Gov. Brad Little says he will call a special legislative session in Boise later this month, but it’s unclear what lawmakers will take up.
The governor’s office set the special legislative session for the week of Aug. 24, according to a press release, though topics legislators will discuss likely won’t be finalized until the week before.
State lawmakers have already been drafting legislation they think is critical to take up before the next regular session begins in January.
County clerks say they need changes to Idaho law that would allow them to combine polling places to allow for physical distancing and the ability to count absentee ballots earlier than they can now.
Lawmakers want to reign in Gov. Little’s executive authority during future emergency declarations. And schools want legal immunity from liability issues related to the coronavirus.
The most recent special session took place in 2015. Some legislators had initially balked at a bill that would’ve brought Idaho’s child custody system in line with an international treaty, endangering $46 million in federal funding.
They claimed the proposal would’ve subjected Idaho citizens to Sharia law practiced in some Muslim majority countries, which legal experts said was not true.
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