EDITORIAL: Four legislators owe voters an explanation

Idaho has a deadly problem with the “f-word.”

Fentanyl is killing Idahoans, by some estimates 200 in the past year. At least half of all Idaho overdose deaths are directly attributed to fentanyl, and the reaper’s harvest is only growing.

You probably already know that it is a narcotic painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. 

You might know that cartels mix small amounts of fentanyl into other drugs, making it look like a prescription painkiller.

And you could be aware that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency says there’s a 70% chance that any fentanyl pill contains a lethal dose. (If you lived in one of 10 houses on your block and you knew that seven of them would be randomly annihilated by a meteor strike, how confident would you feel about your chances of survival?)

All of this is why you would be likely to enthusiastically support House Bill 406, which would add conviction of trafficking or distributing fentanyl to Idaho’s mandatory minimum sentencing law that already covers meth, cocaine and heroin.

Late last month, the House overwhelmingly approved HB 406 by a 53-14 count. What might shock you is this: four Republican legislators from Kootenai County voted against the measure; three of them veteran House members.

Vito Barbieri, Ron Mendive, Tony Wisniewski and freshman legislator Elaine Price declined to send the drug cartels and traffickers the sternest possible message that Idaho is fed up with their deadly intrusion into our state. Mumbles of possible unintended consequences of the legislation don’t hold up under the most rigid bill analyses, but here’s what does: Wisniewski, Price, Mendive and Barbieri tend to do whatever the Idaho Freedom Foundation tells them to do.

The Boise-based IFF, chaired by Kootenai County Republican Central Committee chair Brent Regan, loves those four. On its bizarre "freedom" index, IFF gives Wisniewski and Price a perfect 100% A+ grade, with Mendive and Barbieri close behind.

Not coincidentally, IFF hates HB 406, giving it a -4 rating, which generally is enough to bury any bill in a right-leaning legislature. So why did our foursome side with a tiny minority who essentially are keeping the welcome mat out for fentanyl traffickers and distributors?

You’d have to ask them and weigh their responses objectively.

In fact, this being election season, conscientious voters should do just that.