The Idaho legislature adjourned its overtime session over the weekend.
But the failure of lawmakers to address an issue having to do with child support payments could bring them back to the Capitol.
At issue is an international treaty whereby countries, including the United States, agree to enforce each others’ child support orders. Some conservative Idaho lawmakers argued this could put the state in a position of enforcing Sharia Law.
That was enough to kill the bill in the final hours of the legislative session. As a result, Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare said the state could immediately lose $16 million in federal funding, along with access to databases that help Idaho collect child support payments.
A spokeswoman for the agency said they’re in talks with the federal government. She added that they’re already hearing from Idaho families worried about not receiving payments.
Meanwhile, the controversy has resulted in some intra-party feuding between Republicans who exchanged barbed emails over the weekend. One Republican supporter of the measure is already calling for lawmakers to return to the Capitol to address the issue.
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