Senate quashes bill to make some reckless driving a felony

The Senate on Monday killed a plan to make reckless driving that causes serious injuries a felony, as foes argued it would have unfairly boosted penalties on an offense that’s now among the most arbitrarily defined in Idaho’s law books.

The chamber’s members voted 20-15 to dump the bill. It had already cleared the House by a 60-6 margin last month.

The measure would have made reckless driving that causes “great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement” punishable by a maximum five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. It’s now punishable by a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Idaho code describes reckless drivers as anyone who “carelessly and heedlessly or without due caution and circumspection, and at a speed or in a manner as to endanger or be likely to endanger any person or property, or who passes when there is a line in his lane indicating a sight distance restriction.”

Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa and a lawyer, said this definition is too arbitrary to be accompanied by stricter penalties.

Senators leery of measure to prohibit ATVs from roads

Panhandle senators are targeting a House bill opposed by North Idaho ATV riders and sheriffs.

Sens. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, and Jim Hammond R-Post Falls, want to delay or amend HB 187, which would forbid ATVs on paved city and county roads unless local governments specifically allow them.

Broadsword said there are “some real problems” with the bill, which unanimously passed the House on Thursday. Senior citizens sometimes use ATVs to visit a post office or grocery store, and owners drive from campsites to gas stations on paved roads, she said. Some riding areas can only be reached by driving on pavement.

Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, said it’s “still questionable” whether there will be time to consider HB 187 in the Senate Transportation Committee he chairs. Senate leadership wants to end the session by March 23.

Amendment likely on elk ranch reform

A bill to require Idaho’s 78 elk ranches to be licensed will likely be amended so only ranchers who knowingly break state rules would be subject to losing their licenses.

Foes of such operations immediately condemned the proposed change, saying it would further water down an already weak bill.

A hearing will be held Friday in the House Agricultural Affairs Committee.

Elk ranches, especially shooter-bull operations where hunters pay to hunt trophy elk behind fences, have come under increased scrutiny since up to 160 animals bolted from an eastern Idaho preserve last August.

The bill, which passed the Senate 24-9 on Feb. 23, calls for the state to license elk ranches. It was drafted by the Idaho Elk Breeders Association, in part to defuse anger over the escape incident. The association feared the escape would prompt a voter initiative to ban all shooter-bull operations, as Montana did in 2000.

After the bill cleared the Senate, however, a disagreement emerged within the elk ranching industry between those who thought the new licensing plan was fair and others who thought it went too far.

House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, said Monday the amendment helps sort out the disagreement.

“This takes care of the bad actors,” Denney told the Associated Press. He said the amendment would ensure Department of Agriculture regulators can target those who refuse to tag or fence their elk properly, while not punishing those trying to follow the regulations.

Advocates of stricter industry oversight counter the changes would make an already weak bill significantly weaker.

“The bill as is doesn’t go far enough anyway,” said Sen. David Langhorst, D-Boise. “It’s an industry whitewash bill.”