Idaho Republican legislators want to call themselves into session? They must be joking
It is only fitting that Idaho’s Republican legislators would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would allow them to call themselves into a special session during the worst regular session in Idaho history.
The House and Senate voted on straight party lines to put the constitutional amendment before voters in November 2022, needing a simple majority in that general election.
Given the state of the current legislative session, we can’t help but think that if that election were held today, this measure would go down in flames in a landslide.
As it stands now, only the governor can call the Legislature back into an extraordinary session, and for very specific reasons. Gov. Brad Little did just that last year to allow the Legislature to discuss elections and liability reform amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a sign that the Idaho Legislature can’t be trusted with this responsibility, even when legislators were called into extraordinary session to discuss those two items — and those two items only — they still went ahead and tried to pass a resolution declaring an end to the pandemic emergency that had been declared by Little.
They can’t even be trusted to do the right thing when they go into an extraordinary session under the existing rules. We see no good reason to expand those powers without assurances that those powers won’t be abused.
The resolution, if passed by voters, would allow the Legislature to convene itself into an extraordinary session within 15 days of a written request of 60% each of the House and Senate membership.
When Idaho voters are asked to pass a bond measure, it requires a two-thirds supermajority vote to pass. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If legislators think it should be so hard to pass a bond, it should also be at least that difficult to call themselves into a special session. As it is, 60% is simply too low of a threshold.
As we’ve seen this session, legislators’ irresponsibility can translate into taxpayer expense. Republican legislators refused to wear masks or socially distance during the session, which led to a COVID-19 outbreak among legislators and staffers, resulting in a two-week recess that cost taxpayers $300,000.
Legislative expenses for a special session called by the Legislature are estimated at $21,300 per day. Since Republican legislators have shown no regard for spending taxpayer money, we have no assurance that legislators would be fettered by concern for the taxpayer when considering calling a special session.
This session, as well, threatens to be the longest in state history, having surpassed 100 days this week and quickly approaching the record of 118 days set in 2009.
Republican legislators have proved unable to stay focused. It is April, and legislators are still printing new bills — and still doing so without addressing the most important business. The chances of a special session called by the Legislature going off the rails is extremely high.
It’s worth noting that the Republican legislators who voted to expand their powers through this constitutional amendment are the same lawmakers who voted to limit your powers through the initiative process. If they had their way, it would be harder for citizens to enact legislation but even easier for legislators.
While we’re on the subject of the initiative process, legislators passed the bill that requires voters in every legislative district in the state to sign off on any ballot initiative before it gets to voters. By those standards, this constitutional amendment shouldn’t reach the ballot, because legislators were not able to get a sign-off from every legislative district. Fifteen representatives and 11 senators voted against the constitutional amendment, so it should be dead in the water, according to the standards they’ve imposed on citizens.
If anything, we’d rather see the Legislature meet less often, not more often.
If voters’ memories are long enough by the November 2022 election, this amendment should fail miserably — and that’s what it deserves.
Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are publisher Rusty Dodge, opinion editor Scott McIntosh, editor Chadd Cripe and newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members J.J. Saldaña and Christy Perry.
