Idaho libraries bill passes House after tense floor debate

The Idaho House of Representatives in session at the State Capitol building in Boise on Jan. 23, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)

A bill that would require Idaho public and school libraries to move materials deemed harmful to children, or face lawsuits, passed the Idaho House on Wednesday.

House Bill 710 follows years of attempts by the Idaho Legislature to regulate materials deemed harmful to children in Idaho libraries. Idaho Republican House lawmakers clashed over whether there’s an issue with libraries distributing “harmful materials” to minors in a tense floor debate. 

That followed opposition against the bill when it was introduced Monday, including from Idaho librarians. Some called the bill unneeded, saying local relocation policies handle community complaints, while others worried it would strain libraries.

The Idaho House approved House Bill 712 on a 47-23 vote, with 12 House Republicans joining all 11 House Democrats in opposition. 

House Bill 710, backed by Republican legislative leaders, now heads to the Idaho Senate. Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, R-Boise, and House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, co-sponsored the bill. 

Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, told House lawmakers the bill codifies a relocation policy for Idaho libraries. 

“To sit there and say that this does not exist in Idaho libraries is patently false,” said Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, who called the bill good policy. “If it doesn’t, you have nothing to be afraid of.”

Brent Crane also pointed out that this was the third year the Idaho Legislature has sought bills to regulate materials in Idaho libraries. 

House Bill 710 would allow children or their parents to file a legal claim against a public or school library if they obtain materials deemed harmful to minors. That’s if libraries don’t move materials within 30 days of receiving a request to relocate the material “to a section designated for adults only.” Children or parents could receive $250 in statutory damages, along with actual damages and other relief, such as injunctive relief, under the bill.

Bill follows years of library materials bills in Idaho Legislature

In 2022, a bill that critics said could lead to librarians being prosecuted for checking out materials deemed harmful to minors passed the Idaho House on a 51-14 vote, but did not advance in the Idaho Senate. And last year, Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoed a bill that would have allowed parents to sue libraries or schools for up to $2,500 in statutory damages if they provided “harmful materials” to minors.

“If this doesn’t pass, we’re going back to that bill,” Brent Crane said. “This issue is going to get solved one way or the other. You better pick which one you like.”

Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, listens to debate on the House floor at the Idaho Capitol on April 6, 2021. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)

Brent Crane told the Idaho Capital Sun there was a strong push to remove the exemption for distributing Idaho harmful materials for librarians that had some support in the Senate. Crane said he pushed his brother, Jaron Crane, to pursue his own legislation on libraries.

House Bill 710 was introduced Monday, weeks after the Idaho Senate rejected by one vote Senate Bill 1289, a library materials bill that involved a review process that critics called complicated. House Bill 710 is an amended version of House Bill 384, a library bill introduced in January but that didn’t advance while the Senate Bill advanced.

Jaron Crane had also co-sponsored Senate Bill 1289.

Legislators spar on whether library materials are an issue

Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, wondered how the bill would impact small, rural one-room libraries that couldn’t add a new library section. She said she could get behind the bill if it only dealt with schools, but she said public libraries have to serve the entire community.

“It’s a bridge too far for me to cross,” McCann said.

McCann also said she worried “of us saying to parents, we are going to decide what your children can and can’t read from the state level.” 

Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, said parents could still decide what their children read.

“If you want to go to an adult book store and buy your children this kind of garbage, we’re not preventing that. But we should not be using taxpayer dollars for this and then taking the chance of other children seeing this kind of garbage,” Boyle said.

Rep. Kenny Wroten, R-Nampa, suggested the bill could cause chaos.

“Bad times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men and weak men create chaos. And that’s what we’ve got here,” he said. “That’s what you’ll cause with your public libraries that have a responsibility to the whole community and your schools.”

What the bill would do

The bill would rely on Idaho’s existing definition of materials harmful to minors, which includes “any act of … homosexuality” under its definition of sexual conduct. 

The bill would also amend Idaho’s legal definition of materials harmful to minors. One of those amendments would be to add a definition of schools that includes “public and private school” that provide K-12 instruction.

Under the bill, a county prosecuting attorney or attorney general would have cause of action for “injunctive relief against any school or public library” that violates the bill’s ban on promoting, giving or making available to children material that’s considered harmful to minors.

The bill would require libraries to have a form for people to request review of materials.

The bill outlines two affirmative defenses to civil causes of action: A reasonable cause to believe that the minor was at least age 18, like a driver’s license; or verification that the minor was accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. 

If passed, the bill would take effect July 1, 2024.

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