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RANDY STAPILUS Idaho |
The 2015 Idaho legislative session emerged more productive than its recent predecessors.
Public schools came out better this session than in a long time. A down payment was made on road repair and maintenance (though only about a third of what is thought to be needed). The legislature may not have “added the wordsâ€, but it can’t be said to have not heard the arguments on it: Hearings lasted for days after the bill was introduced, both moves sought by advocates for years and this time backed by House leadership. And Senate leaders didn’t get the praise they earned for inviting and courteously attending to an opening ceremony from a regional Hindu leader. There were some high spots in policy too (career ladder and anti-bullying legislation come to mind).
These things happened, however, in a context. You could pick it up in the steady stream of quotes, many internationally viral, such as:
“They (slave owners) weren’t terrible rotten horrible people. . . . And that’s how I see gay people.†Representative Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, March 25.
“We already have 105 inspector generals [legislators] in this building. . . .I don’t think we need to add more to it. We’re talking about spending $350,000 a year. From what I’ve seen from government agencies, that would just be a beginning. They seem to grow out of control in no time at all. I don’t see where this is going to do anything. I agree there is problems. People do things they aren’t supposed to do.†Representative Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, February 26.
“We’re a nation under God, one nation under God. So when you take Christian prayer out of school, as long as it’s a generic prayer and it’s not specific to any denomination, because our freedom of religion thing was to deal with different denominations, not whether we’re Christian or not.†Shepherd, March 20.
“This bill aims to put in writing the rights of parents to be the primary decision makers for their children. Parents’ rights are given to us by God. We are not saying the state is granting these rights. We are simply putting it in writing in our code that this is the case … and we acknowledge the rights that parents have.†Senator Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, on her bill allowing parents to pull children from any school activity which “impairs the parents’ firmly held beliefs, values or principles.â€
“They have a caste system, they worship cows.’ Senator Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, March 2.
“Hindu is a false faith with false gods.†Senator Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, March 3.
Barbieri: “You mentioned the risk of colonoscopy , can that be done by drugs?â€
Dr. Julie Madsen: “It cannot be done by drugs. It can, however, be done remotely where you swallow a pill and this pill has a little camera, and it makes its way through your intestines and those images are uploaded to a doctor who’s often thousands of miles away, who then interprets that.â€
Barbieri: “Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is?†Representative Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, February 23.
(About rejecting the bill that could cost the state funds from enforcing child support) 4/10
“We didn’t want to give up our sovereignty. We have $42 million coming to the state – it wasn’t worth risking our sovereignty to me.†Representative Don Cheatham, R-Post Falls, April 10..
“My whole concern is potential federal overreach. In North Idaho we have the water litigation going. I just am in fear that something could be impacted if it became an endangered species.†Cheatham, January 19, about a proposal to designate the giant salamander as state amphibian.
"They were ugly. They were slimy. And they were creepy." Representative Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, January 10.
And a non-quote:
(crickets) – Representative Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, declining to explain her votes against state budget bills, including not only six of seven pieces of the public school budget but also home-district state operations such as State Hospital North at Cottonwood and the North Idaho Correctional Institution at Cottonwood.