LEGISLATURE: Leaving citizens out

Let’s be clear. The Idaho Republican Legislature is intent on denying citizen involvement in their own government. They did it when they refused to accept money for Medicaid expansion. They then had to be forced by citizen vote through the good but hard work of “Reclaim Idaho” and the citizen initiative process to expand health care to more than 62,000 of our citizens.

Last week, they rejected the federal monies available for early childhood education in Idaho without a vote by the citizens. Now they are in the process, based on the hypocritical subterfuge that they are actually involving more districts, of making the citizen initiative process so difficult with the clear goal of never having another citizen initiative again.

This behavior is actually criminal, but sadly, we have no laws to prevent this crime, only our vote.

RICHARD KOHLES

Hayden