OPINION: Don’t be fooled by fake fear

As our seasons change, COVID, or its much weaker version, is showing up again. But some folks here in Idaho are spreading fear and propaganda about the possible return of shutdowns, mandates and masking. New Sen. Brian Lenney, for example, was on social media recently claiming “After seeing the despicable way our government handled the ‘pandemic,’ I promised to hit the statehouse and battle for our health, education, and financial freedom…Promise kept.”

I responded to Sen. Lenney’s bold implication that he took care of all the issues from the pandemic. After all, he said “Promise kept.” So I asked him, on social media, to please list the bills he personally sponsored and got passed to take care of the COVID problems.

His response was very indirect: “It's gonna take more than one session to fix the mess you helped make, Mary.” Hmmm, I’m guessing he didn’t sponsor any bills to keep his promise.

But don’t worry, Sen. Lenney, those of us serving in the 2021 legislature already took care of it well before you were even elected. Too bad you didn’t realize it. Too bad you insulted all of our hard work. It was a tremendous effort because the old, antiquated emergency laws were fragmented and tucked away in many different sections of our statutes, but we worked together and got the job done.

Here are just some of the bills we passed in response to COVID in Idaho:

1) Senate bill 1217 declared that all Idahoans who work, provide for their families, pay taxes or otherwise contribute to the Idaho economy must be deemed “essential” in any declared emergency.

2) S1217 also protects the Constitutional rights of Idahoans to keep and bear arms and the right to free exercise of religion.

3) And, finally, S1217 places a 90-day limitation on the length of any emergency declaration by the governor without the consent of the legislature, and does not allow successive emergency declarations for the same conditions. The bill was authored by House and Senate leadership, and members, and sponsored by Sen. Kelly Anthon of Burley and Sen. Peter Riggs• of Post Falls.

4) House bill 391 by Rep. Jason Monks, also protects Idahoans’ rights to peaceably assemble or practice the free exercise of religion during a declared emergency.

5) Senate bill 1139 prohibits the quarantine or isolation of healthy individuals. It clarifies the duties of the Director of Health & Welfare during a declared emergency and adds a court review of any order issued by the director. This bill was authored by Sen. Peter Riggs• of Post Falls, Sen. Mary Souza•• of Coeur d'Alene, and Sen. Abby Lee of Fruitland.

6) Senate bill 1060 addresses mask mandates. It requires any county-wide or district-wide orders of a Public Health District to be approved or denied by the County Commissioners of that area. This includes any mask mandates. (Idaho did not have state mask mandates but some PHDs did issue such mandates.) This bill was authored by Sen. Steve Vick•• of Dalton Gardens and co-sponsored by several others, including Sen. Mary Souza•• of Coeur d'Alene.

7) Senate bill 1204 places a limitation on the spending authority of the governor over Federal funds during a declared emergency without the concurrence of the legislature. This bill was sponsored by Sen. Jeff Agenbroad• of Nampa and Rep. Rick Youngblood•• of Nampa.

All these bills passed the Senate, the House, and were signed into law by the governor.

There are more bills I could list, but these cover the big topics. You will notice the dot or dots after many of the names of those who sponsored these bills. These senators have retired•• or were voted out of office•. Many were falsely maligned by folks claiming they “did nothing” about the government intrusion during the pandemic. Now you know those accusations are absolutely not true.

I will end this column with a true story about our Idaho State Senate in 2021. The caucus is where we discuss policies and confer on upcoming bills. Our caucus room is private and has an old, beautiful, long wooden table running right down the center, with more than a dozen wooden chairs along each side and more chairs lined up along the walls. There are no assigned seats, but everyone tends to sit in the same spots, near the same people, each time we meet. Everything said in caucus, stays in caucus. In the Senate, confidentiality is highly honored.

Senate bill 1217, which is referenced three times in my list above, was the big emergency power bill after COVID. We worked on that bill for weeks and met in our caucus room — all of us — many, many times to go over endless iterations of the bill. Leadership would take parts of the bill to the governor’s office, to confer and get their feedback, then come back to us. Finally we had a version we all agreed would work.

The final read-through of that bill is one of my cherished memories. We all gathered in the caucus room, where a thick packet of the final draft was passed out. Pens and reading glasses came out and the room quieted as we all scanned the first page. Over the course of three hours, we went through each line, together, out loud. Any member could raise their hand, be called on by the Caucus Chair at the end of the table, then stand to give their suggestion. This is the way all of our meetings worked, but this time there was a different tone in the room. It was incredibly intense. Every word was scrutinized. When a member would stand, we would all listen carefully, find the suggested change and then discuss. The care and respect was palpable. There were members who rarely spoke in caucus, but stood to offer ideas which everyone considered. There were bonds created that day, between Sen.s who often disagreed with each other, yet the importance of this issue brought us all together for this bill.

We got it done, Sen. Lenney, before you were even elected. I can only guess at the tone and tension in the caucus room now, with boastful, disrespectful new members.

But I am proud to have been a part of such an important effort to protect the rights of Idahoans during times of crisis, and will hold dear these memories of thoughtful collaborators and leaders in our state.

• • •

Mary Souza, a Coeur d'Alene Republican, represented District 4 in the Idaho Senate for eight years from 2014 to 2022.

Feedback: MarySouzaUnfiltered@gmail.com