In case you think Rep. Kathy Sims (photo) is in danger of understanding the mess she helped make when she voted to torpedo crucial Child Support legislation, I received an end-of-session, mass-mail letter from her in the mail Wednesday. It reads in part:
"The committee did not vote to end Child Support Enforcement. Those laws are still in place. The committee chose to not allow additional international mandates without protections. Holding the bill was about protecting the due process and privacy rights of our citizens and assuring the integrity of our state's ability to study and evaluate issues independent of the coercive threats of the federal government. Courts in Idaho would be obligated to accept foreign orders with few exceptions. Implementing this bill would open federal databases in foreign countries. The committee wanted to add language to the bill to protect Idaho from enforcing objectionable federal ordrs, but the federal government would not allow changes and uses intimidation to strong-arm approval of the bill. I cannot support any legislation that allows the federal government to use children as collateral to force its policies on Idaho and its sister states. So far, only 19 of 50 states have adopted this policy."
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.
to not allow additional international mandates without protections. Holding the bill was about protecting the due process and privacy rights of our citizens and assuring the integrity of our state's ability to study and evaluate issues independent of the coercive threats of the federal government. Courts in Idaho would be obligated to accept foreign orders with few exceptions. Implementing this bill would open federal databases in foreign countries. The committee wanted to add language to the bill to protect Idaho from enforcing objectionable federal ordrs, but the federal government would not allow changes and uses intimidation to strong-arm approval of the bill. I cannot support any legislation that allows the federal government to use children as collateral to force its policies on Idaho and its sister states. So far, only 19 of 50 states have adopted this policy."
