'We will win in Kootenai County'

COEUR d’ALENE — Nearly 50 people participated in the Idaho Legislative Town Hall presented by Kootenai County Democrats on Zoom Wednesday night — including one unwelcome guest who hacked in with a music video.

Fred Cornforth later turned that into an opportunity for a zinger.

“It shows you how desperate the other side is,” said the chair of the Idaho Democratic Party. “They know we’re coming.”

Idaho Democrats may be few in the House and the Senate, Cornforth added, “but we are mighty.”

And they expressed confidence at opportunities to gain more seats in the next election 20 months away.

Rep. Steve Berch, Seat 1A, District 15, was delighted to hear two North Idaho Democrats, Shari Williams and emcee Teresa Borrenpohl, say during the town hall they will seek office again. Both were defeated in the general election 2020, Borrenpohl by Tony Wisniewski and Williams by Mary Souza.

Berch is confident they will return stronger by giving themselves more time to raise money and talk to voters.

“We can and we will win in Kootenai County, without a doubt, but it is going to take everyone,” he said. “It is going to take the full team.”

Berch said the Idaho Republican Party “has moved so far to the right,” they have left behind a large number of reasonable Republicans.

“That’s our opportunity,” he said.

Berch said more Democrats are needed in the Legislature because the way to “stop all the bad stuff and make the good stuff happen is to have more votes.”

Democratic candidates in Idaho, he said, have more support than they know.

“You’re not the Lone Ranger out there hoping for the best,” he said.

During the nearly 90-minute town hall, Democrats outlined some of the bills they oppose, some they support, and the challenges they face with a Republican-dominated Legislature in this session that is on break due to an outbreak of the coronavirus.

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel said, “It has not been a pretty session down there.”

Republicans seem to be driven either by rage over the COVID-19 situation or that their candidate lost the presidential election, she said, and have proposed bills to strip power from the Governor’s Office and the Attorney General.

“We’ve called this the power-grab session,” she said.

Rubel spoke of Senate Bill 1110 that would require 6 percent of signatures from all 35 legislative districts, rather than the current requirement of 17 districts. 

She said that would take power from the people and pretty much bring the initiative process to a halt.

Rubel also said there have been some “wacky education bills,” mostly coming out of the House. She called one a union-busting bill and one that would require students to opt in to sex education, rather than opt out.

Sen. David Nelson of Moscow agreed with Rubel's assessment.

“The Senate can’t hold a candle to the craziness in the House sometimes,” he said.

He said he and his colleagues in the Senate “are trying to fix some of the crazy things this year.”

They were able to kill Senate Bill 1108, by an 18-17 vote, which proposed to change the formula for property tax budgets to provide tax relief for property owners. The bill would have sent 75 percent of new construction tax revenue to cities, and the other 25 percent would have gone to property owners. 

Nelson said it was basically an effort to restrict county and city budgets.

“So we killed it,” he said.

Rubel said she’s been involved in eight legislative sessions and believes they are often more about legislators making sure no local government can pursue a more progressive agenda than what the Legislature wants.

Nelson said it’s been a frustrating session. He said most Republicans don’t wear masks and still want to carry on closeup conversations.

“I feel like I’m politicking with my hands tied behind my back,” he said.

He has high hopes a bill that would create a program for all-day kindergarten that was introduced about two weeks ago will be pushed through next week.

Both Rubel and Nelson were critical of Republican proposed income tax cuts, saying it’s heavily tilted to favor the wealthy.

Two weeks ago, the Idaho House voted 58-12, with all Democratic lawmakers opposed, to send the bill to the Senate.

The plan includes $169 million in ongoing income tax cuts for individuals and corporations and a $220 million rebate to Idaho residents who paid taxes for 2019, according to an Associated Press report.

The ongoing tax cuts involve lowering Idaho’s top corporate and individual tax brackets from 6.925 percent to 6.5 percent. The other six tax brackets would also be cut, the AP reported.

Rubel said the bill would benefit the top 1% of earners in Idaho and do little for the poorest.

“It’s the largest windfall possible for those at the very top,” she said.

Nelson said “the current tax cut bill is pretty horrible.”

He believes there is a “small hope” to change it and urged people to let their legislators know “you don’t like what they’re doing.”

“It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic,” Rubel said.

Rubel said not to expect much in the way of property tax relief from this session.

She referred to the only bills going through as crumbs from the table for the working class. But for 1 percenters, she said, “it’s party time.”

Nelson there was more than a page of bills dealing with elections. One, for instance, he said would prevent students from using student IDs when they go to vote.

“There are bad election bills out there that are just pure voter suppression,” he said. “We need to be pretty watchful.”

In addressing bills initiated by Democrats, Rubel said one being drafted calls for using some of the state’s $600 million surplus to fund all-day kindergarten. She’s hoping to get a Republican sponsor.

Another bill that passed the House would change the age of those allowed to stay in foster care from 18 to 21, which Rubel said would provide better outcomes for them.

Another, impact fees to build new schools, couldn’t get a hearing.

She said many proposals, including some to reduce property taxes, have been blocked, “which has been very frustrating.”

Both Nelson and Ruble wrapped up by saying the best way to support them was to elect more Democrats.

"Please make me not the only Democrat in North Idaho," Nelson said.

“There’s almost nothing I wouldn’t do to get more Democrats in the Legislature," Rubel added.

She urged people to get their vaccines, start knocking on doors and support Democratic candidates.

“If you’re willing to even go out for a couple of hours and help us do that work, it is magic,” she said.

Cornforth said he and his staff are planning to assess every cause, every legislative district and every county to find out where Democrats stand.

“This energy that you’ve given has raised my spirits tonight," he said.

Borrenpohl said there is a web of support for Democrats in Idaho.

“We’re not alone and we can make an impact on this state,’ she said.

Shari Williams agreed. She said she knows it will take more than running for office once to win and she will keep trying.

“We’re ready to get loud and proud,” she said.