We are honored to represent you and serve as your District 19 Democratic legislators working to strengthen educational opportunities, grow an economy that works for everyone, ensure access to health care, safeguard voting rights, and protect access to your public lands.
We entered this Legislative Session with high hopes for what we could accomplish for Idahoans. We are proud of the solutions we brought forward and the votes we cast – our small caucus often made the difference. While we were able to effect positive change, we were dismayed that the extreme elements of the Republican supermajority enacted many harmful policies for Idahoans.
We are writing to inform you about the priorities we held close throughout the Legislative Session and some of the major pieces of legislation we considered.
Strengthening Our Public Schools
Education is key to addressing many challenges facing our state — competing globally and ensuring future generations can thrive here. As Idaho Democrats, prioritizing public education is one of our core values.
At the beginning of the session, we were pleased to hear Governor Little’s proposal to address the nearly $1 billion backlog in school facilities needs. Unfortunately, legislative leaders attached harmful and wholly unrelated provisions to the final legislation.
First, the funding provided is insufficient and inequitable. Valley View Elementary in Boundary County needs close to $20 million to replace an elementary school where a roof caved in, but will likely receive only a fraction of that. Avery, and some other small districts with tremendous needs, will only get $2,500 per year to address their facilities needs due to a shockingly low floor the bill adopted. And while West Ada school district will receive $100M more than any other district, failed to pass a $500 million bond to meet their building needs. The district will likely receive 40% of that amount. The bill specifically capped funding for Boise Schools, allocating just half the resources Boise would have received under equal treatment.
While providing insufficient funding, the bill also makes it harder for school districts to fill the gap. Their option for doing so is through bonds and levies and the bill eliminates their option to hold these elections in August. This hit comes after Republican lawmakers nixed the March elections last year. This means communities will have dwindling opportunities to consider funding measures.
Also damaging in the bill is the upside-down tax package the supermajority has been passing for years. Through a reduction of the income and corporate tax rate from 5.8% to 5.695%, a family earning $80,000 annually will see $53 in savings, while a household bringing in $1,000,000 will receive $1,019, all while reducing the state’s overall ability to service debts, savings and investments And a corporation will continue to pay a lower tax rate on its profits than the 6% sales tax Idahoans pay when they buy food, diapers, medicines, and other necessities.
While this permanent revenue cut won’t be meaningful to average families, it will mean a loss of $60 million annually that could go to school operations. We believe Idaho students deserve quality facilities, without having to swallow a bitter pill of slashed revenue for our schools’ future, inequitable investments, and lopsided tax policies.
On a positive note, our Democratic Caucus delivered the deciding votes to allocate funding for Idaho Launch, providing scholarships for graduating Idaho students to pursue additional training or education for in-demand careers. We were proud to pass Idaho Launch last year and know that thousands of high school seniors are counting on this support to make their post-graduation plans into reality. With some GOP leaders threatening to defund the scholarships, it was a relief to make good on our promise to young Idahoans.
Similarly, Democrats in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee cast the deciding votes to halt a costly voucher scheme that would siphon taxpayer dollars away from public schools into private or religious schools. These schemes lack transparency and accountability. We believe the proper role of government is to provide oversight of public funds, which is required in every other program we fund. Supporting our local public schools is also a constitutional requirement in Idaho. Until we adequately fund our public schools, there are not enough funds to send out the door for private subsidies.
Guarding Access to Healthcare
The last week of session a group of health care providers offered a sobering educational session on the looming maternal health care crisis Idaho faces. The threat of prison sentences for delivering the standard of care has driven 22% of our OB/GYNs out of practicing in Idaho since the extreme abortion ban took effect. Likewise, more than half of the maternal fetal medicine specialists have left.
Women with pregnancy complications must leave the state to find health care in an emergency that threatens their health. Nevertheless, the Republican supermajority refuses to create health exceptions to the abortion ban. Sadly, we don’t see this policy changing until the makeup of the legislature changes.
Protecting Democracy and Local Control
There was a concerning trend of bills that aimed to strip control away from locally elected leaders and undermine voting rights. These bills seem to serve one purpose – to consolidate power in the hands of the legislature and reduce their accountability to the electorate. There were several attacks on ballot initiative and voting rights. A newly enacted law could invalidate your ballot petition signature if the signature gatherer did not follow new strict rules that don’t apply to any other political activity in Idaho. Another new law makes it a crime to deliver your neighbor’s sealed ballot as a good samaritan.
Of particular note in our district was H637, which would have vacated our duly elected commission before the end of the commissioners’ terms, made Ada County Highway District races partisan and instructed Ada County Commissioners to gerrymander new districts. This attack stems from conservatives in the legislature disagreeing with Highway District’s interest in addressing pedestrian and bicycle safety as we see accidents and fatalities rise sharply. We fiercely opposed this legislation and other bills targeting the ability of locally elected leaders to invest in safety projects.
Defending Our Libraries
Another year of attacks on local libraries ended with the enactment of legislation that encourages people to file challenges to books and seek costly damages in court. People don’t even have to live in our communities to pursue these cash awards, at the expense of our libraries. Such legislation exemplified intrusive and heavy-handed politics that undermined the fundamental principles of local governance and representation.
Libraries have locally elected governance and are required to abide by constitutional protections in speech and content. We are disappointed that the state continues to overreach into local affairs best decided community by community.
Delivering Solutions to Challenges in Idaho
While Democratic legislators have to work harder to pass legislation, that didn’t stop us from championing bills to address challenges we know Idahoans face.
It is especially crucial today that Idaho women, even in rural parts of the state, have access to their family planning prescriptions. Sen. Wintrow brought Senate Bill 1234, which will allow women to fill six months of their contraception prescription at a time to ensure uninterrupted access. Enough Republican legislators finally came on board after six[?] years of advocating for this legislation. It passed in the House by a single vote.
Sen. Wintrow also worked tirelessly to pass Senate Bill 1247, which creates a 24-hour protective hold in a hospital for someone with a neurocognitive disorder to assess if the person has an underlying medical problem that may be causing or worsening a crisis, such as an undiagnosed urinary tract infection, dehydration, or a problem with medication. The hold would only be for cases in which the person is likely to injure themselves or others. Once stabilized, doctors can work with caregivers to get them home quickly and safely.
Rep. Mathias was able to get two pieces of legislation to the finish line this year. House Bill 466 increases fairness for Idaho architects seeking to bid on public works projects. House Concurrent Resolution 27 will kick off a collaborative process between health insurers, the Department of Insurance and Idaho families who have children suffering from severe forms of PANDAS and PANS; the goal is to ensure insured children have access to necessary treatment
Rep. Necochea brought a bill to simplify certain zoning restrictions that make it harder for the market to deliver affordable homes. While this legislation did not advance, she secured bipartisan cosponsors whom she hopes will continue to seek ways to address our housing supply.
Working for You
As Idaho politics become evermore extreme, it is critical that we come together to protect the values we hold dear: freedom from government intrusion and smart investments in the next generation.
Thank you for this opportunity to serve.
Sincerely,
Senator Wintrow, Representative Necochea, and Representative Mathias