Op-Ed: And the winners are…

Carrie: After 81 days of political theater, the Idaho Legislature has adjourned for the year.

Jerry: Now it’s time to announce our 10th annual “B.I.L.E.” and “F.L.U.B.” awards.

Carrie: B.I.L.E. stands for “bad Idaho legislative effort” for some of the worst bills of the session.

Jerry: F.L.U.B. stands for “foolish legislator utterance or blunder” for some of the worst comments or actions. And we have lots of material to work with.

Carrie: In the “what’s going on back in the stacks?” category, the B.I.L.E. goes to House Bill 666 which says librarians could spend up to a year in jail if they allow minors to check out obscene materials.

Jerry: Isn’t it the job of parents, not librarians, to decide what’s appropriate for their kids?

Carrie: Apparently some legislators think librarians are running porn dens.

Jerry: Is that why the Legislature authorized $112 million to build a new 848-bed prison for women? So, they’ll have a place to incarcerate librarians?

Carrie: Next, in the “voting is too easy category,” we have a three-way tie. On several occasions, Secretary of State candidate Dorothy Moon introduced bills disallowing student IDs and requiring people to bring proof of citizenship to the polls.

Jerry: Lieutenant governor candidate Priscilla Giddings’ bill would ban ballot drop boxes. And House Majority Leader Mike Moyle’s bill would make it a crime if you turned in ballots for a neighbor or co-worker. Fortunately, all those bills died in the Senate.

Carrie: Dorothy Moon also wins a F.L.U.B. award for saying, “There are a lot of reports of people coming from Canada that … have been coming over and voting.”

Jerry: That doesn’t worry me too much as long as they’re not voting for Dorothy Moon.

Carrie: Another F.L.U.B. winner is Rep. Randy Armstrong. While debating in favor of banning ballot drop boxes, he talked about voting saying, “It doesn’t need to be convenient.”

Jerry: Moving on, in the “follow the gold” category, the B.I.L.E. goes to Rep. Ron Nate for House Bill 522 which would require the state to invest some of its idle funds in physical silver and gold. The bill also required the state to use a special depository within Idaho’s borders to house the precious metals.

Carrie: It just so happens, the depository that exactly meets the bill’s requirements is in Eagle, Idaho. It’s owned by one of Rep. Nate’s largest donors, Stefan Gleason. Over the past two years, he and his companies have donated $6,000 to Rep. Nate.

Jerry: Finally, in “Idaho’s official state embarrassment” category, the F.L.U.B. goes to Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin.

Carrie: It all started when she wouldn’t release public records from her Task Force Examining Indoctrination in Education. The Idaho Press Club sued and a judge required her to hand over the records. She was also required to pay the Press Club’s $29,000 in legal fees. She paid them out of her Lieutenant Governor Office’s budget which left it $22,000 short for the year. Apparently, her staff were let go to partially cover the shortfall.

Jerry: The Society of Professional Journalists gave her their Black Hole award. It goes to government entities for “acts of outright contempt of the public’s right to know.”

Carrie: Her response? “It’s the press that actually cost taxpayer dollars. They could have simply agreed to pay the fee, which is also prescribed by law.”

Jerry: Our final F.L.U.B. award goes to Rep. Heather Scott. While debating a bill allowing Powerball to remain in Idaho if the United Kingdom joins, she said, “I don’t like the fact we are going into communist countries.” She finished her debate saying, “I don’t know why you’re all laughing, but I don’t appreciate it.”

Jerry: Maybe we’re laughing to keep from crying?

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Jerry Scheid is a retired farmer/rancher and native Idahoan. Carrie Scheid is a retired nonprofit administrator.