More than 60 people crowded into a House hearing room at the Capitol in Boise on Friday morning, as lawmakers took up legislation that could effectively outlaw the Occupy Boise encampment Downtown.

“Have you ever seen so many police officers?” Steve Walker, a retired Idaho state archivist, mused after the 8:15 a.m. hearing was delayed. “I had my bag searched this morning. What are the legislators fearing? We’re the people who elected them.”

“I must look like Rambo or something,” added Walker, who wore a gray suit coat. Four law enforcement officers were stationed inside the hearing room, with more in the hallway.

House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, introduced a bill to extend a ban on camping on the Capitol Mall to include the state property across the street. Occupy Boise’s tent city was set up Nov. 5 on the state-owned grounds of the Old Ada County Courthouse.

An error in Bedke’s proposed bill — a couple of words inserted in the wrong line — caused a delay in the hearing. After a recess, the committee took up a new bill with corrected language, HB 404.

More than 15 people stepped up to the microphone Friday to tell lawmakers what the encampment means to them. Speakers were limited to three minutes each, but many were allowed to go over the allotted time.

The Occupiers — from college students to retirees — said the tent city is a symbol of what is right and wrong in the country. The encampment has become a gathering place and, in some cases, a home to the disenfranchised, the disillusioned, the under-employed, the unemployed and the homeless.

“It’s a symbol that the people have a right to be heard,” Walker told the Idaho Statesman. “It’s state-owned property. Who is the state? It’s the people.”

Dana Jablonski of Marsing was the first to testify Friday.

“Who do you represent?” House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, asked Jablonski.

“The 99 percent and myself,” she said.

Jablonski told the committee that those who get their voices heard are those who have money and power. She said the tent she put up at the Occupy Boise encampment represents her.

“I can’t occupy your offices with a lobbyist,” she said. “I need to be heard.”

Brent Crane, R-Nampa and vice chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, told Jablonski that legislators would be happy to meet with her any time, including weekends.

Some who testified, including Mike Despot of Boise, questioned why the bill proposed by Bedke had an emergency clause, allowing it to take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature rather than on July 1, as is common with legislation.

Audience members listened quietly. At times, some raised their hands, waving their fingers rapidly as a show of “spirit fingers” support for statements they agreed with.

Tensions rose when Shavone Hasse, a 29-year-old college writing teacher, told the committee that she would campaign against Republican House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, if he supported the anti-Occupy bill. Loertscher said her comments were inappropriate.

Hasse then proceeded to read an amended version of a poem by Langston Hughes titled “An Explanation of Our Times.” She substituted the names of local legislators into Hughes’ poem.

“Shut up, says Scott Bedke,” she read aloud, eliciting condemnation from Loertscher. He told her she was “out of order” and that personal assaults would not be tolerated.

“It’s not a personal assault,” she said as a trooper escorted her away from the podium. “It’s a poem.”

After the hearing, Hasse said the poem is about people being silenced by those who hold power.

Several at the meeting, including Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, expressed concern about the bill authorizing the seizure of personal property at the encampment.

Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the seizure of property without notice exposes the state to possible litigation. She said the proposed legislation would intimidate and harass the homeless, and there would be costs associated with enforcement.

Occupy member Cyndi Tiferet said about 18 homeless people are involved with the local group.

Katy Moeller: 377-6413