Getting rid of archaic words in Idaho code is not really regulatory reform
Apparently, the state doesn’t want your local cemetarian involved in any sort of moral turpitude. Or your liquefied petroleum gas dealer, for that matter.
It turns out that Idaho code contains 29 references to “moral turpitude” when it comes to denying a license in a variety of occupations, including cemetarian, liquefied petroleum gas dealer, athlete agent and shorthand reporters.
Just for the record, moral turpitude is “an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community,” according to Merriam Webster.
Getting rid of that archaic — and notably vague — language is all part of the work of the state Legislature’s interim Occupational Licensing and Certification Laws Committee.
The committee, co-chaired by Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, and Rep. Gayann DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Thursday at the state Capitol.
The interim committee is scheduled to consider draft legislation to present to the upcoming legislative session that would seek to accomplish a few things.
One is to establish a new licensing committee that would work over the next three years to consider any new licenses in Idaho with an eye toward making sure it’s not creating an unnecessarily high barrier to entry for certain occupations.
I find it a bit ironic that a committee is forming a committee with the goal of — reducing bureaucracy.
State Rep. Robert Anderst, R-Nampa, who is on the interim committee, said he likes the idea of creating consistency, being fair and evaluating licenses in a way that balances making it easy for individuals to do business in Idaho while at the same time protecting public health and safety. He said he is concerned, though, about creating another layer of bureaucracy with a new licensing committee and creating potential conflicts with germane committees that would ultimately approve a new license.
The draft legislation as it stands now sets a three-year window for the licensing committee, meaning it would be kind of a test case to see how it works.
Other pieces of the legislation would help recognize licenses in other states as acceptable in Idaho and ensure that a past criminal conviction can’t be an automatic disqualifier without some sort of evaluation to determine if a past conviction has a bearing on the license.
This is all part of Gov. Brad Little’s Licensing Freedom Act and a broader effort to streamline state government and make it easier to do business in Idaho. It goes hand-in-hand with Little’s efforts to eliminate specific outdated regulatory programs in the licensing rules, which is happening separately from this committee’s work.
On Wednesday, Little announced that Idaho cut and simplified 75 percent of rules in one year, becoming the least-regulated state in the country, surpassing South Dakota.
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but a lot of these “cuts” are along the lines of getting rid of “moral turpitude” out of code. A lot of these changes target outdated and archaic rules and regulations that are just kind of lying there, not doing any harm or standing in anyone’s way from doing business in Idaho. It’s not like we’re overturning the Clean Air Act or allowing businesses to dump raw sewage in the Boise River again.
Consider cemetarians. The Idaho Legislature established the Board of Cemeterians in 1989, but no members have been appointed to the board, there have been no regulations and no licenses have been issued. So the state is getting rid of it.
Which is a good thing, and I don’t mean to disparage the work that’s being done. But these “cuts” are closer to cleaning up the books than real regulatory reform. Just ask your local cemetarian, with or without moral turpitude.
