RIGHTS: Don’t be fooled again

The constitution that says “Political power in Idaho is inherent in the people.” This statement is intentional, keeping the state house responsible to Idaho citizens.

Citizens initiatives are doing a great job. We passed the Medicaid Expansion in 2020, saving $26 million on Medicaid costs since passing. Medicaid Expansion provides medical care for 100,000 Idahoans who need it. Many Idahoans realize the initiative has resulted in a strong, successful program. 

After multiple attempts by elected officials to stop it, a citizens initiative to increase educational funding by $320 million annually earned enough signatures for a vote last year. Governor Little, seeing our success, announced his intent to add $320 million to the annual school budget. The citizens initiative was then removed from the ballot in response to the governor’s promise. Another win for initiatives.

The Open Primaries Initiative is striving to be placed on the November ballot, giving Idahoans a real choice when they vote. 

The legislature is once again attempting a law change to deprive Idahoans their right to petition, using HB652 to damage our ability to gather signatures. The bill cuts the time for collecting signatures, adds additional monthly approval deadlines and provides the ability to remove signatures without a standard process to verify identification.  

The Idaho Constitution says the peoples’ rights are not to be impaired, yet the legislature is attempting to impair them. HB652 seeks to make exercising those rights nearly impossible. Stand against HB652 and support Open Primaries to preserve your rights.

BARBARA OSTIPWKO

Coeur d’Alene