By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
The House State Affairs Committee introduced a bill on Wednesday that would give the governor veto power over citizen initiatives that pass on the ballot.
Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, sponsored the bill that could make Idaho the first in the country to allow a state governor to veto an initiative after voters pass it.
Skaug told Idaho Reports that if the committee advances the bill to the House floor, he will not pursue an earlier bill he introduced to increase the threshold for initiative passage to 60% from the current simple majority requirement.
“The Supreme Court is clear that the initiative power is essentially coextensive with the Legislature’s power to enact legislation,” Skaug said in committee. “The Constitution reads ‘The people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and enact the same at polls independent of the Legislature’ but the Constitution is silent on the role of the governor.”
When the Idaho Legislature passes a bill, the governor always has the power to veto it, which can be overridden by a vote of two-thirds of the body. Skaug compared the initiative process to the legislative process. Should the bill pass, the governor could veto an initiative unless it received 66.7% of the vote.
“Because in the initiative process, sometimes (the initiatives) have an emergency clause, that can become immediately law as soon as it’s voted on and passed, without any presentment to the governor,” Skaug said. “We’re out of session and we can’t address it if there’s some terrible misrepresentation that gets the law passed. So, the veto by the governor is a good protection for a misinformed electorate if they don’t get the information like we would have. I think it’s fair.”
The language in the bill does not preclude the Legislature from repealing a law passed by voters.
This is the second bill Skaug has introduced related to initiatives after Proposition 1, an initiative related to opening the Republican primary and ranked choice voting, failed in November with 69% of voters against it.
In 2018, Medicaid Expansion passed with 61% voting in favor. That proposition was the last voter initiative to pass.
Skaug’s bill must return to the committee for a hearing where public testimony will be accepted.
Ruth Brown | Producer
Ruth Brown grew up in South Dakota and her first job out of college was covering the South Dakota Legislature. She’s since moved on to Idaho lawmakers. Brown spent 10 years working in print journalism, including newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press, where she’s covered everything from the correctional system to health care issues. She joined Idaho Reports in 2021 and looks forward to telling stories about how state policy can impact the lives of regular Idahoans.