The Idaho Legislature has officially adjourned after the House failed to override Gov. Brad Little’s veto on a bill that would’ve let families sue libraries for lending “obscene materials.”
The attempted override failed by a single vote, 46-24. Negating a gubernatorial veto takes two-thirds of the body to pass.
Rep. Brooke Green (D-Boise) originally voted against the bill when it cleared the House 40-30 last month, but said she mistakenly voted for the override. Green tried to change her vote later in the day, but failed due to procedural rules.
The others who flipped their votes include House Majority Caucus Chair Dustin Manwaring (R-Pocatello) and Reps. Chris Allgood (R-Caldwell), Marco Erickson (R-Idaho Falls), Clay Handy (R-Burley), Steve Miller (R-Fairfield).
Debate over whether libraries are peddling smut to children or are simply lending books with LGBTQ characters, sex-ed materials and other illustrated novels that depict nudity has dominated this session.
Other hot button social issues took their fair share of headlines, including outlawing gender-affirming care for minors, implementing the nation’s first “abortion trafficking” statute and a proposed ban on public drag shows, which failed to gain traction in the state Senate.
Interest groups are poised to file lawsuits challenging those first two laws, something Speaker Mike Moyle (R-Star) said is part of the process, even if it costs taxpayers significant amounts of money.
“We know where the citizens are. We pass the legislation to address the concerns of the majority of the citizens,” said Moyle. “Now you have to let the courts weigh in.”
Lawmakers did successfully override another of Gov. Little’s vetoes of a bill targeting property tax relief.
The multifaceted compromise directs a portion of Idaho’s sales tax revenue to be split among qualified homeowners every year and deducted from their property tax balance. However, it would not affect any local bonds or levies approved in each district.
Another lump sum of cash will go towards paying down school bonds and levies across the state, but that allocation is only one-time.
In exchange, school districts will no longer be able to run bond and levy elections in March, which has historically been the most successful date.
A compromise law on Idaho’s strict abortion carve outs also cleared the governor’s desk. It explicitly states that ectopic pregnancies, which are unviable fetuses that develop outside the womb, and miscarriages that need to be extracted are not considered abortions.
Part of that statute formerly gave doctors “affirmative defenses” they could use to defend themselves in criminal court over providing an abortion, which has since been removed.
“What we got was, I think, what everyone could agree on and not everyone liked, which is often the case with legislation,” said House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma (R-Hammett), who spearheaded negotiations on the bill.
It didn’t go far enough for Democrats and some Republicans, though, who want a pregnant mother to have the option of an abortion if their health or fertility is at risk – not just if her life is in danger.
Blanksma said negotiations will continue.
Democrats blasted Republicans on this issue and several others, saying the life of a fetus is valued more than that of the mother. An example they point to is the shuttering of a state maternal mortality review committee that would’ve tracked deaths of pregnant women who weren’t allowed to get abortions.
Several bills also included the ability for a person to sue drag show performers, organizers, libraries and other entities in civil court, a trend House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) finds troubling.
“Which is, again, dangerously starting to create this almost North Korea-style informant state of turning neighbor against neighbor and incentivizing these potentially frivolous and abusive lawsuits,” Rubel said.
Just because lawmakers are headed home now doesn’t mean they won’t be back later this year. Voters approved a constitutional amendment last November that lets legislators call themselves back into session if 60% of the House and Senate agree on an issue.
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