Senate votes down Schmidt amendment to anti-Occupy bill

Only one amendment was considered to HB 404, the anti-Occupy Boise bill: The one sponsored by Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, and seconded by Sen. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, to exempt college and university property from the bill’s new camping ban on certain state property. “Now this is an amendment to an amendment,” Schmidt told the Senate. “The intent is the same.”

Said Schmidt, “The purpose of this amendment is to make sure the public universities and public colleges in the state of Idaho will not be included in this statute that is being considered. My discussions with universities as well as the Board of Education have said they are in favor of this exclusion. In my opinion, the drafters of this bill didn’t think about this, and thus, we could, if this bill passes, eventually have unintended consequences. I don’t think that’s the intent of this bill, and I don’t think that’s the intent of this body.” But, he added, “We’re going to find out.”

Then, the Senate voted on the amendment by voice vote, and it clearly failed – it sounded like the chamber’s seven Democrats and very few others voted in favor of it; the Senate has 28 Republicans. The amendment had passed the same chamber last week. Now the bill will go back into line to be voted on as amended, taking the Senate back to where it was before today’s exercise.