Idaho Politics Column
Harebrained Absurdities at the Idaho Legislature
By Jill Kuraitis, 3-20-08
When a legislator breaks into song on the floor of the House of Representatives, it’s a strange day indeed, and there is no shortage of those lately in Idaho state government.
Abortion-Pushing Berserkers Apparently on Loose
Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, has had his No-Abortion-Coercion bill on the third reading calendar for almost a week now, but somehow the House doesn’t get to it. Today it’s third on the list of bills to be debated, but the two above it are complex tax choreography that could prevent anything else from getting done.
Gangs of rampaging abortion-pushers have not been a problem in Idaho that I know of, making this bill a waste of time, money, and psychic energy for legislators and the public. Boise Rep. Phylis King has several times tried to get the bill to include language making it illegal to coerce a woman OUT of an abortion, making the bill make a bit more sense, but no dice.
Why is debate of HO654 repeatedly delayed? Theories include one which says the legislature hopes to end the session without taking up the bill, leaving it dead in the water. Another says in an election year, Republicans may have a bit more trouble than usual. Crossover votes from prochoice R’s and D’s may be needed. That doesn’t fly with me, but neither does anything else. Readers, any theories?
Beg Pardon, Gov. Otter
Wednesday during a guest gig on KFXD Talk Radio AM630 I complained about Gov. Butch Otter signing a bill which granted Valley County’s Tamarack Resort 12 liquor licenses. (The usual number for a single entity is three.) Turns out the guv thinks it’s a stinker, too, and he sent one of his classically-worded letters to legislators saying so:
“Once more we are making a very specific and tortured exception to Idaho liquor license policy for a particular business…”
“This session’s requests from Tamarack and others appear to be valid under current circumstances and I will not oppose them. However, with the end of the 59th Idaho Legislature it is time to call a halt to the practice of granting exception after exception to our liquor license rules. It’s time to comprehensively reform a system that over too many decades of piecemeal changes has become a patchwork of special circumstances and ambiguity.”
I just love that word “tortured,” Governor Otter, and sorry I forgot that absurdity tends to, um, tick you off, too.
With All Due Respect, MYOB, Mr. Speaker
Here’s a letter which Speaker of the House Lawerence Denney sent to reporter Betsy Russell, who is president of Capitol Correspondents, the organization which represents reporters and writers who cover state government:
March 7, 2998
Dear Betsy,
Today we had media people on the Floor of the House during the Pledge of Allegiance. It was noted by several members of the Body and myself that they did not verbally participate in the Pledge.Please inform members of the press that if they choose not to participate in the Pledge they have ample time following the Pledge and before the 11th order to join us on the Floor.
Sincerely,
Lawerence Denney
Speaker of the House
ld/scf
Independent journalist Nathaniel Hoffman and I didn’t take well to this, and here’s Hoffman’s reaction in which he writes that he will continue to say the Pledge any way he damn well pleases.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I generally say the Pledge but keep quiet during the “under God” part because I don’t believe in mixing religion with government or patriotism. But I reserve the right not to say it at all, of course.
No, My Hair is the Same it’s Always Been
In a strange incident I’m still pondering, Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis and Sergeant-at-Arms Sarah Jane McDonald gave me a hard time this week for doing something ordinary – sitting in the reporters’ area on the Senate floor to listen to debate.
After one Senator told me “you can’t sit there” and then Davis leaving his seat to walk around the entire room to ask me to move about 23.456 inches down from where I was sitting, McDonald opened a door, tapped me on the shoulder, and asked me to come to her office.
McDonald is a very sweet-natured woman I’ve known a bit for years. She’s seen me many times, I’ve exchanged an email or two with her, and spoken to her on the phone. But she claimed I needed to “identify myself” at Davis’ request, apparently because I wasn’t wearing the required brown name tag which designates a member of the press. I’d backed my car over it that morning after it fell off my jacket, and the Senate doorman – who also claimed not to know me – had let me in anyway after some small hassle.
That’s four people who have seen and talked with me over three legislative sessions who were claiming I was an interloper. I might have been what they’d see as off strict protocol, which includes the name tag thing and precisely where one sits, but really; there are bigger problems around Idaho that require attention.
After more folderol, Davis sent McDonald to the press room to ask me to come to his office, where he apologized so profusely I had to ask him to stop.
The best part of the story was a sticky note I found on my car windshield an hour later, which said “DON’T THINK THAT WASN’T DELIBERATE.” I stood in the street laughing. It must have been someone who overheard and thought they’d play a joke. Deliberate? Pretty far-fetched.
Still, the whole thing is….something.
Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.
Comments
Add your comment below
But that also goes for the national press corps, those that should be able to demand the most immediate change just sit there and take abuse and then ask for more because they are scared to death to lose their precious "insider" status.
I understand that at this time of year, when the Legislature is almost done, everybody's stressed. With so many of what seem like big, unsolvable problems, it's easy to want to create what looks like a small, fixable problem in order to get a sense of accomplishment.
The thing is, an issue like this isn't what we reporters have been hired to do, and it isn't what legislators have been elected to do. While it might seem almost impossible from here, it's likely that two weeks from now -- one way or another -- the session will be over. Let's not take away from the important job that's almost finished by becoming distracted.
"Made in China" flag lapel pins of course...