Bill to reverse much-reviled 2016 non-compete law passes Senate, 29-5

Legislation to reverse a controversial 2016 change to Idaho law that makes it easier for employers to sue former employees over non-compete contracts has cleared the Idaho Senate on a 29-5 vote. When the 2016 bill passed on divided votes, opponents said it would make it difficult for employees to leave a job to start their own business or join another firm, and could hurt business expansion in Idaho. In December, more than 100 Idaho business leaders , ranging from high-tech CEOs to small-business owners to engineers, marketers and manufacturers, signed a letter to Gov. Butch Otter and the Idaho Legislature calling for the repeal of the 2016 law.

Since it took effect July 1, 2016, Idaho has drawn a slew of negative national publicity over the law, from a New York Times headline that proclaimed “Noncompete Pacts, Under Siege, Find Haven in Idaho,” to an Inc.com article headlined: “Have a great startup idea? Don’t move to Idaho.”

Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, said there’s nothing wrong with the 2016 law and blamed media reports for the controversy over it; he also disagreed with statements from former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones critical of the law. “With all due respect to former Justice Jones, he’s wrong,” Rice declared. “It’s kind of common with lawyers that if you get two of ‘em in a room, you’re going to have two opinions, if you get three you’re going to have nine.”

Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, who like Rice is lawyer, said the bill is a compromise that makes sense. “I think it brings it back to the appropriate balance, and I would ask for your aye vote,” Lakey told the Senate.

Sen. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, said, “I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t want to pretend to be one.” He said bill sponsor Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, “spent a lot of time to get compromise. … This bill is worked through so it will work for both sides.”

Guthrie said, “This is not drastically changing non-compete laws. It’s just going back to 2016, when non-compete laws were fine. … It has an element of compromise to it, an element of fairness to it.”

SB 1287a now moves to the House side.