House fails to pass initiative resolution
Proposal would have put referendum threshold issue in voters’ hands
BOISE — The House failed to pass a resolution Thursday that would have put on the ballot a question if the threshold to get an initiative or referendum on the ballot should be significantly increased.
House members voted 39-31 in favor of SJR 101, but it needed a two-thirds majority to approve the resolution. The resolution would have put to voters whether Idaho should require signatures from 6% of voters in all 35 legislative districts to put an initiative on the ballot. Currently, the law requires 6% of registered voters in 18 of 35 total districts; these signatures are required to be collected in 60 days.
If passed, it would have amended the state’s constitution.
In 2021, the Legislature passed legislation to add the same requirement, but the state Supreme Court unanimously overturned it. The court wrote in its opinion that “the Legislature has acted beyond its constitutional authority and violated the people’s fundamental right to legislate directly.”
Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, sponsored the bill in the House.
“It’s about presenting the people of the state the option of whether they want to change the initiative process,” Alfieri said.
Rep. Colin Nash, D-Boise, said that while the resolution wouldn’t directly impact the initiative process, the effect — should the ballot measure pass — would effectively eliminate the process.
Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, said it would give the whole state a say in what goes on the ballot.
“I do not think that this is too much of a hill to climb for anyone,” Hawkins said.
House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel said the state’s requirements for getting an initiative on the ballot are “already at the outer bounds” of feasibility. She asked lawmakers to imagine if legislation could only be passed with support from every district.
“We’re not giving people a voice, we’re completely eradicating a voice,” Rubel said.
Rep. John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, said the resolution wouldn’t take away anyone’s voice, because it would just put a question on the ballot.
“If they say no, then we’ll know that’s what they want,” Vander Woude said.
The resolution was first introduced by Sen. Doug Okuniewicz, R-Hayden, as previously reported. The Senate voted 27-8 to approve the proposal on Feb. 27, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.
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.
