By Melissa Davlin, Idaho Reports
While the House was at ease to add in amendments to Senate Bill 1205 — changing the Senate legislation into a previously rejected House version that would force both bodies to approve administrative rules — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Winder told reporters in no uncertain terms that the amended bill was dead on arrival.
Why? First of all, the Senate had already rejected the House’s proposal about two months ago, Winder said. He also cited previous administrative rules fights, such as one over whether climate change should go into Idaho’s public school curriculum.
“In that case, I think common sense prevailed,” Winder said. He doesn’t want to give the House more authority over the rules.
Also dead on arrival? House Bill 303, which resurrects part of the previously vetoed voter initiative bill. Winder said he supports the idea of the legislation, which would require initiatives to have a fiscal note and funding source, as well as focus on a single topic. But, he said, it’s too late in the session to consider it. Expect it to come back next year.
Does the House have any recourse? They just passed their last appropriations bill — the budget for the State Board of Education — but they will have to approve the trailer bills for the Medicaid work requirements appropriations passed out of the joint budget committee on Tuesday.
In other words, this isn’t over yet. (But all signs point to sine die. And we all hope that’s the case.)
