Idaho politicos rally support and opposition for constitutional amendment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 2, 2022

Boise, ID —

“In Great Britain, the king could control when Parliament could meet and when it could be dissolved. Our Founding Fathers knew British history, and they knew that no king or executive should be able to choose when the People’s representatives could meet. They gave Congress the power to meet without the President’s consent.

“Unfortunately, Idaho did not give its legislature the same power. Today, Idaho remains one of only thirteen states where a governor gets to determine when and for what purpose the legislature shall meet. This historic anomaly will be corrected by a ‘yes’ vote on SJR 102, a ballot initiative being put to the voters this Tuesday.

“SJR 102 will allow the legislature to call itself into special session, rather than plead with a chief executive for permission. SJR 102 corrects Idaho’s historic error and puts the legislative and executive powers on equal footing.

“It should come as no surprise that Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry (IACI) is working overtime to block SJR 102’s passage. Of course, no one expects IACI to understand constitutional nuance. After all, when they’re not raising money for kids’ drag queen shows or handing over Idaho’s good paying jobs to replacement labor from abroad, IACI does all that it can to aggrandize the powers of the chief executive at the expense of the People’s representatives in the legislature. IACI is a lobbying firm that wants to advance the interests of big banks, taxpayer subsidized multinational corporations, and Facebook. For IACI, your Idaho legislature is an obstacle to get around.

“But our state legislature reflects the will of Idaho’s hard-working men and women. Special interests, like Mark Zuckerberg’s friends at IACI, want to prevent the legislature from working freely on your behalf. Vote ‘yes’ on SJR 102 on Tuesday to ensure that YOUR representatives have the freedom to convene for YOU, when they choose.

“As Chair of the Idaho GOP, I know all too well that Republicans of good-faith can come to different conclusions on important matters like amending our constitution. But this issue is at the very heart of meaningful separation of powers and our representative republican form of government — and, after being inundated with inquiries, I felt obliged to give my perspective.”

Dorothy Moon, 

Chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party

Oct. 31, 2022

“A small question on your November ballot could have big, detrimental consequences for Idahoans if approved.

“Idaho legislators want you, the voters, to amend our Idaho Constitution and allow them to easily call themselves back into session, setting the stage for a fulltime Legislature like California and other left-leaning states.

“Idahoans need to VOTE NO on SJR 102.

“I won’t just be voting no on SJR 102. I’ll be voting HELL NO!

“As a former conservative Republican governor, I know firsthand you don’t want to mess with a good thing. For more than 130 years, our parttime citizen legislature has played a critical role in keeping our state on track.

“Idaho is the least regulated state in the country.

“Our economy is booming even amid historic inflation.

“Decades of fiscal conservatism, limited government, kitchen table economics, and a business-friendly approach have positioned our state for enormous prosperity and the ability to withstand any downturn in the economy.

“Controlling spending, cutting red tape, and reining in government – like we’ve done for years in Idaho – would be impossible with an overactive legislative branch.

“Simply put, more legislative activity equals more government meddling and more regulations. Less legislative activity equals less government and fewer regulations. It is just common sense.

“The least regulated states – like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and North Dakota – have truly parttime citizen legislators. They are everyday people who come to the Capitol to represent their districts on a limited basis and crank out the people’s work in a transparent, open process.

“The most regulated states – think California, New York, Ohio, Washington, and Oregon – see constant interference from lawmakers, only adding dysfunction and division.

“Do we want Idaho to become like our neighbors to the West? California, Washington, and Oregon?

“Or do we want Idaho to STAY like our freedom-minded, limited government neighbor states such as Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota?

“Look at Utah. Just four years ago, the voters amended their state’s Constitution to allow the Utah Legislature to call itself back into session. Since then, the Utah Legislature has held 15 legislative sessions!

“Now the Idaho Legislature is asking you to pass SJR 102 and set an even lower bar than Utah’s to call themselves back.

“SJR 102 requires only 60-percent of the Idaho Legislature to sign off on coming back; Utah requires two-thirds.

“SJR 102 has no requirement for limiting the duration of a special session; Utah’s special sessions cannot exceed 10 days.

“SJR 102 has no limit on the issues that can be considered; Utah at least requires a fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster, or other emergency.

“Our system here in Idaho works just fine the way it is. It has worked well since statehood.

“Idahoans need to VOTE NO on SJR 102 and resist government growth.

“Idahoans need to VOTE NO on SJR 102 and stand up against wasting taxpayer money.

“Idahoans need to VOTE NO on SJR 102 and defend our Constitution!”

“The three of us participated in one or more of the three branches of Idaho’s government for decades and, as they say, we have ‘seen it all.’ Well, except a legislative power grab so brazen as Senate Joint Resolution 102 (SJR 102), which would allow the Legislature to call itself into special session upon the request of 60 percent of the members of each House.

“The special session could only consider the ‘subjects’ listed in the request petition, but it is not hard to envision how that would work. Legislators wanting to get some favorable publicity in an election year would start a petition to meet on their favored ‘subjects,’ a rather inclusive word. If the petition listed ‘taxes,’ the special session could consider proposals throughout the state’s voluminous tax code. Other legislators might say they would sign the petition only if the subject of ‘health care’ or “education’ or whatever else was to be considered. In other words, getting the required 60 percent could entail listing practically every subject under the sun.

“A special session called by the governor under our Constitution can only last a maximum of 20 days. The special session he recently called lasted just one day. A special session called by the Legislature under SJR 102 could last for days, weeks or months, opening up the possibility of a full-time Idaho Legislature.

“The Idaho Legislature conducted a test-run of their idea last year. In clear violation of the Idaho Constitution, which allows only the governor to call a special session, the House simply refused to say it had concluded business and claimed it could remain in session until the end of the year. First, if it really does have such power already, why does it need SJR 102? Second, look at the fiasco that occurred when it did reconvene in November for no good reason. The House saw the introduction of 29 bills, none of which made it through the legislative process. It was merely political theater, which wasted $100,000 of taxpayer money.

“When Idaho’s constitutional framers were meeting in Boise in 1889, they were not certain how often the Legislature should meet to consider state business. They were wary of having the body in session more than absolutely necessary. Some proposed the Legislature meet every other year, while others contended every third year would suffice. Some even thought every fourth year would be enough. The framers decided to try every other year, figuring they could always go to triennial sessions if that was too often. They provided for the governor to call special sessions in case an emergency arose between sessions. In 1968, legislators convinced voters to approve a constitutional amendment providing for annual sessions.

“Granting the governor the exclusive right to call special sessions was one element of the concept of governmental checks and balances, which was of paramount importance to the framers. They would not have dreamed of giving the Legislature the power to call itself into session. The Legislature demonstrated the folly of that idea with its shameful, wasteful rump session last year. There was absolutely no emergency to be dealt with. Many just wanted to use the gathering to snipe at the governor for measures taken earlier to combat the pandemic. Most all of those measures had lapsed by the time the session was held in violation of the Constitution.

“The Legislature has become dysfunctional in recent years, choosing to devote much of its time to tilting with meaningless culture war windmills. Important concerns of the voters — like providing for construction and maintenance of public school facilities, which the Constitution requires the state to do, or providing property tax relief to homeowners — are neglected. Approval of SJR 102 would only add to the problem of legislative malfeasance.

“Please vote NO on SJR 102.”

Ben Ysursa served as Idaho secretary of state from 2003 to 2015. He served as deputy in the office from 1974 to 1976 and as chief deputy from 1976 to 2002. Bruce Newcomb served 20 years in the Idaho House of Representatives (1996 through 2006) and was speaker of the house for eight years (1999 through 2006). Jim Jones served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as a justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017).

Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

November 4, 2022

“If Idaho’s framers wanted the governor to write laws and spend Idahoans’ money, they would have written those responsibilities into the Idaho Constitution—but they didn’t. Indeed, a major virtue of Idaho’s government is how it separates the executive and legislative branches with the principle of the Legislature as the law-writing and appropriating branch, and the executive branch to faithfully execute those laws. 

“Unfortunately, Gov. Brad Little’s actions during the Covid pandemic revealed weaknesses in the separation of powers in Idaho’s government. The Legislature, seeing those weaknesses, acted by passing SJR102, a Constitutional Amendment for restoring and preserving the Legislature’s lawmaking and spending authority.

“The constitutional amendment would allow the Legislature to call itself back into a limited session if 60% of the members of both bodies signed a written petition requesting it. SJR 102 would also limit subjects lawmakers could consider during a special session. 

“Why is this necessary?

“Recall in 2020, during the pandemic, how Governor Brad Little declared an emergency and called a series of press conferences to issue stay-at-home orders, declare some Idahoans as essential and others as non-essential, close churches, close schools, and close some businesses (but not state liquor stores). He even threatened some businesses with losing their licenses if they defied his ‘orders.’ The ’emergency’ was extended month after month. Many in the Legislature wanted to protect businesses, schools, and churches from these unprecedented orders by the governor, but they couldn’t because only the governor may call for an extraordinary legislative session. The Legislature was hobbled, and the governor was empowered. 

“Further, after the 2020 legislative session concluded in March, the U.S. Congress approved COVID relief funds. At that time, it was estimated by Little that Idaho would receive $1.25 billion — much more was ultimately provided, but this was the initial amount. Rather than call the Legislature back into session to have the Legislature (representing the people across Idaho) appropriate the money, the governor announced the formation of a Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee to oversee the distribution of this huge sum of money. The governor picked the committee members and appropriated the money before the next session convened in January 2021. Had the Legislature been able to call themselves back into session, they could have and would have acted in their proper role of appropriating Idaho budget money. 

“Many have forgotten how the governor also extended the deadline for the May 19^th, 2020, primary (mail-in only) ballots until June 2^nd. While the governor claimed he was not moving the primary by extending the deadline for mail in ballots, he effectively did so. Again, if the Legislature could have called itself into session, they could have addressed the need to change an election date by amending the statute instead of the governor doing it unilaterally. The governor circumvented Idaho election law, making new election laws himself, which is unconstitutional and a bad precedent.

“Other examples of the governor’s overreach could be given, but the point is very simple: giving the Legislature the power to call themselves into session provides power to “check” a governor who usurps duties normally reserved for the Legislature. This strikes an important balance. Legislators stand for election every two years versus every four years for the governor. If a future Legislature were to abuse this power, the voters could hold them accountable at the next election cycle. 

“Some claim this constitutional amendment would change the character of the citizen legislature or begin moving it to a more full-time body. Keep in mind there are several constraints in SJR102 preventing a move to a full-time legislature.

“First, it requires a supermajority of 60% of both the Senate and House to reconvene. Second, it requires identifying the specific subjects to be considered during a special session and limits the Legislature’s actions to those subjects. Third, the Legislature, if it really wanted to be full-time, already has that capacity by simply not adjourning and staying in Boise indefinitely — but it has never done so. 

“The Legislature has no fixed end date, just a target, but it almost always finishes its work by the end of March or early April each year. Further, SJR102 adds the words ‘part-time legislature’ to the Constitution, making it clear that the legislature is not year-round. 

“Another interesting case in point for the need of the constitutional amendment came right after the 2021 legislative session. The Legislature recessed, but didn’t adjourn until November 17^th, and it didn’t do so to stay in Boise to write and pass more laws. Instead, it stayed recessed to avoid a repeat of the 2020 session scenario when the governor took many legislative duties onto his own shoulders. The Legislature needs this SJR102 amendment to retain its constitutional authority over lawmaking and spending, even in an emergency. 

“Finally, giving legislators the ability to return to the Capitol would be a reminder to any governor that adjournment does not end the Legislature’s authority for the year. SJR102 preserves the Legislature as the proper branch of government for writing laws and deciding how taxpayer dollars are spent. Idaho is a representative republic, not a tyranny or monarchy, and that includes the months between legislative sessions. SJR102 restores and strengthens the separation of powers intended by the framers of Idaho’s Constitution.”