Republicans push their ‘equality’ bills. Businesses, Democrats see them as divisive

The Senate State Affairs Committee, on party-line votes, advanced two bills touted by their Republican sponsors as “equality” bills on Monday.

North Idaho Republican Rep. Heather Scott’s House Bill 440 prohibits the state from discriminating against or granting special treatment based on sex, race or color in public employment, education or contracting.

“We just need to treat people equal and fair,” Scott told the committee, saying the bill’s language “will protect all citizens to be treated as individuals.”

House Bill 500, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, and Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, would ban transgender girls and women from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

“There are inherent differences between girls and women and boys and men,” Ehardt said. “Girls and women cannot compete on a level playing field with boys and men. It is just physically not possible.”

Public testimony overwhelmingly opposed both bills. The transgender sports bill public hearing started March 6 and was continued to March 9 because so many people had signed up to testify. On the hearing’s second day, though, Committee Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge cut off public testimony after about 15 minutes, even though there were still a number of people waiting. Lodge said the committee had run out of time to continue hearing the bill.

Idaho Human Rights Act amendment

Scott says her bill would amend the Idaho Human Rights Act “to ensure all applicants are treated equal.”

“The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting,” the bill states.

Meanwhile, for the 14th consecutive session, the GOP-dominated Legislature hasn’t considered a bill, referred to as “Add the Words,” that would amend Idaho’s Human Rights Act to add the the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to protect members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation.

Boise Democratic Sen. Maryanne Jordan introduced this year’s “Add the Words” bill, SB 1226, on Jan. 14. Lodge has not scheduled a hearing on it.

During the hearing on Scott’s bill, Senate State Affairs Committee member Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, asked Scott about Add the Words.

“We have been talking about Add the Words for years in this building because there is not, in many people’s minds, equality under our Constitution,” Stennett said.

Stennett asked Scott whether her bill would “remedy” that by making sure LGBQT Idahoans “would be treated as any other person when seeking education, when seeking employment or housing or such stuff?”

Scott says her bill does not prohibit discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

“This bill is dealing with immutable traits ... things that cannot be changed,” Scott told Stennett.

“We are not targeting any group. We do not want to show special treatment to any group,” Scott continued. “We just want people to be seen as people. If there is something they cannot hide about themselves, we don’t want it to be used against them and we don’t want it used to give them preferential treatment.”

Stennett responded that the terms “hidden” and “immutable traits” are not defined and that those would be “ambiguous judgments.”

Idaho Human Rights Commission Director Benjamin Earwicker told the committee that the organization is not taking an official position on Scott’s bill. He said the organization receives annually about 500 claims of discrimination or retaliation, of which 5% to 10% have probable cause, another 20% are resolved through mediation, and the remaining 70% to 75% are found to have no probable cause.

The Idaho Human Rights Commission is a state agency that enforces anti-discrimination protections in employment, education, housing and other areas to “secure for all individuals in Idaho freedom from discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age (40 and older) and disability,” according to its mission statement. Its members are appointed by the governor.

Scott claimed that her bill “does not end affirmative action.”

“There are always ways to encourage people to apply for jobs, to seek applicants,” she said, “so the complaint of ending affirmative action is not true.”

But because the federal government does have anti-discrimination laws and affirmative action, Scott told the committee that she wants to amend her bill to ensure the state does not become ineligible for federal programs or lose federal funding by eliminating its anti-discriminatory language.

“We do not want to end federal contracts or federal funds that are dependent on, umm, discriminating, I guess. It’s what they are doing,” she told the committee, referring to the federal government.

Following a short debate, the committee voted 7-2 to send the bill to the Senate to be amended.

In his motion to advance the bill, Rep. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, said he thinks the bill’s “goal is to have equality and people treated the same.”

Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise, joined Stennett in voting against the bill.

“As a person of color and a woman of a certain age, a person that as a minority in the state of Idaho, I am concerned by this bill,” Buckner-Webb said. “I fear that it returns us to a day of codified discrimination. ... I would hate to return to the days from which we’ve come.”

The House has passed the bill as written in a 55-15 vote, with one Republican, Fred Wood, opposing it.

Because Scott now wants to amend her bill, it is going to the Senate under an amending order. If the Senate amends the bill and then passes it, the bill must go back to the House for approval.

Fairness in Women’s Sports Act

Titled the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, Ehardt’s and Souza’s bill would apply to all Idaho sports teams sponsored by public schools, colleges and universities. A girls’ or women’s team would not be open to transgender students who identify as female. The bill does not apply to transgender students wanting to participate in boys’ or men’s sports.

The House passed the bill on Feb. 26, with three Republicans opposing it: Reps. Greg Chaney, Caldwell; Caroline Nilsson Troy, Genesee; and Bill Goesling, Moscow.

After the bill passed the House, Ehardt and Souza decided to amend it to clarify when and how medical testing would be done to determine a student athlete’s gender.

“We are not advocating for embarrassing or intrusive physical exams or onerous requirements,” Souza told the committee.

The Senate State Affairs Committee voted along party lines to send the bill to the Senate to be amended.

In opposition to the bill, Stennett said: ”There isn’t any evidence that we have had any difficulty in Idaho with our system. I am severely concerned about what this does, the kind of trauma we would subjugate our children to. This is not a biological test tube that needs experiments. These are children.”

“It is ridiculous to have a heavy-handed government in something biological that nobody has any understanding of.”

Stennett noted that this is an “underdefined and unknowing science,” and “one in 400 children who are born show anomalies in their chromosomes.

“All this does is cause trauma for life,” Stennett said. “Where is our humanity in that?”

Like Scott’s bill, this bill is going to the Senate under an amending order. If the Senate amends the bill and then passes it, the bill must go back to the House for approval.

Idaho business community responds

Mat Erpelding, Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce vice president of government relations and a former Democratic legislator, told the committee the chamber’s policy committee unanimously opposes Scott’s bill.

If passed, the legislation, “will have serious implications on our national reputation, which will have serious implications on our large corporations,” Erpelding said.

“Our state over the last 25 years has worked very hard to overcome a reputation that none of us are proud of. In doing so, we continue to see expansion of diversity and inclusion within our state. This takes us backwards and has economic impact on our workforce,” Erpelding said.

Last week, five of Idaho’s largest private employers sent letters to some legislative members asking for support of the state’s diverse communities and to reject divisive legislation.

“Passage of these bills could hurt our ability to attract and retain top talent to Idaho, and it could damage Idaho’s ability to attract new businesses and create new jobs,” states a March 2 letter jointly signed by Chobani, Clif Bar, HP and Micron to the Senate State Affairs Committee.

In a separate letter sent March 3 to Senate and House leaders from Mark Peters, Idaho National Laboratory director and Battelle Energy president, he states he is “hearing concerns within INL and throughout our community about the substance and tone of discussions taking place this legislative session and how those negatively impact the way Idaho is perceived outside our borders.”

Republican legislative leaders — Senate Pro Tem Brent Hill and House Speaker Scott Bedke — have not commented on the letter they received.

Democratic legislative leaders — Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett and House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel — told the Statesman they agree that these types of discriminatory bills will harm Idaho’s economy and reputation.