Idaho House will reconvene Nov. 15, consider laws on COVID-19 vaccine mandates
This story was updated at 2:50 p.m. on Oct. 27.
The Idaho House will reconvene on Nov. 15 to consider legislation around COVID-19 vaccines and address an ethics matter involving a Republican lawmaker.
The Republican-dominated House recessed in May, rather than ending its session, with the plan to reconvene before the end of the year. Since it will remain a regular session, and not a special session, lawmakers won’t be limited in the kinds of bills they may introduce.
But House Speaker Scott Bedke said committee chairs agreed to restrict bills to addressing COVID-19 vaccinations. The goal is for the session to last only a few days, said Bedke and Majority Caucus Chair Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett.
“That was discussed at length with the chairs this morning, and we’re all in agreement that we should expedite the process here,” Bedke told the Idaho Statesman on Monday.
But whether senators can find consensus on supporting a House bill in November remains to be seen, said Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder.
Winder said the Senate plans to reconvene to adjourn the legislative session after the House does, per counsel from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office. However, he doesn’t know whether the Senate can support other legislation the House will pursue, Winder said Tuesday.
He said senators would prefer for House members to “sine die” — end the regular session — after they vote on the ethics recommendation to censure Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, and remove her from a committee.
“But I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen,” Winder told the Idaho Statesman.
Winder said that while the Senate supports the House in meeting to deal with Giddings’ ethics matter, he’s still discussing any other possible legislation with the Senate Republican Caucus.
Some GOP senators support creating a defense fund for employers to fight federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Winder said. But the issue is “complicated enough” that senators may prefer to wait until January to address it, he added.
House must vote on whether to censure Giddings
The House must vote on whether to punish Giddings over her actions when a legislative intern accused a former legislator of sexual assault.
After an ethics hearing over a complaint, a House panel in August unanimously recommended that Giddings be removed from the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee, which oversees laws around state employees.
The ethics complaint, supported by 25 House members, alleged that Giddings defamed a 19-year-old who accused a former House Republican of sexual assault by sharing an article from a far-right website that identified her. It also said she misrepresented her actions to the ethics committee while under oath.
Ethics committee members said Giddings exhibited a pattern of dishonesty and disrespect to her colleagues in her testimony — both in August at her hearing and during the ethics hearing involving former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, who was accused of rape by the 19-year-old. Von Ehlinger has since been charged with rape and forcible penetration by a foreign object.
Under House Rule 45, the House must vote on an ethics recommendation “during the regular session of the Legislature” in which the ethics committee reports.
“We have to come back in by the end of the year, and this is as good a time as any,” Bedke told the Statesman. “The House has business to conduct. ... I don’t think anyone wants to go and be there for an extended period of time.”
House to consider action over COVID-19 vaccine mandates
In a letter in early September, Bedke said he wouldn’t reconvene without majority support from both the House and the Senate to ensure a bill could pass. Anything short of that “would be a waste of taxpayer money,” he wrote.
But Bedke on Wednesday said Democratic President Joe Biden’s sweeping plan to mandate COVID-19 vaccines changed things. While Bedke and Gov. Brad Little have opposed limits to private businesses’ ability to mandate vaccines, Little, Bedke and some Republican senators have all publicly condemned Biden’s sweeping plan to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for businesses that have 100 or more workers and for federal contractors.
“We feel strongly that the Biden administration has overreached with regards to the vaccine mandate,” Bedke told the Statesman on Wednesday. “That’s not the federal government’s job is to tell people what vaccinations to take.”
The Idaho Legislature’s federalism committee last month met to discuss legal options around fighting those mandates, even though the federal government, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has not issued the exact rules yet.
Ultimately the Republican members recommended a draft bill by Senate Assistant Majority Leader Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, that would criminalize helping the federal government impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates among state employees. But in a legal analysis requested by Sen. David Nelson, D-Moscow, Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane said parts of the bill would conflict with federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
Winder said Vick’s bill would now need substantial changes to garner enough support from senators.
The committee also heard other draft bills, which included adding vaccine exemptions to state code, banning limitations on services or employment over vaccination status, and preventing mandates on new employees.
Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said she was concerned that Republican leaders would pursue bills that ultimately don’t stand legal muster.
”It’s hard to imagine that whatever they plan to do at this point couldn’t wait until January when we have a full normal session,” Rubel said.
This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 6:33 PM.
