Legislature sends HB 406 to governor

BOISE — This week marks the potential halfway point for the state of Idaho’s 2024 legislative session. 

Following the vote to remove Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, from her leadership position; the House Republican Caucus elected Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, as the new Majority Leader in the House of Representatives. 

The Legislature experienced no shortage of activity this week, with debates on House Bill 399 kicking off the week in the House chambers on Monday morning.

"[The legislation] gives the Board of Medicine the authority and power to require production of any necessary information from Health and Welfare and provide an annual report to the Legislature by Jan. 31 of each year on maternal mortality data.” Rep. Blanksma said, “The data has been continued to be collected over the past year. It’s available, it just needs to be reviewed and we need the report.”

Rep. Tony Wisniewski, R-Post Falls, was the first to debate against the bill referencing data gathered from 2021. 

“If we look at the pregnancy-related mortality and include in that the maternal mortality, we have a grand total of fourteen deaths. So, if we’re going to spend this kind of money and effort on maternal mortality we really ought to in the sake of fairness and proportionality consider spending a lot more money on heart disease, cancer, accidents, Alzheimer's disease and so forth.” 

 After the debate was closed and the votes were tallied, House Bill 399 was passed to the Senate in a 52 to 17 vote, with one legislator marked absent.

House Bill 406 has continued along its path in the Idaho Legislature as it hit the third reading calendar Thursday morning in the Senate Chambers following its passage through the House on Jan. 29. Co-sponsored by Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, the proposed legislation, adds to existing law to provide for the crimes of trafficking in fentanyl and drug-induced homicide.

Among the bill's critics was Sen. Phil Hart, R-Kellogg. 

“I think what this bill does, is it scoops up people who are not trafficking and calls them traffickers," Hart said in arguing against the bill.

 Hart later said that a judge "ought to have discretion for those who maybe would more benefit from a rehabilitation program that I think the judge ought to have that option. And so, we’re taking away some of the checks and balances that I think need to protect Idahoans.”

In his concluding statements, the senator from northern Idaho said he believed more jail time was not the answer. 

"I believe if we pass this bill, we’re going to put so many more people in prison we’re going to be here two or three years from now funding a new prison for Idaho, because I think we’re going to increase our prison population by that much," he said.

However, Sen. Chris Trakel, R-Caldwell, said the bill is needed.

“I’m sorry if you are an addict and you are connected, you’re still breaking the law. It’s still against the law. It needs to be off the street and removed. If we remove the demand for it by having harsh punishment, its simple economics — they're not going to come here to sell.” 

After an extensive debate from across the Senate floor, House Bill 406 was approved 28 to 7. The bill will be sent to the Gov. Little’s office for his consideration.

Fentanyl continues to be a hot topic in the Statehouse, with House Bill 411, a bill to legalize the use and possession of fentanyl detection slips, having its first hearing in the House Health and Welfare Committee on Thursday morning. 

Co-sponsor of the proposed legislation, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, explained, “This will just be very helpful for people to be able to cheaply and easily make sure they’re not being inadvertently poisoned by fentanyl.” There was no testimony made in opposition, leading to a unanimous vote from the Committee to send House Bill 411 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation. 

On Thursday, the House State Affairs Committee introduced House Concurrent Resolution 26, which says the Legislature will look at the proposed affiliation between the University of Idaho and the University of Phoenix. A public hearing would be the next step in the process.

Sophie Spanbauer is an intern with the University of Idaho McClure Center for Public Policy Research and the UI JAMM News Service.