IDAHO CAPITOL – House and Senate Democrats will analyze the 2023 Legislative Session including the bills that were passed, the bills that were killed and those that were vetoed.

Lawmakers will discuss the two divergent paths we saw in this year’s legislature. The first is a hopeful pathway of compromise and cooperation that was behind bills like the Launch bill or the Clean Slate bill. The second path leads us to bills that victimize trans kids, their parents and doctors and bills that threaten our community and school libraries.

Idaho is at a crossroads and this year’s legislative session showed us clearly the two directions we can go.

Press members are welcome to join in-person or follow the live Facebook broadcast on the Idaho Democratic Legislative Caucus Committee page.

Questions from in-person reporters will be welcome.

WHAT: Democratic lawmakers Sine Die press conference

WHERE: Minority House caucus room – fourth floor

WHEN: Thursday April 6, 2 p.m. or upon adjournment

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IDAHO CAPITOL – House and Senate Democrats are deeply disappointed that their Republican colleagues are unwilling to fight for meaningful property tax relief that does not have disastrous side effects. Legislators were presented with legislation that provided greater property tax cuts without jeopardizing school and infrastructure funding in the form of HB 198aaS, which was killed by House Republicans on a party-line vote.

“Idahoans asked us to address property taxes and restore education funding,” House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel said. “The supermajority was only willing to deliver property tax cuts that come at the expense of long-term school facilities and operational funding.”

The Senate delivered a superior property tax bill to HB 292, but political infighting prevailed over Idahoans’ best interests and it was killed by House Republicans.

Every House Democrat voted in favor of concurring with the Senate amendments on HB 198aaS, which largely mirrored HB 292, but with greater benefits for property taxpayers and without the technical errors and collateral damage to schools in HB 292. HB 198aaS had the following features:

• Provided $76 million MORE in property tax reduction over the next five years
• Preserved bonding for transportation projects
• Ensured increased funding for local roads and bridges
• Preserved the March election date that school districts rely on
• Preserved escalating funding for public defense to keep up with the need
• Did not cut needed funding for ambulance, fire, flood control, and water districts

Ideally, schools would receive adequate, reliable state funding and would never need levies and bonds. Sadly, levy reliance has become the norm. Eighty percent of Idaho’s districts require supplemental levies for day-to-day costs like teacher salaries, supplies and utilities. The March election date allows schools to make timely salary offers to retain their staff for the following school year.

There are multiple “trailer bills” in play to try to correct the errors of HB 292, but none address the damage to schools caused by eliminating their March election date. One of those bills, HB 376, will actually reduce the amount of property tax relief for Idahoans, potentially by $6 million in the first year.

Senate Democratic Leader Melissa Wintrow, said “We knew our constituents expected us to enact sensible property tax reform this session. It’s unfortunate that the best, simple solutions, like reindexing the homeowner’s exemption and significantly increasing property tax assistance for seniors, fell by the wayside in favor of an overly complicated approach with harmful side effects.”

After months of wasting time on culture wars and attacks on librarians, the GOP supermajority finally turned its attention to property taxes in the final days of session, only to emerge with a flawed HB 292. The Governor wisely vetoed it due to the threats it posed to highway construction funding and schools’ ability to raise funds without critical March election dates. Unfortunately, rather than seize this opportunity to pass a clean property tax bill that does not contain a poison pill for Idaho schools, Republican legislators overrode his veto and pushed forward with an inferior bill.

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IDAHO CAPITOL – Idaho Democratic lawmakers are saddened but not surprised by the announcement that Bonner General Health has made the “emotional and difficult decision to discontinue providing Obstetrical services at Bonner General Health…”

Democratic House Leader Ilana Rubel: 

“This is what happens when pregnancy care is criminalized. Democrats have been warning about it for years. Many of the big-government, heavy-hand laws were passed during a time where GOP lawmakers could hide behind the protections of Roe v. Wade. With those protections removed, the consequences of bad laws are being felt and will continue to be felt by Idahoans until the political pain becomes so severe that GOP lawmakers start writing laws to help Idahaons instead of catering to extremists.”

Democratic Senate Leader Melissa Wintrow: 

“Pregnancy is complex and the laws banning basic reproductive health care create collateral damage. It is a lesson to us that we should not be legislating health care. These issues are private matters. Self determination of our bodies and the pursuit of happiness depend on the ability to control our bodies. When we allow politicians to practice medicine, everyone loses.”

House Assistant Democratic Leader Lauren Necochea: 

“We already have a shortage of healthcare providers in Idaho. With 45% of obstetric gynecologists considering or exploring relocation out of Idaho, this is only the beginning of a crisis. All patients will suffer.”

Senate Assistant Democratic Leader James Ruchti:

“Idaho lawmakers regularly talk about creating a family friendly environment that will encourage our children to raise their own families here. However, Idaho’s near total abortion ban and the subsequent impact on our health care system does the opposite. Starting a family requires pregnancy, which has its own set of risks. As we see in Bonner County, Idaho’s family unfriendly laws drive away competent health care providers, needlessly increasing the health risks from pregnancy and discouraging young families from laying down roots here.”

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IDAHO CAPITOL – Democrats on the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee support Senate Bill 1111, with some reservations.

S1111 creates a discount on property tax bills for homeowners, while raising applicant income limits and easing home value restrictions for circuit breaker eligibility. The circuit breaker is a property tax reduction program primarily benefiting low-income seniors and veterans. This move will help older Idahoans remain in their homes as property taxes rise.

“It was extremely disheartening to see the legislature take much-needed property tax assistance away from low-income seniors with House Bill 389 in 2021,” said Senator Rick Just (D-Boise), a member of the Senate Local Government and Tax Committee. “S111 undoes a great deal of that harm by allowing more seniors to access that assistance once again.”

“After years of the Republican supermajority expanding corporate property tax exemptions while the homeowner’s exemption was capped, a different approach is long overdue. I appreciate that homeowners are finally being prioritized,” continued Just. “People in my district are being priced out of their homes simply because their property tax bill outpaces their income.”

“This legislation could go further and undo the underlying tax shift, which is the major cause of rising property taxes for homeowners,” says Senator Ali Rabe (D-Garden City) who is also on the Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee.

Commercial interests are benefitting from this ongoing tax shift, which stems from a 2016 GOP law capping the homeowner’s exemption, which used to rise automatically with home values. According to the State Tax Commission, among the properties that were in existence in 2016, homeowners have seen a 20.5% increase in property taxes and commercial properties have seen a 24.1% decrease.

Senators Just and Rabe support House Bill 78, a bipartisan proposal to restore an index based on the sales price of Idaho homes to adjust the maximum homeowner’s exemption each year. It was introduced on Feb. 2 and hasn’t moved since. The bill would rebalance the tax load between commercial and residential property taxes by restoring the homeowner’s exemption to the level it would be at today if Republican legislators had not capped it in 2016.

Rabe continued, “Although S1111 isn’t perfect, it will help homeowners. As a Democrat, I support legislation that benefits Idaho’s working families. When it comes to property taxes, the Legislature has catered to special interests for too long.”

Idaho Democrats’ priority is an economy that works for all Idahoans, including affordable housing. In order for families to thrive, they need a stable place to call home.

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House Bill 22 would “This bill withholds sales and use tax revenue distributions to city or county

governments that take actions, such as proclamations, to refuse to enforce any felony listed in Idaho criminal code,” according to its statement of purpose.

Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa), the bill’s sponsor, said the bill targeted one city’s resolution to deprioritize investigations and the use of police resources related to abortion investigations.

Committee member Rep. Lauren Necochea (D-Boise) explained that cash-strapped law enforcement departments ought to be able to differentiate between types of crimes to focus their resources, saying dealing fentanyl should probably take priority over the possession of marijuana and investigating rape should be prioritized over abortion.

“I suspect law enforcement all over this state already prioritizes the crimes that pose the biggest threats to public safety,” she said, “Cities and counties ought to be able to make these priorities explicit without the state defunding their police department. This bill is about taking away local control and removing discretion for local law enforcement.”

Necochea said while she doesn’t believe abortion care should ever be criminalized, she said those who do believe people should go to prison over abortions should think through the practical impact of the bill.

“A zealous neighbor could report to the police that they had heard their neighbor was pregnant and is no longer,” she said. “The intent of this bill is to require that the local police force are sent out to investigate what could have been a miscarriage or pregnancy complication or a legal abortion in a neighboring state.”

She said the current near-total abortion ban has such strict penalties for doctors and nurses, it is dissuading medical professionals from practicing in Idaho at all. With this effective deterrent, police investigations are not only unnecessary, but harmful.

“Idaho doesn’t need the force of local police officers and detectives showing up on doorsteps to do pregnancy investigations,” she said. “Pregnancy investigations are invasive and cruel and have no place in our state.”

The bill passed 12-2 on a party-line vote. It will go to the House Floor.

IDAHO STATE CAPITOL – Democratic House Leader Ilana Rubel and Democratic Senate Leader Melissa Wintrow responded to Gov. Brad Little’s State of the State address today. The following are excerpts from them.

Rep. Rubel
“At the highest level, we Democrats were happy with what we heard today from the Governor’s proposed budget. This budget is true to HB1 passed during the special session, to the work done by hundreds of Reclaim Idaho volunteers and tens of thousands of Idahoans who worked to certify the Quality Education Act, and to the overwhelming support of the advisory question on last November’s ballot. Voters spoke clearly that they support bringing $410 million in desperately needed new money to our public K-12 and higher ed schools.
“The pay increases proposed for teachers and other school personnel offer us a chance to recruit and retain the educators our children need and to finally pull Idaho out of last place in America in education funding.
“We strongly support the proposed investments in infrastructure, broadband, mental health, water quality and outdoor recreation. Democrats have championed public lands and outdoor recreation, as our beautiful outdoors are the bedrock of our quality of life and are a huge draw to bring a skilled workforce to Idaho. Last year we supported record investments in our parks and clean water, and we will proudly do so again.
“Overall, we share the Governor’s emphasis on funding schools, fixing our roads and bridges, supporting mental health and investing in public lands and clean water. However, we know that it is far from a given that this budget will survive the Republican supermajority in the legislature. We know that there will be many attempts to divert funds away from public schools into dangerous voucher / ESA schemes, and to withhold the funds proposed for infrastructure and other needs in order to further balloon income tax cuts that will bestow money overwhelmingly on the wealthiest. Democrats will work hard to protect the investments proposed in the Governor’s budget and ensure they become a reality. Frankly, without the work and support of Democrats in the Legislature, it is doubtful that we could accomplish any of the investments outlined in the Governor’s plan. Time after time, we have brought the critical votes necessary to save these budgets.
“Other objectives of our caucus include repeal of the grocery tax, establishing school facilities funding mechanisms to lower property taxes, allowing new mothers to remain on Medicaid for a year after giving birth, improving reimbursement rates for Medicaid caregivers so that seniors and those with serious medical needs can remain in their homes, improving support for victims of domestic violence, Clean Slate legislation to allow minor nonviolent offenders to reenter the workforce, and improving access to affordable housing.

Sen. Melissa Wintrow
“If our state is going to thrive, we have to have an economy that thrives…that economy includes high quality schools to ensure a well-educated and trained workforce, strong health care systems, infrastructure including broadband access, and a climate that promotes opportunities for all kinds of workers not policies to gov;t that tells us what we can read, who we pray to, who we love, and forces pregnancy and violates privacy of patients with their doctors.

Idahoans are being taxed out of their homes. I was pleased to hear the governor mention it in his address. The elderly, veterans and middle-class families can no longer afford their annual tax fee. Property tax reduction is a top priority for Democrats and here are five easy ways to solve this problem.
Update the homeowners exemption and index it. I would be worth $224,000 by now
Use impact fees on new growth so building schools for new folks on their dime not long time residents bearing the burden
Create a building fund for facility maintenance
Expand the circuit breaker – we kicked off folks who should be taken care of
Increase public funding for schools…gov said it to the press on thursday…if we pay the bills on other things it reduces burdens on locals and that would reduce property taxes

“As the governor said, ‘Hundreds of schooling options are available to Idaho families.’ In fact we’re ranked number three for school choice. We have school choice in the state. Vouchers aren’t going to create choice, they are going to starve our public schools which are already running on lean budgets. Protecting our public schools is a top priority for Democrats.

“I recently read an op ed from a former gop legislator that called on folks not to be duped. I want to reiterate that message. There are special interest groups who have a lot to gain by attacking the Idaho way of doing things. Vouchers are not our way and would only hurt schools, especially those smaller schools in rural areas. We can’t be duped by specters that are intentionally meant to play on fears instead of promoting high quality of life.”

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December 7, 2022

BOISE – It is with great sadness that Idaho’s Democratic caucus announces the passing of widely beloved former Representative Hy Kloc.

Hy was the son of Polish Holocaust survivors. In 1947, he was born in a displaced persons camp in Essen, Germany. Much of his family lost their lives in the Holocaust. In 1950, his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn. He attended New York City Community College and Western Michigan University, and had a distinguished media career prior to entering public office, including working for public radio both in Idaho and in Detroit, public television and the Grammys. In 1983, Hy married the love of his life, Joan Wallace, and in 2000 they moved to Idaho where he served as the development director for Boise Public Radio.

In his new home, Hy soon gravitated to public service, chairing the Boise Census Committee in 2010. He was elected to the board of the Greater Boise Auditorium District in 2011 and again in 2017, serving as the chair from 2011 to 2014. In 2012, he was elected to represent District 16 (West Boise and Garden City) in the Idaho House of Representatives, a position he held until retiring in 2018. Hy was a steadfast champion of early childhood education, introducing bipartisan legislation seeking to end Idaho’s status as one of the few states lacking public pre-k. As the son of Holocaust survivors, he was an unfailing advocate for refugees and the most vulnerable members of society, sponsoring Add the Words legislation every year and vigorously opposing all legislation he saw as discriminatory.

Hy and his wife Joan were devoted dog lovers, and Hy was a vocal champion for the humane treatment of animals. He led the successful effort to establish Idaho’s “Pet Friendly” license plate, which has generated over $100,000 to benefit the Idaho Humane Society in providing veterinary services for low-income Idaho residents and spay and neuter services.

On the night of December 6, 2022, Hy suffered an unexpected heart attack and passed away at St. Alphonsus Hospital. Our hearts are with Joan at this difficult time. We are thankful to have worked with Hy and that Idaho reaped the benefits of his compassion, hard work and dedication to service. We ask that any donations in honor of the remarkable Hy Kloc be made to the Idaho Humane Society. Each time you see a Pet-Friendly license plate, thank Hy, and hug your loved ones and your pets a little closer in his memory.

Idaho’s Democratic lawmakers selected their leadership on Tuesday, November 29.

House members elected Rep. Ilana Rubel (Boise) as House Minority Leader, a position she has held since 2019. Rep. Lauren Necochea (Boise) will remain Assistant Minority Leader, a position she has held since 2020. Rep. Ned Burns (Bellevue) was elected Minority Caucus Chair for the first time. Burns replaces Rep. Sally Toone (Gooding) who did not run for reelection.

“I’m extremely honored to be selected by my caucus to undertake the critical role of Caucus Chair,” Burns said. “I learned a tremendous amount under the previous chair and my former seat mate Sally Toone. I’ll continue to ensure that our caucus has legislative success, that we advocate on behalf of all Idaho families and for Idaho values.”

In the Senate, Sen. Melissa Wintrow (Boise) replaces Sen. Michelle Stennett (Ketchum) as Senate Minority Leader. Stennett did not run for reelection after 12 years of service. Rep. James Ruchti (Pocatello), who was elected to the Senate in November and will be sworn in as District 29 Senator on December 1, was elected Assistant Minority Leader. Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking (Boise) was elected Minority Caucus Chair, a position she has held since 2020.

“I appreciate my colleagues’ support for Senate leadership,” Ruchti said. “We have many challenges ahead of us in the upcoming session and I am ready to get to work to better the lives of working families throughout Idaho.”

“I’m honored to serve as the Senate Democratic leader,” Wintrow said. “It’s a responsibility I take seriously. I will continue to work hard to collaborate on meaningful solutions that address the needs of the people of Idaho such as quality public education, lowering property taxes and protecting access to public lands.”

All lawmakers will be sworn in Thursday Dec. 1 at the Capitol.

Attendees included: Gov. Brad Little, State Reps. Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise), James Ruchti (D-Pocatello), Lauren Necochea (D-Boise), Ned Burns (D-Bellevue), Sally Toone (D-Gooding), Sue Chew (D-Boise), John McCrostie (D-Garden City) and Sens. President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder (R-Boise), Minority Leader Michelle Stennett (D-Ketchum), Eva Nye (D-Pocatello), Janie Ward-Engelking (D-Boise), Melissa Wintrow (D-Boise), Carrie Semmelroth (D-Boise), Jim Guthrie (R-McCammon), Abby Lee (R-Fruitland), Mark Harris (R-Soda Springs) and C. Scott Grow (R-Eagle).

Kevin Satterlee, Idaho State University president, opened the ceremony praising Nye’s generosity and dedication to the University. “Over the last few years he called me so many times and said, ‘Kevin, what do you need? How can I help you? How can I help the students?’”

Nye’s law partner, Randy Budge said his absence will be missed among Idaho’s legal circles.

“Without a question,” Budge said, “the legal community lost one of its most able and noble attorneys. He will be missed. Mark loved the law. And he loved being a lawyer.”

Sen. Stennett said her friend was committed to his cause, community and constituents.

“In the Senate, Mark was a quiet, thoughtful colleague most times,” she said, “until he would get fired up about education or fighting for local governments, or misrepresentation with the law.”

She added that his style was to work with others to benefit the people of Idaho

“Although Mark was a longtime supporter of progressive issues in Idaho,” she said, “ he was known for befriending his Republican colleagues at the Idaho Capitol and working across the aisle on legislation. They truly cared about him, checking in to help if he needed a hand.”

She continued: “I adored his dry, wicked sense of humor, his mischievousness, his kindness, his compassion. Mark was fiercely proud, intensely private, and incredibly loyal. He was respected by our caucus and an excellent member of our team. He had old-fashioned, refined manners, but he could surprise you with occasional irreverence.”

“It has been a gift to serve with both Senators Nye, Mark and Eva,” Stennett said. “I am sure he is finding immense humor, pride, and pleasure being surrounded by all of us honoring his memory today. May we keep a piece of this special man in our hearts always.”

Nye passed away on July 16 at age 76. His wife Eva was appointed to his Senate seat by Gov. Brad Little.

Born in New York in 1945 but raised in Pocatello, Nye graduated from Harvard on a scholarship and earned a law degree from the University of Idaho in Moscow. After moving back to Pocatello, he spent his life serving the community he loved.

Nye was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2014 where he served one term. In 2016 he was elected to the Senate where he served three terms. Nye announced his retirement from the Senate prior to his passing.

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For more information and interview requests, contact:
Derek Farr, Communications Director for the Idaho House and Senate Democrats
(208) 315-7715 or derek@idahodlcc.org