The House has voted unanimously, 68-0, in favor of HB 1, the first bill of the session, which clarifies the meaning of “in whole or in part” in the administrative rules constitutional amendment, HJR 5, that voters approved in November. “HB 1 is a very simple bill, however it is very important that we enact this at this time,” said Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, the bill’s lead sponsor. “What we’ve done basically here in HB 1 is to clarify what ‘in whole or in part’ means, so that we make it explicitly clear that we can’t go in and pluck one word out of a rule.”

HB 1 still needs to clear a Senate committee and win Senate approval and the governor’s signature to become law.

Prior to the election, Gov. Butch Otter raised concerns about the wording of HJR 5, which was intended to enshrine in the Idaho Constitution the Legislature’s already-existing ability to review and reject agency rules. Otter said by including the clause “in whole or in part” in the constitutional amendment, the measure set the stage for expanding the Legislature’s power, because it could then reject just a part of a rule – like the word “not” – and completely alter its meaning, with no input from the executive branch. Legal experts, including University of Idaho law professor, Shaakirrah Sanders, agreed with Otter. “It seems to me that there is a real danger that it could be interpreted in a way that the amendment’s sponsors did not intend,” she said before the election.

HB 1, which includes an emergency clause making it effective immediately once it’s signed into law, says, “The power of the Legislature to approve or reject a part of a rule applies only to the entirety of a provision, such as a subsection or subparagraph, or to any new or amended language contained in such a provision. The Legislature does not have the authority to reject certain and select words or phrases that would alter the meaning or purpose of the entire rule.”