Dear Friends,
Welcome to the 2021 Idaho Legislature! We are in our second week of the session with a few bills printed and all committees now active. I am serving on Education which meets daily at 9:00 am, Natural Resources which meets on odd numbered days at 1:30 pm and Agriculture on even numbered days at 1:30 pm. This year, all committee rooms are equipped with audio and video capacity allowing the public access through the internet. Leadership now requires the public to first go to the legislative website to sign up in advance if they wish to testify.
This allows citizens outside of the Boise area to testify by Zoom. Once you have signed up, you will be put on a list to testify. If many citizens sign up, you may only be allowed 2 minutes. Even if you plan to testify in person you must pre-register. Seating in every committee is very limited and usually quickly filled by agency staff and a few lobbyists. It is unclear to me how citizens will be accommodated for seating.
The House has before us an amended rule 64 limiting any sayings or slogans on clothing at the Capitol, behavior, other items allowed into the building, and consent to be searched at the direction of the Speaker. These restrictions include House members. An amended rule requires a 2/3 vote of the House. I will be voting against the rule. My Grandfather taught me
our government is not a spectator sport. It is the duty of every citizen to be educated in our government and to actively participate. Elected officials should not be throwing up roadblocks to that participation.
I urge all citizens to review and become very familiar with the US and Idaho Constitutions. Constitutions are to be frameworks spelling out how government is generally designed to operate and containing protections of our Rights from government interference. Laws are supposed to fill in the particulars but always must be within Constitutional limits. There are
numerous excellent Constitutional classes on the internet. One which I recommend is a free class, Constitution 101, from Hillsdale College. An excellent reference book “The Making of America” by Cleon Skousen, details each section of the Constitution with the Founders reasonings as they developed the Constitution. It is very important for citizens to have a
good understanding of the Constitution and our Rights. A Right you don’t know you have is a Right easily lost.
 Approximately thirty legislators, including myself, have spent several months developing the Idaho Conservative Agenda led by Rep. Ron Nate of District 34. The first day of the 2021 session we held a press conference presenting the Agenda. Proposed legislation is being drafted for each idea in the hope the legislation will be allowed full hearings for public discussion and debate. Please let me know what you think of each item. Below are some recent activities and highlights taking place in the Idaho Capitol. I hope you enjoy the information. For more details, you can log onto legislature.idaho.gov where you will find bills, committee recordings, and live stream videos of our House and Senate floor sessions. I look forward to your involvement. Sincerely,Judy Boyle |
