Idaho libraries lost millions in ARPA funds. A study on ‘harmful’ materials is next
In a scramble on what was scheduled to be the last day of the legislative session, Idaho House Republicans fast-tracked and approved a resolution that creates a working group to study children’s access to “harmful” materials in libraries.
The resolution was intended to secure enough votes in the House to approve a new budget for the Commission for Libraries. Late Friday night, the House finally cleared the fifth version of the budget bill — which was then approved by the Senate.
But last-minute rejections of the commission’s budget left the Legislature at risk of extending its session, with shuffles back and forth between the two chambers to ensure the bill gets approved. Lawmakers were required to pass the budget before the Legislature can adjourn. Just before midnight, the House and Senate voted to recess until Thursday.
Democrats had shot down a previous version of the bill hours earlier that cut $3.5 million in technology projects funded by the American Rescue Plan. The new budget increased that cut by $100.
The ARPA cut came a day after House lawmakers had rejected previous versions of the budget, citing “harmful” materials and concerns over children’s access to pornography. Legislators had already cut about $300,000 from the budget, which had been used for a statewide e-book collection for K-12 students.
During a tense debate in the full House, Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, drew several objections when she said the House rejected previous versions of the budget as punishment for members of the Idaho Library Association. Association members had publicly opposed another bill to remove legal protections for librarians disseminating “harmful” materials to minors.
“It is profoundly dangerous, one of the most dangerous things I’ve seen happen in this body in my time here,” Rubel said. “And that was, specifically, going after people for exercising their sacred First Amendment right to petition their government for redress.”
Democrat calls budget cut an ‘attack on libraries’
During Friday’s morning budget-setting Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said libraries amid the COVID-19 pandemic expanded access and in some cases were the only resource for internet “desperately needed” by students and others.
“This budget does not reward the heroic effort that our libraries have done the last few years,” Ward-Engelking said.
The budget also had a requirement that libraries verify resources for K-12 students comply with sections in Idaho code on “obscene materials.” It also requested the Idaho Commission for Libraries provide a written report to legislators by September on “progress in complying with this section and any associated internal audits.”
The Idaho Commission for Libraries assists local libraries by providing aid with operating needs, including internet library services and professional development for libraries.
Rubel said Democrats are staunch supporters of libraries and supported previous versions of the budget. But when House Republicans cut $3.5 million more, they found the significant cuts “unacceptable” and an “attack on libraries.”
She also said she believed the budget cuts were in large part a punishment for citizens engaging with their government. Librarians wrote into the Legislature in response to a previous bill that would have made libraries liable for distributing “harmful” materials to minors, and “a chunk of the majority caucus felt that they had to be punished for that,” Rubel said.
“I found that to be a very disturbing issue,” she told the Statesman. “If our Legislature is going to engage in punishing people for speaking out and advocating to their representatives, then we are in a very dark place.”
Legislature forms working groups on ‘harmful’ materials
The resolution on “harmful” materials, approved by the House on Friday, gives House leadership the authority to create a working group. It will include House lawmakers, a member of the Idaho Library Association and the state librarian of the Idaho Commission for Libraries, according to the resolution.
The resolution said the House recognizes that distributing “harmful” materials to minors is a contributing factor to juvenile crime and to “impairing the ethical and moral development of our youth.” It also calls the proliferation of pornographic materials a “public health crisis” that “inflicts harm on children, families and societies.”
The resolution also affirms the House’s commitment to ensuring Idaho policy has safeguards to prevent children from being exposed to harmful materials in libraries and schools.
“This is not the solution we’d hoped for,” Rep. Gayann DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, said Friday on the House floor. “We do have something before us that I think that will help us continue to protect minors. … We have an opportunity here to shine further light on this issue.”
Some Republican lawmakers said they don’t believe the resolution will be enough to protect the state’s youth or resolve the issue. Others accused libraries of pushing pornography on children.
Legislators said they hope the resolution makes parents aware of what they claim is happening.
“This is about our children, our grandchildren, and my real concern is we’re losing them to evil,” said Rep. Karey Hanks, R-St. Anthony.
Other legislators, though, argued the debate was perpetuating a false narrative.
“If 3-year-olds and 5-year-olds are going into libraries in Idaho and getting their hands on these materials,” Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, said, “parents are failing at a level that no legislature can fix.”
On Saturday, Senate Republicans announced the creation of a separate working group to study library content in partnership with House leadership, according to a news release. That working group will consist four senators and four representatives, according to the release.
In an interview with the Statesman, Majority Caucus Chair Mark Harris said the two working groups are currently separate, but that Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder and House Speaker Scott Bedke could eventually decide to combine them.
House Bill 666 held librarians liable for ‘harmful’ materials
The resolution comes after a bill, House Bill 666 — approved by the House, but never heard in the Senate — that would have held libraries liable for distributing “harmful” materials to minors. That bill would have removed an exemption given to schools, public libraries, universities, and museums on a crime of distributing the materials for educational purposes.
Idaho law essentially doesn’t define harmful materials. Idaho code says that someone is guilty of disseminating such materials that include “nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse” or “any other material harmful to minors.” The penalties for disseminating harmful materials include up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Supporters of the bill said it was important to keep inappropriate and pornographic materials out of the hands of children. But opponents and librarians noted that taken out of context, many materials could be labeled harmful to children. They also said the bill was vague and criminalized librarians.
Before the vote on the bill earlier this month, a “super secret folder” had been distributed among lawmakers. The folder, obtained by the Statesman, contained passages and images in books that Republicans believed were inappropriate for children.
Those books included many popular titles, such as the young adult novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “It’s Perfectly Normal,” a children’s book on sexual health. Others discussed gender identity, sexual orientation or sexual abuse.
Editor’s note: This story was updated 11:49 p.m. on March 25 to reflect new House and Senate votes. It was updated 11:54 a.m. on March 26 to reflect the creation of a second working group.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 7:35 PM.
