Hemp, property taxes, transgender issues: Idaho Gov. Brad Little weighs in
Idaho Gov. Brad Little answered questions on a variety of topics during Wednesday’s breakfast with Idaho Press Club members.
The gubernatorial breakfast meeting is a long-standing tradition in Idaho, allowing reporters from across the state to get the governor’s take on the legislative session and other state and national news. This year, topics ranged from property tax concerns to a slate of bills before the Idaho Legislature that could affect members of the LGBTQ community.
Here’s what Little had to say on these issues and more.
Idaho children dying because their parents chose faith healing instead of medical care
Little said lawmakers are “struggling” with the issue, calling it a balance of religious freedom, parental control and child protection.
Just this week, an Idaho Statesman investigation found more than a dozen Treasure Valley children died in the last five years because their parents did not seek medical care for their illnesses. Little said he would be watching any legislation that’s introduced.
“I do not condone it,” Little said. “I think these kids ought to be taken care of.”
LGBTQ issues in Idaho
In response to a question about a flurry of legislation that would impact Idaho’s LGBTQ community and transgender girls in particular, Little said many of the bills seem to be based on things that have happened in other states, but may not be relevant to Idaho yet. For example, one bill introduced by Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, would ban transgender students from competing in women’s sports.
“I don’t think we ought to be sending signals that we’re intolerant in Idaho,” Little said. “That’s my personal position.”
The state will also continue its efforts to appeal a federal’s judges order for the Idaho Department of Correction to pay for an Idaho inmate’s gender confirmation surgery. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal of the decision earlier this month, but Little said the state would keep trying to get the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
“I wouldn’t be spending the state’s money if I didn’t think we had a chance,” Little said.
With Latino students trailing behind their peers in almost every metric, are there state plans to help this group of students?
Little said he reached out to state education officials this week regarding Latino student access to advanced courses, asking about dual credit opportunities for those students. He also said the state’s early childhood literacy investment would help school districts better serve struggling Latino students.
“Those English Language Learners are going to have a lot better chance,” Little said.
But only 25% of Idaho’s Latino students are English Language Learners. Little implied it would be up to individual school districts to develop programs for their own Latino students.
“As everybody in this room knows, Idaho is a local control state,” he said.
Rising property taxes and lawmaker attempts to help
“Whether it’s school capacity, whether it’s road capacity, whether it’s social service capacity, we have to address all those issues — and some of it is going to take money,” Little said. “But property taxes, it’s really an issue of balance.”
Rising residential values and property taxes look different across the state, Little said, pointing out that some areas of Idaho have lower residential values or have not raised property taxes. He expressed concern that a statewide property tax freeze — like legislation Rep. Mike Moyle, R-Star proposed — would “penalize” school districts, counties or cities that have been “conservative” in their budgeting thus far.
The legalization of hemp production and distribution
Idaho is one of only three states that does not allow the cultivation of hemp, despite the federal government making it legal to grow industrial hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill. Pending state legislation would allow Idaho farmers to grow and sell hemp products containing 0.3% or less of THC, the cannabis compound that gives marijuana its high.
“I’m fine with hemp so long as it’s not camouflage for marijuana,” Little said, citing his agricultural background and executive order allowing the transportation of hemp products through Idaho. Last year, Idaho officers arrested a truck driver transporting 7,000 pounds of industrial hemp, which officers believed was marijuana.
He joked that while he’s never grown hemp, some “friends in college” grew a “similar product.”
The great state ... of Ore-Ida?
Little also weighed in on viral movement among conservative residents of rural and eastern Oregon to seek annexation into Idaho.
“(Fox News) asked me this morning what the name of the state was going to be,” Little said. “And I said, ‘Well, it’s going to be Idaho here. I don’t know what they’re going to do.’”
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 4:25 PM.
