BOISE — The Idaho House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill to penalize local governments that say they won’t enforce state felonies.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, said the city of Boise’s resolution that calls for putting limited resources toward abortion investigations and enforcement was the genesis of the legislation, although he said on the House floor that he had not read the resolution.
HB 22 passed on a near-party line vote, with two Republicans — Reps. Greg Lanting, of Twin Falls, and Jack Nelsen, of Jerome — joining all of the Democrats in voting against.
The bill would direct the tax commission to withhold sales and use tax revenue from local entities that pass a formal resolution or other public directive to not fully enforce state felonies, but it does not affect federal crimes and Second Amendment sanctuary cities.
“There is a certain jurisdiction in our state that, over the summer I think it was, passed some resolution that they weren’t going to enforce one of our laws, signed by the governor, passed by this House, passed by the Senate,” Skaug said. “This bill does not address that situation specifically, it does not address a certain city or a certain county. However, truth in advertising, that was the genesis for the discussion of this bill.”
The Boise City Council in July passed a resolution that said the city would limit funding and the ability to investigate abortion providers as well as funding for storing reports and providing information to other agencies investigating abortions.
Skaug said he had not read Boise’s resolution and couldn’t say exactly how the bill would affect the city.
House Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, argued that it’s appropriate for local governments to prioritize to which crimes they direct resources. Necochea was cut off abruptly after she said the bill “seeks to mandate evasive, unnecessary investigations into pregnancies and pregnancy losses.” She was told to stick to the content of the bill, which is another version of a previous bill Skaug brought forward that had specifically targeted abortion sanctuary cities, but he later replaced it with the one that covers all state felonies.
The House was put at ease while leadership left the floor to meet in the speaker’s conference room. When they returned, Necochea resumed debate without mentioning abortions.
Skaug said the bill wouldn’t impact local law enforcement’s prioritization of which crimes it investigates and enforces. It only would go into effect if those agencies “proactively” said they wouldn’t investigate or prosecute a felony.
House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said it would disincentivize transparency about what kinds of crimes would be prioritized.
“I think this really is an incentive to just keep things in the darkness as opposed to making it visible to the public,” Rubel said.
Nelsen said his concern was how the legislation would affect county sheriffs and their ability to, as elected officials, be opinionated and show discretion with how they enforce laws.
Lanting said he wanted the bill to come back with language that clearly directed the attorney general to begin the enforcement process; the bill as written does not include who would determine if an entity has violated the law.
Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, spoke in favor of the bill, saying it “reinforces our notions of federalism.”
“It keeps municipalities in the jurisdictions that they are to remain into, we have not only a horizontal separation of powers but a vertical separation of powers,” Dixon said.
The bill previously passed through the House Revenue and Taxation committee, with only the two Democrats on the committee voting against it.
It now heads to the Senate.
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 Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.
