His View: Idaho’s 2024 legislative agenda is marked by ignorance, cruelty

In case anyone is still on the fence about the need to pass the Open Primaries Initiative and restore sanity to Idaho politics, let’s review what passes for governing when one party has a monopoly on state politics and that party’s leaders are chosen by their most conspiracy-minded fringe.

Medicaid expansion in Idaho was the result of a popular citizen initiative and enjoys broad support. Nonetheless, Idaho Republican leaders tried yet again this session to repeal it. While the proposed bill appears to have stalled, what was proposed would have cost the state millions of dollars in order to deprive thousands of Idahoans of healthcare, the goal apparently being to punish the poor for their poverty.

Bills that sought to replace the terms “fetus” and “embryo” in the Idaho code with “preborn child,” and to allow public funds to be spent on religious schools, have also fortunately failed. But there’s still plenty of crazy on the docket. Most glaring is House Bill 415, which would allow any adult working or volunteering at a public school to carry a concealed firearm after a scant eight hours of training. The bill would make such persons immune to prosecution for responding to a school shooter, so if a teacher with a concealed weapon killed several children while trying to thwart a shooter, there would be no consequences.

This bill would not only make weapons more accessible to mentally disturbed students, but could easily lead to shootouts when concealed carriers mistake one another for threats. Moreover, a would-be shooter could simply volunteer at a school and then carry their weapons inside unopposed. This bill is opposed by the Idaho Sheriff’s Association, the Idaho School Board Association, the Idaho Education Association and the general public, but it passed the House regardless. The irony is that the same people who don’t think school employees can be trusted with books (see House Bill 314) are nonetheless willing to trust them with guns.

Never mind that our public schools are literally crumbling; what matters is that the insecure “men” running our state get to encode their juvenile action-hero fantasies into law. Senate Bill 1228 would similarly legalize carrying concealed weapons at public universities and colleges.

GOP attempts to undermine public education do not end there. House Bill 447 is yet another attempt to siphon money ($50 million) away from public schools to subsidize private ones.

This bill would give up to $5,000 per student with little oversight. Most Idahoans don’t have access to such schools, and the result would be to divert taxes from impoverished rural communities to subsidize wealthy urbanites.

If making schools unsafe isn’t enough, Senate Bill 1240 would legalize the creation of private militias in Idaho, and Senate Bill 1220 would effectively eliminate the concept of domestic terrorism from Idaho law by redefining it to only include acts that involve foreign agents. So, acts of terrorism in Idaho will be fine as long as they’re carried about by good, wholesome Americans.

If guns don’t kill our kids, Idaho’s GOP is working to ensure that preventable diseases will.

House Bill 396 would ban mask mandates in Idaho, while House Bill 392 would weaken public health districts by “eliminating the broader mandate to do ‘all things’ for the preservation and protection of public health, including preventative health measures.”

Senate Bill 1229 would ratchet up Idaho’s near total abortion ban by removing exceptions for rape and incest. If you want to force a woman to carry your child to term, even if the “woman” is your underage daughter, Idaho’s got your back. Because giving a rapist and his fetus more rights than a pregnant child isn’t misogyny or child abuse: it’s “pro-life.” Be sure to let the bill’s sponsor, Senator Dan Foreman, know your thoughts (DForeman@senate.idaho.gov).

If these bills reflect your priorities as an Idahoan, by all means keep putting your blind faith in the almighty “R.” But, if you want politicians who care more about Idaho’s actual problems than far-right fever dreams, sign the Open Primaries Initiative so we can take power back from this ignorant, unaccountable minority.

Urie is a lifelong Idahoan and graduate of the University of Idaho. He lives in Moscow with his wife and two children.