Bad Bills Update

Voter Suppression Bills

H124, which eliminates student IDs as acceptable form of identification at the polls, was signed into law. I did not support this bill because it is unnecessary and attempts to put barriers in front of the ballot box. There has been no evidence of voter fraud in Idaho, and I am concerned as this bill follows Idaho's highest growth in registration for voters 18 and 19 years old in the nation.
 

H205, which would have repealed no-excuse absentee voting, failed in the House 30-40. This was a huge win and I'm grateful to all of the Representatives who voted against this harmful piece of legislation. I fully support the absentee voting process.

 
SJR101, the attack on the ballot initiative, passed the Senate but is currently held in the House State Affairs Committee, where I'm hoping it remains.

Voucher Bills

S1038, one of the education voucher bills, was voted down in the Senate floor some weeks ago. Last week, S1161 which extends grants to parents for private school tuition, passed the Senate 15-19. I was disappointed that after debating and voting down this idea, it came back in another form.

Similar to 1038, this bill will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay tuition for kids to go to private schools, which are not held accountable to any of the educational standards public schools are. There are also many opportunities for parents and schools to commit fraud with these funds.

Now we wait to see what happens with this bill in the House. Procedurally this should go through the House Education Committee, but for some reason it is being held at the Speaker's desk. 

Please keep checking my seatmate Rep. Galaviz's Eyes on Education page for updates and ask House representatives to vote NO on SB 1161.