His View: Staring into the funhouse mirror of Idaho politics
One of the perks of living in eastern Washington is the freedom to enjoy Idaho’s great outdoors without being governed by its nonlinear politics. This year’s legislative session has been uncommonly blessed with nutty ideas as lawmakers seek to protect constituents from:
The evils of wearing face masks during a pandemic
Gun-control efforts in foreign countries
An Attorney General who tries to keep the state from losing expensive court cases
The perils of accepting a federal grant for child care and early childhood development
Rep. Karey Hanks, R-St. Anthony, told colleagues on the State Affairs Committee that public entities shouldn’t have the authority to impose mask mandates. Hanks, whom the Idaho Legislature’s official website describes as a bus driver, said she knows a thing or two about “… the physical and emotional and even mental injuries to our bodies, and possibly even our souls, as healthy individuals are required to wear these masks.”
Never you mind about all the Idahoans killed by COVID-19, nearly 2,000 of them, or the 175,000 others who tested positive and were fortunate to escape with their lives. Never you mind because Rep. Hanks knows better than them smarty-pants scientists.
The State Affairs Committee also found time last week to pull the plug on Idaho’s participation in the Powerball lottery. Generally speaking, lotteries disproportionately siphon money away from those who can least afford to squander it — so it’s not entirely bad news that Idaho and the Powerball lottery will part company this August.
The good news about the Powerball lottery is that it generates roughly $14 million per year for Idaho schools. The bad news is the lottery is expanding into Australia and Great Britain, where gun-control efforts are gaining traction.
Can’t have that, so it’s ix-nay to the ash-cay, which makes it a dark day for Idaho’s public schools.
In other business, Idaho’s GOP-dominated legislature is striving mightily to punish Lawrence Wasden, the state’s principled and pragmatic Attorney General. Momentum is building to significantly reduce the AG’s budget.
Wasden’s sin? He tries to keep the state out of expensive court cases that it’s likely to lose.
According to Keith Ridler of the Associated Press, the state has paid more than $3 million in legal fees since 1995. Much of that debt was accrued after the Legislature ignored Wasden’s advice, pressed ahead with enacting dubious laws, and then lost the ensuing court challenges.
The gall of that man!
Do you know what else Wasden did? Back in November, he reached a $1.5 million settlement with gasoline retailers after price gouging was detected in the early days of the pandemic. Motorists were paying too much for gas.
What? Consumer protection? Can’t have that in Idaho.
The last straw for Idaho’s GOP lawmakers came when Wasden — a Republican himself — refused to join an ill-conceived lawsuit to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Texas v. Pennsylvania was red meat for 17 other red-state AGs, but Wasden didn’t bite.
Never mind that the U.S. Supreme Court, with its newly empaneled conservative majority, refused to even hear the case. Simply put, it was a “Look at Me” stunt of a lawsuit.
The problem here is that Idaho’s top law enforcement official is insufficiently partisan. The solution, according to GOP lawmakers, is to defund Wasden’s office.
The final flourish in the Legislature’s festival of foolishness came when House members smelled a rat in the routine renewal of a $5.98 million federal grant for improvements to Idaho’s early childhood care and education system.
Wait a doggone minute! What’s that about early childhood care?
“I don’t think anybody does a better job than mothers in the home, and any bill that makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child, I don’t think that’s a good direction for us to be going,” said Rep. Charlie Shephard, R-Riggins. “We are really hurting the family unit in the process.”
That’s right, Uncle Sam — with his dadgum money for child care — is a home wrecker! Idaho doesn’t need money for better child care because struggling moms should be at home, not at work.
Papa Legislature knows best.
Long ago and far away, William Brock was an Idaho resident for nearly eight years. He has been a Daily News columnist since 2002.
