RN Idaho - May 2021

Page 18 • RN Idaho May, June, July 2021
ADVOCACY IN ACTION
The 2021 Idaho Legislative Session
Michael McGrane, RN, MSN
Senior Lobbyist
Benn Brocksome & Associates
mcgraneconsulting@gmail.com
As 2020 is the year that never ends, the 2020-2021 Legislative Session never
ends. The 2021 session formally began on January 11th, however this year’s
session really began March 16, 2020, when Governor Little announced restrictions
as COVID-19 emerged in Idaho. That initial round of restrictions identified
“essential” and “non-essential” businesses and workers. The 2020 Legislature was
in its final week with some senators and representatives leaving early to avoid the
contagious spread. Enough lingered to push-back on the Governor’s order. At the
time Blaine County was a national COVID-19 hotspot. There was still little known
about the virus and how it spread. But the idea of blanket shutdowns across
the state riled many of the more rural and conservative legislators from districts
unaffected by the virus. Recognizing the diversity in those areas affected, and
those so far unaffected, the Governor allowed the regional health districts, cities,
and counties to initiate health orders rather than closing the entire state. This riled
those who could see the infectious impact of the pandemic who felt the Governor
was failing to act.
During the summer of 2020, a group of right-wing legislators held a mock
legislative session at the capitol to decry the Governor’s restrictions and hail
personal freedoms that included the right to work, the right not to wear masks,
and general resistance to any health orders. Under the Idaho Constitution, only
the Governor can call a special session of the Legislature, but must specify the
issues the legislature can consider. So, in August, Governor Little called a special
session to consider two topics, legislation to allow for safe and smooth elections
in November, and liability protection for businesses during the pandemic. Nonethe-less,
the legislature, while limited by the Constitution, took the August Special
Session as an opportunity to attack the Governor and health restrictions. Along
with the health concerns, Idaho received $1.25B in federal CARES Act economic
stimulus funding. In April, Governor Little created the Coronavirus Financial
Advisory Committee to allocate those federal funds. The Governor’s committee
included Senator Steve Bair and Representative Rick Youngblood who both chair
the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee (JFAC) of the Legislature. JFAC is
the committee that approves all state budgets. The constitutional power of the
Legislature is the “power of the purse,” or the authority to allocate state funds. Even
with representation on the Governor’s advisory committee, legislators were up in
arms that they were not consulted nor the ones who allocated those extra federal
funds.
In advance of the 2021 Legislative Session, legislators began drafting bills
to restrict the Governor’s authority to call an emergency, restrain the Director of
the Department of Health and Welfare and health districts’ authority to issue
mask, quarantine or isolation orders, and allow the legislature to call themselves
into special session and declare or limit emergency declarations. Along with the
funding authority, these topics pitted the legislative branch against the executive
branch and propelled the 2021 Legislative Session.
Typically, there is a flow to the session where agency rules are heard during
the first few weeks of the session, then there is a limited period for introduction
of “personal bills” followed by more formal committee bills and hearings and
ending with the budget bills that must be completed by the end of the session and
the “going home” bills which are the big political items that define the session’s
success. This year, however, the Session opened in a scramble, as leadership
allowed personal bills to be introduced immediately. With all the attention on health
restrictions and the Governor’s emergency authority, a plethora of “freedom” bills
flooded the first few weeks of the session, creating a lot of public attention and
internal confusion on what process was being followed. Many legislators used the
opportunity to run pet or politically advantageous issues while at the same time,
state agencies tried to navigate their rule approvals and necessary bills. Despite
constitutional concerns, the legislature attempted to take power away from the
Governor, defund the Governor’s projects, defund the Attorney General’s office in
retaliation for advice they considered unsupportive of the legislature’s goals, and
assert their authority to control the budget. Idaho is the only state to have run a
surplus and add jobs during the pandemic.
Fortunately, for health care, the 2021 Session was tame. Representative Fred
Wood, a retired physician from Burley, and the eldest member of the legislature,
is Chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee. He stayed back during
the initial days of the session and made it clear that his committee would only hear
necessary legislation. The number of bills considered by the House Committee
were filtered through a sense of reasonableness and necessity and were way
fewer in number than past years. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee,
chaired by Senator Fred Martin, also fielded few bills, mostly in response to the
House committee’s actions. Accommodations were made for social distancing and
remote testimony for committee hearings.
Here is a rundown of nursing and healthcare rules and bills. Administrative Rules
become effective upon adjournment of the Legislature. Bills become effective on
July 1st unless there is an emergency provision which then become effective upon
the Governor’s signature.