Initiative bill clears House committee, gets ready for full vote

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The Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted Monday to send a controversial bill to the floor that opponents argue will make future citizen initiatives all but impossible.

Senate Bill 1110 would require organizers to collect signatures from at least 6 percent of all 35 legislative districts, rather than the status quo of 18 districts.

Spearheaded by Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, the bill cleared the Senate on March 1 by a 26-9 vote. Vick told the House committee Monday the bill aims to give all citizens a say in what makes the ballot.

“The purpose of this is to provide equity to all legislative districts,” he said. “…

So we’re trying to spread the initiative-gathering around the state to help protect us from out-of-state special interest groups who can focus in just a few areas of the state and get an initiative on the ballot.”

A healthy majority of both the in-person and virtual audience in the committee meeting testified against SB 1110, calling the bill an affront to Idahoans’ constitutional rights. Sylvia Chariton, former resident of Kootenai County’s Mica Flats and current co-president of the American Association of University Women’s Idaho branch, testified Monday that Vick’s bill would all but end the initiative process.

“Those of you from rural areas may want to vote for this as a way to protect your constituencies, you may find voting for this measure, although it sounds pretty good on paper, to be nothing more than a self-inflicted wound," she said.

The groundswell of opposition to SB 1110 has escalated over the past few weeks as the bill has made its way through the Senate, with voting rights advocates, grassroots organizations and residents using social media, letters to the editor and testimony to push back against the legislation. But Vick stood firm Monday in the committee meeting, saying that despite requiring the same percentage of votes in 17 more districts statewide, SB 1110 would not require additional signatures.

“What this does not do — and I’ve said this many times, and it’s still being repeated — it does not increase the number of signatures required,” Vick said. “I have opinions from both the Secretary of State and the Attorney General that state that.”

Vick and other supporters have contended that out-of-state interests can easily target urban areas with multiple legislative districts in order to more easily maneuver initiatives that might not be in the best interests of Idahoans.

Many others, however, testified that the bill was retaliation against the citizens for voting in favor of a more liberal citizen initiative — Medicaid expansion — back in 2018.

Rep. Jim Addis, R-Coeur d’Alene, will shepherd the House companion bill to a vote, Vick told the Coeur d’Alene Press in an earlier interview. Addis told the House committee Monday that SB 1110 gives the state’s initiative process a much-needed sense of equity.

“Quite simply, this is an inclusive bill that gives every part of Idaho a voice in the formation of laws,” Addis said.

The bill will now be scheduled for a vote on the House floor.