State of the Statehouse February 12

Church-State Legislation Hides as Worker’s Comp Proposal

By Jill Kuraitis, 2-12-07

	Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries

The House State Affairs committee opted not to print a vaguely-written bill which attempted to address issues of worker’s compensation as well as the separation of church and state.

Introduced by Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, the bill, which would allow religious organizations to opt out of paying workers’ compensation (mistakenly called “workman’s” in its Statement of Purpose - an Idaho law specifies the word “workers") was sent back to the sponsor for a rewrite.  It would remove a portion of a law passed during the 2006 session.

Committee members from both parties were concerned that the bill’s language would allow a church or other house of worship to stop paying worker’s compensation for any employee, which could include thrift store workers, janitors, secretaries and other staff.  Harwood tried to protest that his bill was meant to cover only ministers or pastors, but he avoided any definitive statements about other employees.  This visibly frustrated committee members, and questions continued.

Local attorney Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, said the language of the bill was “too broad.” After more questions from Luker which didn’t produce any point-blank responses from Harwood, Rep. Anne Pasley-Stuart, D-Boise, held the bill in the air and asked Harwood, “Do you mean that you don’t want church workers to be protected against injury on the job?”

Harwood:  “Did I SAY that?”

Pasley-Stuart: “That’s what this bill says.”

Rep. Elaine Smith, D-Pocatello: “It sure does!”

Rep. Phyllis King, D-Boise, pointedly asked Harwood if his proposal is “for financial reasons only.” Harwood said it wasn’t - that eliminating state interference in church business was his main intent.  “Separation of church and state is a double-edged sword,” he said. “The state is allowed to dictate to the church, but they shouldn’t have jurisdiction over churches,” he said.

Smith asked for more information about what courts have said about similar language, and Pasley-Stuart asked for an opinion from the Attorney General’s office.  Harwood protested, but could see that things weren’t exactly going his way, and finally agreed.

Luker was appointed by committee chair Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, to work with Harwood on revisions, and the bill was not printed.

Pasley-Stuart said later that Harwood’s proposal is “just bad policy.  Some churches have enterprises – what about St. Mary’s School right in the North End, or the St. Vincent DePaul Society?  Those people are workers who need the same protection as anyone.”

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