Idaho lawmaker sends a clear message to Idaho kids: Sit down and shut up | Opinion
Idaho Rep. Bruce D. Skaug, R-Nampa, won’t allow testimony from anyone younger than 18 unless he invites them, according to Boise Weekly.
Skaug, chairman of the Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, had some pretty shaky reasoning for the ban.
Skaug told Boise Weekly that large groups of teenagers testifying “prevents adults and taxpayers from being able to. … We have 16-year-olds taking the place of 40-year-olds. I just want some control. To be able to get the testimony of all the adults, taxpayers in the room.”
Is Skaug really that clueless that he doesn’t know that people under the age of 18 pay taxes? A 16-year-old with a job pays income taxes and sales taxes. Not letting them testify smacks of taxation without representation.
Besides, we’ve seen the testimony of some 40-year-olds; they have nothing on some teenagers we know.
Regardless of tax status, Idaho citizens who are younger than 18 are still that — Idaho citizens. The laws that Skaug and his Republican cohorts cook up and get passed affect everyone, including teenagers and children. They have a right to weigh in on legislation, especially if it affects them.
What’s Skaug so afraid of hearing?
Further, banning someone on the basis of their age is just flat-out age discrimination.
Skaug’s ban seems to reveal a general attitude toward children among some Republican legislators: They’re better seen and not heard. Even worse: Children are merely property of their parents.
Take, for example, Sen. Scott Herndon’s insistence that a 13-year-old girl who is raped by a family member should carry a pregnancy to term. Or Rep. Heather Scott’s bizarre bill that filing a false claim of child abuse should result in criminal charges, which could discourage concerned citizens from reporting suspected abuse.
Or the Idaho law that’s still on the books that allows for religious exemptions for denying medical care to children.
Meanwhile, Gov. Brad Little wants Idaho to be a place where his kids and grandkids will want to live.
These Republican lawmakers send a different message: If you’re a kid in Idaho, sit down and shut up.
This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 11:02 AM with the headline "Idaho lawmaker sends a clear message to Idaho kids: Sit down and shut up | Opinion."