It’s been a busy day at the Idaho Legislature, as lawmakers push to adjourn their session this week – possibly as soon as Wednesday, according to Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis. For your reading pleasure, here’s the full text of the three stories I filed today, on the Bible bill debate and passage; the school budget passage in the House; and the developments today in the Idaho Supreme Court race.

Idaho lawmakers pass Bible-in-schools bill, dismiss constitutional questions

BOISE – Legislation saying the use of the Bible as a reference in Idaho’s public schools is “expressly permitted” passed the Idaho House on Monday and headed to the governor’s desk, though a February Idaho Attorney General’s opinion concluded it likely would be overturned in court, as it’s “specifically prohibited” by the Idaho Constitution.

North Idaho Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, the bill’s House sponsor, told the House, “The little Supreme Court in my head says this is OK.”

Dixon and other supporters argued that the Bible is non-sectarian and non-denominational, and that the reason the bill, SB 1342a, mentions only the Bible and not other religious texts is because the Bible alone is “under attack.”

“There are many religions that refer back to the Bible in their tenets,” Dixon said. “It is not explicitly a sectarian text because it is referred to in other religions.”

The bill says, “USE OF THE BIBLE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The use of religious texts, including the Bible, is expressly permitted to be used in Idaho public schools for reference purposes.”

Idaho’s state Constitution contains far stricter restrictions on the use of religious texts in schools than the U.S. Constitution. Article 9, Section 6 of the Idaho Constitution, which is headed, “RELIGIOUS TEST AND TEACHING IN SCHOOL PROHIBITED,” says, “No books, papers, tracts or documents of a political, sectarian or denominational character shall be used” in Idaho’s public schools.

Dixon said, “This is nothing new. ...This has been done in nine other states, it’s been tested through their attorneys general and their court systems. ... What we’ve created here is very similar to that.”

Rep. Donna Pence, D-Gooding, countered, “Idaho has a very different way in their Constitution of dealing with this. It’s much more strict, it’s very defined, very pointed as to what is allowed. So I think we have a little different situation here as opposed to possibly those other states.”

A bipartisan effort to amend the bill to remove the word “Bible” – so it would simply say religious texts could be used for reference in schools – fell short on a 15-52 vote.

Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, said, “It is patently unconstitutional with respect to Idaho’s Constitution. This is going to cost the taxpayers of the state of Idaho, I don’t know, $250,000 bucks, $300,000, $400,000. I just want my constituents to know back home, this is not a vote against religion or the Bible or anything else. What this is a vote against is needlessly wasting the taxpayer’s dollars.”

Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, said, “It is fundamental to the American way of life and therefore is different from the Koran or any other of these texts that one wants to bring up as religious. And it is fundamentally because the Bible is foundational to the American experience.”

Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said, “I just think we’re not doing the taxpayer any favors when we go and pass bills that we know are unconstitutional, are going to get challenged. … We’ve paid millions in fees over the years when we do this.”

Dixon thanked the House for the lively debate. “This is I believe what we’re here for, on these tough issues,” he said.

 

Idaho House overwhelmingly OKs school budget, though Barbieri worries taxpayers can’t afford it

BOISE – A public school budget that makes way for a 7.4 percent funding increase passed the Idaho House overwhelmingly on Monday, though one North Idaho lawmaker voted against all seven pieces of the budget.

“You’re just looking at so much money,” Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, said after the vote. “There’s got to be a way that we can at least … address the waste. The resistance has got to start somewhere.”

Each of the seven bills that make up the school budget passed with just a handful of “no” votes. The one that got the most dissenting votes, passing 59-8, covers services for the deaf and blind. It drew “no” votes from North Idaho Reps. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, and Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, in addition to Barbieri.

Barbieri said when it comes to health care and public schools, “I understand the concerns about those. I just think at a certain point the question has to be asked: Can the taxpayer afford it?”

 The school budget bills that passed Monday, and now head to the Senate, actually only add up to a 6.8 percent increase in state funding for next year, but additional bills still on their way bump it up to 7.4 percent. None of the bills drew any negative debate, prompting House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, to remark, “There have been other years where these bills have taken longer.”

The public school budget is the largest single piece of Idaho’s state budget. The bills still need Senate passage and the governor’s signature to become law, but budget bills rarely change once they’re set by the Legislature’s joint budget committee.

Among the handful of House members voting against the school budget bills, McMillan, R-Silverton, voted against six of the seven, excepting only the facilities division. Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene, voted against four of the seven; and Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, opposed three of the seven, as did Reps. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg; and Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay.

Dixon, Sims, and McMillan joined Barbieri in opposing the portion of the budget that includes restoring discretionary funds to school districts, on a per-classroom basis, to 2009 levels.

Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, the House minority leader, offered his congratulations to the joint budget committee for “doing their best for the public school system in the state of Idaho,” but warned, “There are still lots of schools that can only afford four-day school weeks. There are lots of schools that have buildings that are greatly in need of repair. And there are lots and lots of override levies in our school districts just to keep the doors open and the lights on.”

Rusche said he voted for the budget because, “I think it sincerely does make progress.”

 

One candidate drops out of six-way Idaho Supreme Court race, endorses another

BOISE - Attorney Christ Troupis is dropping out of the six-way race for an open seat on the Idaho Supreme Court, and instead endorsing Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa.

“We have two conservatives running for this race,” Troupis said, “and the most important thing is to have a conservative Supreme Court justice. He represents all the same values that I do. … I felt very good when I learned that Curt was running.”

McKenzie said, “I appreciate his endorsement as an attorney that I respect immensely.”

Troupis, who unsuccessfully challenged Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden in the 2014 GOP primary, has been championing legislation that Wasden’s office says is unconstitutional, including a Bible-in-the-schools bill that passed the House on Monday.

McKenzie said, “I didn’t know that Christ was running until Friday morning,” the day of the filing deadline. Troupis said, “I didn’t know ‘til 10 minutes after I filed that Curt was also running.”

With Troupis’ withdrawal, the five candidates seeking the seat being vacated by the retirement of Chief Justice Jim Jones are McKenzie; longtime Deputy Idaho Attorney Clive Strong; current Idaho Court of Appeals Judge Sergio Gutierrez; Boise attorney William “Breck” Seiniger; and Rupert attorney Robyn Brody.

If no candidate receives a majority in the May 17 election, the top two would go to a runoff in the November general election.

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