Speak out on attempt to curb initiatives
It is a serious offense to our constitutional liberties in Idaho when our state government limits the abilities of its citizens to petition their government and help make or reject laws. And on Wednesday, that is what the State Senate Affairs Committee was allowing when they released Senate Bill 1108 to the Senate floor.
The bill states that you must gather signatures for a voter initiative in at least 18 legislative districts, making it much more physically difficult in a primarily rural state to traverse the state collecting signatures. A daunting task to collect roughly 57,000 signatures whether the initiative represents a city person's or a rural person's perspective.
Senate Bill 1108 basically thwarts directly citizens' participation in government other than the election of your representative or senator, a large group of people that sometimes have difficulty making legislation that is actually practical and workable.
I encourage all citizens whether they be Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, or Constitutionalist to call, send an email or send a written letter to your representatives to make sure this legislation does not become law. I encourage you to contact your friends by email to do likewise and spread this message. We need more public involvement in our government, not less.
Here is a list of our local representatives' contacts by mail. Be sure to write:
Honorable Representative or Senator (their name)
Idaho House or Senate
Legislative Services Office
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0038
Area representatives and senators; you can send a note to all of them.
District 2: Rep. Vito Barbieri, Rep. Ed Morse, Sen. Steve Vick
District 3: Rep. Frank Henderson, Rep. Ron Mendive, Sen. Bob Nonini
District 4: Rep. Luke Malek, Rep. Kathleen Sims, Sen. John Goedde
PHONE: 208-332-1000 (during session, otherwise 208-334-2475)
FAX: 208-334-5397
WEB: www.legislature.idaho.gov (Click House or Senate, then Members to send email)
Anne Nesse is a Coeur d'Alene resident.