Legislative roundup: Idaho Gov Little OKs ‘harmful materials’ bill

BOISE — After several tries over three years, Idaho now has a law on its books regulating “harmful materials” in libraries.

Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed HB 710, which requires public and school libraries to have a form available to request that a material be moved to an adults-only section if the material is thought to include sexual content that is “harmful to minors,” which is defined in Idaho’s obscenity code. If the material isn’t moved within 60 days, individuals may file a civil lawsuit for $250 and other damages and fees against the school or library district.

Little confirmed his action to Idaho Public Television on Wednesday morning. The transmittal letter sent with his signature was filed with the House clerk but not read across the desk on the floor at the request of House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian.

Little wrote that he shares the “cosponsors’ desire to keep truly inappropriate library materials out of the hands of minors.”

“That said, I still believe a greater harm confronts our children — content accessible to them on their phones and devices,” Little said in the letter.

He wrote that he will be “watching the implementation and outcomes of this legislation very closely.”

Supporters of the bill have said it will protect minors under 18 from accessing sexual content that’s considered harmful, while opponents said that it will be difficult logistically for libraries to have areas accessible only to adults and could invite frivolous litigation.

Last year, the Legislature passed HB 314, which would have allowed people to sue for $2,500 if minors could access harmful materials. Little vetoed the bill, citing his concerns over the civil enforcement mechanism and the “ambiguity” of its definitions, which were also based in the same area of Idaho code.

He wrote in the transmittal bill on HB 710 that the new legislation “addresses most, not all” of the concerns he had over HB 314. He cited the reduction in the civil penalty and the process that “allows a fair opportunity to avoid legal action and fees if they address materials of concern within 60 days.”

This year, multiple iterations of library bills were introduced. HB 710 passed after heated debate in the House and Senate.

Testimony in House and Senate committee hearings featured overwhelming opposition to the bill.

Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, indicated on the House floor that if this bill didn’t pass, lawmakers would return to the first library bill proposed, which would have imposed criminal penalties and jail time for librarians who made available harmful materials.

HB 710 requires libraries to have a policy and form in place to challenge these materials. The definitions of “harmful to minors” are based on Idaho’s obscenity code, which has been in place since 1972.

During public testimony, several people objected to the existing definition of sexual conduct, which includes “any act” of homosexuality. Many feared this could be interpreted broadly to challenge books that feature gay characters. A list of challenged titles posted by the Idaho Library Association features many stories featuring LGBTQ characters or themes.

There’s also a section of code that specifies what cannot be “made available” to minors, which includes depictions of “nudity, sexual conduct, or sado-masochistic abuse, that, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors” or “any other material harmful to minors.”

Some worried “any other material harmful to minors” was vague.

Representatives from library districts said because of concerns over liability, there may be new policies limiting children’s access to the libraries without their parents.

The civil enforcement mechanism was a key part of last year’s bill, which was drafted by the Idaho Family Policy Center.

Policy Center President Blaine Conzatti said in a Capitol Clarity meeting Feb. 16, 2023, that the civil liability was “the most effective way” to make sure the policy was enforced.

“Insurance companies don’t want to pay out damages, they don’t want to defend their clients, and so what they’ll do is, they will change their policies,” Conzatti said in a video recording of the meeting. “The policies that the schools or the libraries are required to abide by if they’re going to be insured by the carrier, and those policies are going to say, ‘hey you’re going to have to remove these books.’ … and here’s what’s going to happen, if a school or a library keeps making this material available to kids, they’re going to lose their insurance coverage.”

Conzatti was talking about HB 314, which would have allowed people to sue if the libraries didn’t “take reasonable steps” to restrict access.

HB 710 passed 47-23 in the House and 24-11 in the Senate, and it’s set to take effect July 1.

House narrowly passes budget

BOISE — Just hours before the expected adjournment of the legislative session, the Idaho House nearly killed its last remaining budget.

The House on Wednesday voted 33-32, with five members absent, to approve SB 1460, the Division of Welfare “enhancement” budget. The new budget took out a summer food program for students, which had been the reason cited for the Senate voting down the division’s original budget.

The Senate voted 22-12 with one member absent April 3 to approve the new budget without the program, which would have cost $595,300 in state general funds. The House had gone to recess before taking action on the updated budget.

Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, presented SB 1460 on Wednesday, noting that it included $11.5 million in federal funds for child care subsidies and $1.4 million in total funds for access to the federal data services hub interface. She did not mention that summer food program.

Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, who also sits on the budget-writing Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, said she would oppose the bill because of the removal of the program.

She said that 137,000 Idaho children “may find themselves hungry” over the summer because of its removal.

There was no further debate.

If the budget had not passed, it would have likely delayed adjournment of the session.

Little OKs ITD bill without signature

BOISE — Gov. Brad Little has decided to allow the Idaho Transportation Department budget go into law without his signature.

The highly contested budget narrowly passed the House and Senate, with the opposition centered on intent language in the budget that halts a long-planned sale of the agency’s vacant headquarters. The developers who had agreed to buy the campus said they may explore suing over the Legislature’s decision to kill the deal.

Little also didn’t sign the Department of Administration budget, which includes the same language.

“I did not sign these bills because the intent language unwinds statutory policy language about how the state handles surplus properties and it increases overhead for office space needs across the state,” Little wrote in his transmittal letter. “In addition, it unfairly cancels an agreed upon sales process, causing future reputational risk for the state of Idaho.”

The ITD budget, HB 770, totaled nearly $593 million in state and federal funds that includes $400 million for local bridge maintenance and $392.6 million for state road and bridge maintenance. It also includes $32.5 million to renovate the old headquarters located on State Street, which has been vacant since a flood in 2022.

The agency had originally planned to surplus the property and sell it to a group of developers that had agreed to buy it, and then move to the state’s Chinden Campus. Employees have been working in temporary offices at the Chinden Campus since the flood. The sale would have been overseen by the Department of Administration, but the intent language revoked the agency’s authority to follow through on the deal.

Some lawmakers argued the budget committee had exceeded its authority by setting policy in its budget. Others argued that the committee thought it was more fiscally responsible to retain the property and so it acted within its authority as stewards of state funds.

Despite the Senate’s initial move to vote down the budget over the language tanking the sale, the budget writers in the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee sent back a nearly identical budget, which narrowly passed.

House Speaker Mike Moyle had been vocally opposed to the planned sale, and Senate President Pro-Tem Chuck Winder was a strong supporter of ITD’s decision.

A group of developers had been selected to purchase the ITD campus that included Hawkins Companies, The Pacific Companies and FJ Management. The group said in an emailed statement Wednesday that they plan to “explore” legal action over the state going back on the deal.

“We’re obviously extremely disappointed in the passage of this legislation,” wrote Brian Huffaker, chief executive officer of Hawkins Companies, on behalf of the developers. “This governmental overreach is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars and we’re confident the courts will agree this kind of legislative interference in the free market violates the state constitution.”

Little had a deadline to sign HB 770 into law by 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, but instead chose to let it go into effect without his signature. In his short transmittal letter, he said he supported the investments in the state’s transportation systems.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on X @EyeOnBoiseGuido.