Rep. Barbieri wants Legislature to hire different lawyers for opinions

Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, persuaded a divided House State Affairs Committee this morning to introduce his bill to create an “Office of Legislative Counsel” to provide opinions on the constitutionality of proposed legislation, rather than turning to the Idaho Attorney General’s office. Barbieri, sponsor of this year’s unsuccessful health-care nullification law, which the AG’s office advised violated both the U.S. and Idaho constitutions and lawmakers’ oath of office, is an attorney, though he’s not licensed in Idaho; he disputed the opinion. Barbieri said the Legislature can hire attorneys of its own choosing. “We have that power right now,” Barbieri told the committee. “So it is not a change with respect to our power.”

Rep. Elaine Smith, D-Pocatello, asked Barbieri, “Does the attorney general’s office know about this?” Barbieri responded that he was “amused” by the question. “I find it an oxymoron to say, gee, what do you think about us taking away some of your power?” he said. “No. The whole point of this is we begin to use our own attorneys for opinions, and it doesn’t seem appropriate for me to go to the attorney general and say, ‘What do you think?’” A motion to return the proposed bill to sponsor died on a divided voice vote, and the original motion to introduce it then passed, again on a divided voice vote. Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, said, “Obviously, there’s a lot of questions here, but I think it’s a fair issue for us to explore.”

Barbieri’s bill proposes to fund the new office by shifting funds and staffing from the Attorney General’s budget.