Mandatory porn filters fail in Idaho Senate, presidential primaries bill passes

BOISE – Although legislators would like to adjourn and a number of bills remain to be heard and voted on, senators spent over an hour discussing a bill that would require mobile devices activated in Idaho to have a content filter installed.

The Senate started Thursday with the 56 bills still awaiting a vote on the third-reading calendar. In a marathon session that stretched into the evening, senators voted on 23 of them.

Filters on devices to protect kids from porn fails

A bill requiring device manufacturers to automatically switch on default pornography-blocking filters on devices activated in Idaho did not advance.

A narrow vote of 17 in favor to 18 against sent Senate Bill 1163 down.

Sen. Kevin Cook from Idaho Falls introduced the bill, saying it wasn’t asking phone manufacturers to create new technology, rather just program the filters that already exist on digital devices to be switched on when activated in Idaho.

Cook gave the example of children of busy parents left unattended for hours with nothing to do but surf the web.

“These parents do not have time to lock down their home, to monitor their child’s mobile device,” Cook said. “They are just surviving.”

Sen. Dan Foreman, of Moscow, debated against the bill, asking whether it was within government’s charter.

“We’re entering into an arena that I think belongs to the individual and to the individual’s parents, if that person is a minor,” Foreman said.

Declaring or showing a firearm to protect against force or threats of force

Idaho already has “stand your ground” laws upholding self defense with firearms. A new bill from the Senate would allow a person, when threatened, to display a firearm, or to state that they had a firearm, as a deterrent, without the demonstration being considered an offense.

Senate Bill 1173 protects the right of a person to declare or show that they possess a firearm to reasonably defend and protect themselves or another against the unlawful use or attempted use of physical force including deadly physical force.

Sen. Melissa Wintrow, a Democrat from Boise, debated against the bill and expressed concern that displays of firearms could escalate to use of firearms, rather than deter violence.

“If a person was at a bar or a street and thought they felt threatened, and showed a firearm,” Wintrow said, “and the other person kills them, how do we sort that out?”

The bill narrowly passed with a vote of 18 to 17 and will now go to the House.

Senate OKs dropping March date for primaries

A bill that would consolidate the presidential primaries with the May primary elections in Idaho, dropping the March presidential primary date, was approved in the Senate by a vote of 24 to 10 with one absent.

House Bill 138, which was passed in the House by a 61-to-6 margin, is expected to save taxpayers more than $2 million every four years. Bill proponents are optimistic that having one primary date will increase voter participation.

In debate against the bill, Sen. Ben Toews, of Coeur d’Alene, said that several Republican Party central committees across the state hadn’t had a chance to discuss the date change, resulting in opposition that they hadn’t been given chance to declare an official position on the change.

The primary election dates consolidation bill will go to the governor to be signed into law.

Responsibility for Public Defenders turned to state

Calling it a culmination of multi-year collaboration regarding public defense, Nampa Republican Sen. Todd Lakey said 2022’s Public Defender Act was the first step to guaranteeing a consistent and adequate system of public defense in Idaho.

The Senate passed House Bill 236 with a 29-to-6 vote, which creates a state Office of the Public Defender, removing the responsibility from counties.

“This year is a significant step to put the framework in place,” Lakey said of House Bill 236. “We have to make sure that there is a consistent public defense in the state of Idaho.”

Sen. Dan Foreman conveyed concerns he had heard from constituents who felt the act would produce too much bureaucracy.

“In the interest of not growing state government, and in the interest of keeping operational control at the grassroots level … I’m going to be voting no on this bill,” Foreman said.

Debating in favor of the bill, President Pro Tempore of the Senate Chuck Winder said that consolidation of public defense under a state office would reduce potential liability of violating sixth amendment rights guaranteeing adequate representation. Several lawsuits from the ACLU have cost the state of Idaho a lot of money, Winder said.

“While we don’t exactly like being here, this is where we’re at,” Winder said during the debate. “What we find is in the smaller counties, they have a great deal of difficulty getting good representation for those that have been charged and can’t afford an attorney.”

Funding bills continue to advance

Eleven appropriations bills made their way through the Senate, including a billion dollar appropriation for Idaho Transportation Department. Funding was also approved for the Department of Water Resources, Public Health, Department of Environmental Quality, Parks and Rec, and $114 million for a Medicaid Management System.

3 bills head to governor

House Bill 47 seeks to align Idaho Code with Idaho Court decisions regarding the protection of personal privacy weighed against the public right to access. The bill was amended by the Senate, and will now return to the House.

House Bill 212, a bill to allow Department of Health and Welfare programs for kindergartners and school-age children be exempt from daycare licensing requirements.

The Senate also approved the Gestational Carrier Agreement Act, or House Bill 264, by a vote of 31 to 4. Now, on its way to the governor, the bill establishes consistent standards and procedural safeguards for the protection of parties to gestational agreements.

Capitol staff retirement

After 33 years of working at the Capitol, IT manager Glenn Harris is retiring in July. To give him a fitting send-off, the Senate passed a concurrent resolution honoring his years of service.

Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke recalled Harris’s vital role during the transition from the analog days to the digital age, and dealing with all the questions about computers from legislators with no technical experience whatsoever.

“Credit goes to that man up in the back row and he is to be commended,” Bedke said.