Driving to the finish line in Boise

Legislators address variety of issues at mid-session town hall

By DEVIN WEEKS

Staff Writer

POST FALLS — As long as Kootenai County citizens are being responsible drivers, their senators are OK with the rules that are already in place.

"We have distracted driving laws," said Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens. "If a police officer or sheriff sees that you are distracted while you are driving, you’re swerving, your speeds are erratic, for whatever reason, they can stop you. I think that is the appropriate level of law enforcement that we need to have because you can be distracted while eating a hamburger or changing the radio station.

"When we start to specify certain things you can and cannot do, it gives law enforcement sometimes an excuse to stop you for some reason when they might not have otherwise," he continued. "But if you’re driving poorly, they should be able to stop you."

These comments came in response to a citizen-submitted question Saturday morning during the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee's mid-session town hall in the Post Falls Senior Center.

The transportation committee's distracted driving bill, Senate Bill 1283, seeks to repeal a section of Idaho Code relating to texting while driving and amend the bill to prohibit people from using electronic devices as well as wearing earphones while operating a motor vehicle. This bill prohibits certain actions regarding driving and social media, operating a school bus and regarding persons with a learner's permit or restricted license.

Vick said this bill was sent on an 8-1 vote to the amending order with a do-pass recommendation and will soon be coming to the senate floor.

"I think the laws we have on the books are appropriate,” said Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d'Alene. "Responsible adults know they shouldn’t be holding a cell phone or trying to text. But there are a lot of other distractions... I think that it will probably not pass."

"I’m not as optimistic as Sen. Souza that we’ll kill it," Vick said. "But I think the (Idaho) House will if we don’t."

About 50 people came to the town hall despite the snowy morning to spend two hours with their elected officials as they answered questions about what's happening with the second regular session of the 64th Idaho Legislature.

One inquiry was made about House Bill 461, a nullification bill sponsored by Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, that would allow the state to nullify federal laws and Supreme Court decisions. This bill was killed in the House on Monday.

KCRCC precinct committeeman and event emcee Don Bradway read this question to the legislators: "Why or why didn’t you support Paul Shepherd’s nullification bill?"

"I did support that bill ... It says some things that probably need to be said," Rep. Ron Mendive, R-Post Falls. "We’re losing our freedoms in a lot of ways."

Rep. Paul Amador, R-Coeur d'Alene, said the bill would give Idaho the right to “nullify any federal law or any regulation that they don’t like."

"When I took my oath of office for this particular position, I swore to not only uphold the Idaho Constitution, but the United States Constitution. And I will point out that, whether we like it or not, and we complain about it a lot, there is a federal supremacy clause in the United States Constitution about federal laws and that becomes very difficult for a state legislature to override a federal law," Amador said. "Again, you may not like this reminder, but 150 years ago, approximately, we had a little skirmish where a few states decided that they thought they could nullify certain federal laws, and that didn’t work out very well for the country."

Across the aisle and across city lines, the Idaho Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee presented the Kootenai County Pizza and Politics event in Coeur d'Alene with House minority leader Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, on Saturday evening.

This was the sixth year Erpelding visited the Lake City to conduct a question-and-answer forum with community members. The event focused on Democratic values, including lifelong learning and fair wages, as well as other topics on the minds of North Idaho residents. The session was held in the Human Rights Education Institute.

"There are Democrats in the legislature who are actively advocating for their issues, whether it's 10 people or 100," Erpelding said. "Last year I went to Sandpoint and there were about 200 people."

He said North Idaho seems to be moving to "the more extreme" after every election.

"What that is doing is pushing more people who reside in the middle toward looking at alternatives. The alternative is the Idaho Democratic party, which is a socially responsible and progressive party," he said. "If we're not coming up and presenting our views, then some people might feel that they don’t exist."

The current legislative session convened Jan. 8 and is scheduled to end March 30.