Capitol Letters: House clears bill banning student IDs at polls

By Ryan Suppe, State Politics Reporter

Idaho students may no longer be able to use their school identification cards to vote.

Currently, a student ID, from a high school or college, is one of seven photo ID options for use at voting polls. The Idaho House yesterday passed a bill crossing student IDs off the list.

“The problem with student ID cards is that they’re not secure,” said Rep. Tina Lambert, R-Caldwell, who’s sponsoring the bill. “The solution to this problem is to simply go down to the DMV and get one of those ID cards issued by the transportation department. It costs $10 to $15, which is the price of two or three Starbucks drinks.”

Idaho high school students said they opposed the bill during a public hearing earlier this month. Mae Roos, a senior at Borah High School, equated the proposal to enacting a poll tax. Student IDs are free.

“This is one of the only cost-free forms of identification available to us to let us participate in democracy,” Roos told the House State Affairs Committee.

Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane told the committee he supports the bill. In the November election, 98.8% of Idaho voters used a driver’s license at the polls, McGrane said, while just 104 voters, or about .005%, used a student ID.

But McGrane urged the committee to also support another bill, from Rep. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow, that would create free voter ID cards.

The House passed Lambert’s bill on a party-line vote. Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, said he would support the student ID legislation if the free voter ID bill had already passed.

“But, at this point, it hasn’t happened,” Gannon told the full House yesterday. “I would encourage a recognition that we want people to vote and not discourage people to vote in any way and especially young people who are old enough to serve in our military.”

House State Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, said last week that Mitchell’s bill would likely receive a hearing, depending on the fate of Lambert’s bill, which now heads to the Senate.

Bill to ban vaccine passports advances

The Idaho House yesterday advanced a bill that would ban coronavirus vaccine passports.

In 2021, Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued an executive order banning state agencies from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccines to receive public services and access facilities. The bill, from Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, would codify those prohibitions along with a ban on requiring the COVID-19 vaccine as a prerequisite for state jobs.

State jobs that involve traveling to locations with vaccine mandates would be exempt, but the bill would require that a coronavirus vaccination prerequisite is disclosed in a job’s description during the hiring process.

“It’s very simple, very fair,” Monks said. “If the state wants to require you to take a coronavirus (vaccine) because your job means you go overseas, then you better tell them about that beforehand.”

The bill passed overwhelmingly, although there was bipartisan opposition. Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, said she was concerned about the effect on employers that previously required COVID-19 vaccination but didn’t change job descriptions to disclose it.

“It could lead to someone coming back and bringing litigation,” she said.

The bill heads to the Senate.

Bill to require schools to allow parents to observe classes

Idaho Superintendent for Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield on Friday introduced a bill that would codify parental access to schools and information about their child. Under the new bill, parents would have the right to visit their child’s classroom, with permission from the teacher and principal, as long as their presence doesn’t interfere with teaching.

Critchfield, a Republican, told the House Education Committee on Friday that public schools have been under greater scrutiny since parents became more involved in their children’s education during the COVID-19 pandemic when many students attended classes virtually. Outlining parental rights in state law is meant to make parents more comfortable about what’s happening in schools, Critchfield said.

“We know that teachers who are licensed professionally and administrators licensed professionally are the experts in education, and we know that our parents are the experts on their child,” she said. “What we’re trying to create here is an opportunity for those two worlds to blend in the perfect way.”

Read my full story here.

What to expect today

• 9 a.m. House Education. A proposal from Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, regarding the Advanced Opportunities workforce training program is on the docket.

• 9 a.m. House Revenue and Taxation. Republicans Britt Raybould, of Idaho Falls, and Jason Monks, of Meridian, have proposals related to income taxes and tax exemptions.

• 9 a.m. House State Affairs. The committee will consider legislation, from Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle, and Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, that would bar local governments from requiring contractors to provide transgender people access to restrooms that align with their gender identities.

Find the full list of committee meetings and agendas for the House here, and for the Senate here.

What else happened?

Keep track of high-profile bills as they go through the legislative process. You can find yesterday’s updates here.

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