Dear Friends,
Thankfully more legislators and citizens are understanding the threat Critical Race Theory (CRT) is to our society. It promotes the Marxist ideology of division, suspicion, shame, victimization, and envy among Americans, attacking our country in every way possible. Last year, the House killed the higher education budget twice to send the message to our colleges and universities to stop the indoctrination of students against America and Americans. They did not listen, and continued business as usual. Legislators tried in numerous ways this session to get that message to higher education but to no avail.
We have heard from many students, parents, teachers, and other taxpayers who oppose CRT. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an Executive Order banning CRT in Florida public schools. He urged the Florida Legislature to make the ban permanent with a law stating, “Teaching kids to hate their country and to hate each other is not worth one red cent of taxpayer money.”
Last week, the Idaho House voted 13-57 in rejecting the higher education budget, S1179, thus sending the message that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for this destructive teaching. The legislative budget committee is now charged with reworking the higher education budget to exclude that funding. However, it is felt a law must also be passed to forbid this indoctrination of our children from kindergarten through higher education. New Hampshire, Iowa, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Texas are just a few of the states with bills to stop CRT in public schools.
The House over-rode the Governor’s veto on H214 in a 62-7 vote concerning the Idaho Tax Commission. This bill was regarding the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. The Senate vote of 21-14 did not fulfill the 2/3 requirement to over-ride a veto so the bill is dead.
S1110 passed the House 51-17 revising signature requirements for ballot initiatives or referendum petitions. Currently signatures from 3 ½ counties can place an initiative or referendum on the November ballot. In order to be more balances and treat all Idahoans fairly, this bill requires signatures from 6% of the qualified voters in all 35 districts. The Senate had passed the bill 26-9.
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
