Rep. Jason Monks, R-Nampa, has spent the past year working with stakeholders including cities and school districts to refine his House-passed legislation from last year seeking to restrict the use of public funds for campaigning. Today, the latest version of his bill cleared the House State Affairs Committee – with support from the Idaho School Boards Association, the Association of Idaho Cities, the Idaho Farm Bureau and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. The ACLU of Idaho, however, still had concerns about how the bill might affect speech by student groups.

Monks told the committee that a 2005 Idaho Supreme Court decision, Ameritel Inc. vs. Greater Boise Auditorium District, held that public entities can educate, but not advocate, for ballot measures include bond issues. “The government can’t go out there and take taxpayer money and use that for a bond or levy election or any other election,” Mons said. “As, you know, it’s not appropriate for us to use our letterhead or staff or anything else to go out there and campaign for ourselves, we all know that.”

Monks said case law has guided what’s appropriate and what isn’t since the 2005 decision. “It’s our job as legislators to try to define that a little bit better,” he said. “That’s what this legislation does, defines acceptable practices … ensuring that we have integrity in our public elections.”

Monks credited the ISBA with working over the interim with him to rework the bill to meet all sides’ interests. It forbids the use of public funds to advocate for or against a candidate or ballot measure, and the use of public property or resources for that, other than those generally available to the public. It also specifically allows for neutral statements encouraging people to vote, “objective” statements explaining measures, public notices, legally required statements for and against constitutional amendments, and public officials and employees’ free speech rights.

Monks offered a new version of HB 600 today, to replace HB 600; it adds a section noting that a balanced classroom discussion wouldn’t violate the bill’s prohibitions, to satisfy concerns raised by teachers.  

Quinn Perry, policy and government affairs director for the ISBA, said, “Last year, approximately 93 of 115 school districts ran a supplemental levy in order to meet the day-to-day operational needs of the district. Patrons in our communities continually ask for more transparency when it comes to bond and levy elections. They want to know specifically what their tax dollars will be spent on. … Trustees and others need to be able to answer questions.” She said the association recognizes there are ethical boundaries that can’t be crossed. “We believe that this legislation sets clear ... boundaries to achieve both,” she said.

Jess Harrison, executive director of the Association of Idaho Cities, told the committee, “We appreciate that Rep. Monks was willing to work with local governments to craft legislation that would protect our ability to inform local citizens about important ballot measures,” and also “give guidance about how public resources may be used in elections.”

The committee then approved the new version of the bill and sent it to the full House; it will get a new bill number.

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