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Trailer bill easing sting of tougher Idaho initiative requirements welcomed by Democrats

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Dan Popkey
Secretary of State Ben Ysursa’s bill to ease the administrative process for signature collection on initiative and referendum petitions was strongly endorsed by the Senate State Affairs Committee Friday.
The bill will require county clerks to do the work of designating the legislative districts of petition signatories, rather than leave that difficult task to signature gatherers. Signatures would be collected by county under the new bill, not legislative district.

The change was prompted by Senate Bill 1108 which passed the House Friday and is headed to Gov. Butch Otter. SB 1108 requires that signatures represent at least 6 percent of the registered voters in at least 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts. Current law simply requires 6 percent statewide.

Rural interests, including the Idaho Farm Bureau, have said the change is necessary to limit the clout of urban Idaho. To qualify a initiative for the ballot — which creates law upon a majority vote at a general election; or a referendum, which strikes down a law — the total signatures would still have to exceed 6 percent of the registered voters statewide.

Though Democrats oppose SB 1108, Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, thanked State Affairs Chairman Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, for bringing the bill to the committee as the session draws to a close.

“I just want to thank you for hearing the concerns and responding to them,” Werk said to McKenzie.

Replied McKenzie: “The credit really goes to the secretary of state for bringing this forward. But I think it’s a good idea.”

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, took the unusual step of asking that the bill not only be introduced but sent immediately to the full Senate with the committee’s recommendation that the measure pass. The committee agreed; if leadership wishes to move the bill quickly it could pass before adjournment.

About

Dan Popkey came to Idaho in 1984 to work as a police reporter. Since 1987, he has covered politics and has reported on 25 sessions of the Legislature. Dan has a bachelor's in political science from Santa Clara University and a master's in journalism from Columbia University. He was a Congressional Fellow of the American Political Science Association and a Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. A former page in the U.S. House of Representatives, he graduated Capitol Page High School in 1976. In 2007, he led the Statesman’s coverage of the Sen. Larry Craig sex scandal, which was one of three Pulitzer Prize finalists in breaking news. In 2003, he won the Ted M. Natt First Amendment award from the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association for coverage of University Place, the University of Idaho’s troubled real estate development in Boise. Dan helped start the community reading project "Big Read." He has two children in college and lives on the Boise Bench with an old gray cat.

Posted in Idaho Politics
6 comments on “Trailer bill easing sting of tougher Idaho initiative requirements welcomed by Democrats”
  1. SunDevil1985 says:
    March 22, 2013 at 9:14 am

    Ben Ysursa. Leader.

    Ben stood in the gap for Idaho Citizens when my fellow Republicans ignored our Sunshine Laws last year.

    When my fellow Republicans again trumped elitism over access; disenfranchised Idaho Citizens; impeded our ability to participate in the political process via the initiatives process (e.g. props 1, 2, and 3. There stood Ben again.

    Thank you, Ben Ysursa. You make a difference.
    Keep up the good work.

    • roses4u says:
      March 22, 2013 at 9:44 am

      Good points, Sundevil; can we clone him or at least clone his thinking and implant in all legislators.

  2. Rod Beck says:
    March 22, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    SB 1108 is still an infringement on equal protection of all Idaho Citizens. When six percent of registered voters of a Legislative District sign a petition all others signatures gathered in that district are irrelevant. That’s not equal protection. SB 1108 is bad legislation and should get the Veto stamp from Governor Otter. The new bill does ease the administrative burden somewhat.

  3. foreignoregonian says:
    March 22, 2013 at 11:06 pm

    More bills for trailers are absolutely needed.