Little blasts Legislature in veto of emergency bills

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Gov. Brad Little announced Friday afternoon he will veto two bills that would limit a governor’s ability to guide Idaho through emergencies.

“For months now, the Idaho Legislature has debated its desired role in the state’s response to declare emergencies,” Little said. “The debate has culminated in two bills, bills that threaten your safety and our economy during future emergencies.”

The two bills — HB 135aa and SB 1136aa — curtail how and for how long a sitting governor can declare emergencies. The two pieces of legislation were part of an onslaught of bills meant to limit or kill altogether Little’s emergency declaration and ensuing actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

HB 135 limits, among other things, the duration for which an emergency or disaster can be declared. Current law provides for a sitting governor to call an emergency until he or she sees fit to end it. The House bill says an emergency can last no longer than 60 days, except for the purposes of collecting federal funds to combat the disaster in question.

The bill also would empower the Legislature — if already convened in a regular session or called up in a special session — to override a governor’s emergency powers.

SB 1136, meanwhile, amends Idaho Code that enables a governor’s specific powers. For example, the new language shrinks the definition of an “extreme peril” to exclude air pollution, fires, floods, storms, earthquakes and, most notably, epidemics.

Like HB 135, SB 1136 also establishes all Idaho workers as “essential” and considerably narrows a governor’s ability to close or restrict businesses. Little closed down non-essential businesses for more than a month in response to the COVID-19 pandemic before gradually re-opening the state as part of his Idaho Rebounds plan.

Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, co-sponsored SB 1136. He said Little’s announcement Friday was unsurprising.

“Clearly, we have a difference of opinion on what the Legislature’s role in governing is,” Vick told The Press. “I don’t believe he should be able to have indefinite power, the power to change laws and restrict people's lives and livelihoods."

SB 1136 also would prohibit a governor from circumventing the legislation by declaring back-to-back emergencies, and it prevents a governor from suspending Idaho Code unless a state of extreme peril is declared, one of the tell-tale signs of martial law.

Lawmakers have introduced dozens of pieces of legislation into House and Senate committees since the session began in January. Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, said the legislation isn’t meant to penalize Little but to include the Idaho Legislature into the process, something she said could be handled with calm and collected cool.

“If the governor has the ability to call out the military, the National Guard, there is no interruption of federal funding for disasters,” Souza, one of the co-sponsors of SB 1136, told The Press. “If the governor needs to go past 60 days, and there’s no restriction on any citizen, the Legislature does not need to come back.”

The move is by no means the final say on the matter. Vetoes can be overturned if two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote to override. That threshold would require 24 of 35 votes in the Senate and 47 of 70 votes in the House. HB 135 passed in the Senate by a 25-10 vote and a 49-20 vote in the House. SB 1136 had a slightly wider margin, passing in the Senate 27-7 in the Senate and 54-16 in the House.

Vick said he stands by his vote, and Souza said she believes both bills have the votes to survive the veto.

But Little brought reinforcements of his own to the announcement, as well.

All five living Idaho governors — Little, former Gov. Butch Otter, former Gov. and current U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and former Gov. Phil Batt — came to the announcement in support of Little’s vetoes, either through a statement, an in-person speech or virtual remarks.

Kempthorne said the decisions a sitting governor must make during the height of an emergency are not only key to safeguarding Idahoans during a pandemic, but recognized in the Idaho Constitution as critical tools an executive alone should wield.

“Today I’m proud to join my fellow governors in total support of the action you are about to take, Gov. Little,” Kempthorne said. “When we became governor, we all take the oath of office. Included in that oath is that we will support the Constitution of Idaho, and the constitution makes it very clear the responsibility of the executive branch of this government, of the governor, including in those situations that may be emergencies, situations that are unanticipated, unexpected. But when they do happen — and they do — somebody needs to take action and make the tough decisions. And it’s the governor that is required to do that in our constitution.”

In the 12-minute announcement, Little lambasted the Legislature for what he called reckless legislation that handcuffs a governor’s ability to react and respond to future emergencies as he detailed scenarios he envisioned would only hurt Idahoans.

“The bills narrow the authority of future governors to the point where a governor could not deploy the National Guard to facilitate vaccine administration or repair bridges after a massive earthquake,” Little said. “In addition, the bills limit the state’s ability to help re-open schools and businesses following a catastrophic disaster. A governor must have the ability to handle those emergencies, but we must recognize that future disasters also include events much more drastic.”

He ultimately chastised the House and Senate, calling both bills shortsighted legislation that focused on past pandemics, rather than future emergencies.

“This is just plain irresponsible,” Little said. “Let’s be honest: These bills are an emotional knee-jerk reaction because of anger about the pandemic and some of my decisions during a very uncertain time last year.”