bills are part of a series of bills that seek to ban certain content deemed "inappropriate" in public libraries. That content: any character or discussion of the LGBTQ community. Some bill supporters accused librarians of "grooming" kids, which is so offensive. It is so dangerous to censor content in public libraries and if parents don't want to read certain content nor want their kids to read it, then don't read it or supervise your children.
Blaine Conzatti and the conservative GOP have made it clear that they do not support any lifestyle associated with being LGBTQ and have been passing policies about bathroom use, banning "drag shows," and their attempt at Florida's, "don't say gay" bill S1071.
Rep Judy Boyle left committee and hasn't returned yet, because she was angry the bills didn't advance. I can't imagine how many times I would have had to leave committee for all the terrible bills passed that I voted against! When you are in the supermajority, it's hard to take a loss, I guess.
I'm thankful these bills have not advanced and look forward to the day that the GOP stops attacking free speech and our libraries.
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S1038 - ESA/VOUCHERS -- DEFEATED
After a lot of debate, the Senate voted down the ESA/ School Voucher Bill. This is great news for our public schools and all of the teachers and students who go there. Idaho already has some of the best school choice options in the country. We will take this as a win and keep fighting for Idaho's education!
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I enjoyed hanging out with constituents at the Refugee Appreciation Lunch this week. It was on the same day that we passed my bill S1094 out of the Senate that provides a pathway to medical residencies for physicians who are Refugees! Yay!
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I ran into Monica (on the left) a former student of mine who is now working to make the community a better place!
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Connected with the Idaho Coalition for HIV Health and Safety as they educated legislators in the Statehouse.
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District 19 Town Hall
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023 AT 6:00 PM MST
Idaho State Capitol, Lincoln Auditorium (700 W Jefferson St, 83702)
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Hear from your District 19 legislators Senator Melissa Wintrow, Representative Lauren Necochea, and Representative Chris Mathias, on how the 2023 legislative session is going. Please email idahod19democrats@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. |
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