Pesticide Application Regulations
Rule Number: Rules Governing Pesticide and Chemigation Use and Application IDAPA 02.03.03
Position: Needs Improvement
Status: Approved
Rule Info: IORC is following the status of amended pesticide regulations following the negotiated rulemaking process in 2020. The rule removes health & safety standards for aerial pesticide application.
More information: https://agri.idaho.gov/main/i-need-to/see-lawsrules/rulemaking/isda-rulemaking-2019-2020/rules-governing-pesticide-and-chemigation-2020-2021/
January 26: Senate Agriculture Committee approves pesticide regulations. The rules will now be included in the continuing resolution at the end of the legislative session.
January 20: House Agriculture Committee approves pesticide regulations.
Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives, Voting, & Elections
Bill Number: HJR 2
Position: Support
Sponsor: Colin Nash
Bill Info: Prevents the legislature from raising or amending current signature-gathering requirements for statewide ballot initiatives without voter approval.
Bill Number: SB 1110
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Steve Vick, Jim Addis, Sage Dixon
Bill Info: Amends the signature-gathering requirements for statewide ballot initiatives to require registered voters from all 35 legislative districts making it more difficult to meet ballot qualification requirements.
Please take action to protect your constitutionally guaranteed ballot initiative and voting rights. Our action page is located here.
Bill Number: SB 1150
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Pattie Anne Lodge, Brent Crane
Bill Info: Requires all petition workers to certify the voters were physically located in the State of Idaho at the time signatures were gathered. Prohibits Idahoans living and working outside of the state from participating in the petition process (ex. members of the military working elsewhere/students attending school out-of-state).
Please take action to protect your constitutionally guaranteed ballot initiative and voting rights. Our action page is located here.
Bill Number: HB 55
Position: Support
Sponsor: Illana Rubel
Bill Info: Allows for automatic voter registration at driver’s license offices.
Bill Number: HB 223
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Mike Moyle
Bill Info: Prohibits the practice of “ballot harvesting” or collecting absentee ballots on behalf of another voter unless you are a postal worker or a family member. Family members are limited to carrying six ballots. Individuals who require assistance, who live in remote areas, or who do not have family to help them are disadvantaged by under this legislation.
Please take action to protect your constitutionally guaranteed ballot initiative and voting rights. Our action page is located here.
Bill Number: HB 105
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Tammy Nichols
Bill Info: Prohibits absentee voting for voters not covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, which includes active-duty military, foreign service members and their family, and a voter who has a sworn physical disability. All others would be required to vote in person. Applies to presidential and vice-presidential elections only.
Bill Number: HB 344
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Brandon Mitchell
Bill Info: Imposes changes to ID and address verification requirements to register/vote on election day. Requires the applicant to obtain a government issued ID or a college ID with date of birth (not common) for new voter registrations. In situations when the voter is completing a sworn affidavit to confirm their identity, it requires the voter to have their photo taken at the polling location by an election judge or county clerk.
Please take action to protect your constitutionally guaranteed ballot initiative and voting rights. Our action page is located here.
Executive Power, Local Government, & COVID-19 Emergency Response Authority
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Steven C. Harris, Gayann DeMordaunt, Chuck Winder, Kelley Anthon
Bill Info: Allows the legislature to call itself into special session with the support of 60% of legislators.
Bill Number: SCR 101 & HCR 001
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Chuck Winder
Bill Info: Ends the Governor’s emergency declaration. Jeopardizes federal pandemic response funding, causes problems for vaccine rollout and other pandemic response.
Bill Number: SB 1136
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Chuck Winder, Scott Bedke
Bill Info: Amends the Idaho Law to provide limitations to emergency declarations and disaster preparedness and allows them to be terminated by the legislature. Mandates legislative oversight of emergency responses. Restricts the Governor’s power to respond to public health emergencies like the current pandemic, fires, floods, earthquakes, or other unforeseen disasters.
Bill Number: HCR 2, HCR 5 & SCR 103
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Brent Crane, Barbara Ehardt
Bill Info: Repeals limitations on public and private gathering sizes that were implemented as part of the Governor’s emergency declaration. Places limitation on public health district & local government power to enact/enforce public health measures or other emergencies.
Bill Number: HB 33 & SB 1060
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Megan Blanksma, Steve Vick
Bill Info: Allows county commissions to overturn public health orders implemented by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Public Health Districts. Thereby giving county commissioners veto power over any health district board decision. Lowers penalties for first and second offenses of violating public health measures to infractions rather than misdemeanors. Limits the duration of any order of isolation or quarantine issued by the state or a public health district to 30 days, unless the city or county involved extends it for a longer period.
Bill Number: HB 74
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Brandon Mitchell, Regina Bayer
Bill Info: Restricts powers of cities to enforce public health measures.
Bill Number: HB 281
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Karey Hanks
Bill Info: Prohibits cities, counties, public health districts, school districts, the state of Idaho, or any other political subdivision from requiring masks for the purpose of preventing or slowing the spread of a contagious or an infectious disease.
Grocery Tax
Bill Number: HB 199
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Scott Bedke, Mike Moyle, Steven Harris, Jim Rice
Bill Info: Repeals the grocery tax credit while only reducing the sales tax to 5.3% from 6%. Reduces all income tax brackets to 6.5%
Driving Permits for Undocumented Agricultural Workers
Bill Number: SB 1132
Position: Support
Sponsor: Jim Guthrie
Bill Info: Permits limited driving privileges for any person residing in Idaho regardless of their citizenship status.
Minimum Wage
Bill Number: SB 1028
Position: Support
Sponsor: Grant Burgoyne
Bill Info: Increases the minimum wage to $15.00 from the federal minimum of $7.25 for hourly workers and $7.50 for tipped employees over two years. Does not address piece rates or overtime pay for seasonal/intermittent agricultural employees which is a major oversight and an area that needs to be addressed. Repeals the prohibition on local minimum wages.
Add the Words
Bill Number: SB 1030
Position: Support
Sponsor: Melissa Wintrow
Bill Info: Amends Idaho Human Rights Act to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
Agriculture & Water Quality
Bill Number: HB 51
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: TBD
Bill Info: Allows dairy producers to continue monitoring the land application of dairy nutrients according to methods that are intended to be phased out by 2023.
Bill Number: HB 99
Position: Monitoring
Sponsor: John Vander Woude
Bill Info: Directs the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to create a water quality pollutant offset program that allows participants to trade credits on the open market.
Bill Number: HB 167
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: TBD
Bill Info: Requires the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to consider the cost impact and ensure the economic feasibility and of potential administrative rules on agricultural operations.
Bill Number: HB 239
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Mark Harris, Marc Gibbs
Bill Info: Repeals a law passed in 2020 that created design and construction standards for phosphogypsum disposal areas under and required IDEQ to set environmental and public health standards. Euphemistically known as “stacks” these toxic waste lagoons are at greater risk of polluting our groundwater systems and IDEQ’s ability to properly regulate them will be rescinded if it is allowed to go into effect.
Hemp
Bill Number: HB 126
Position: Support
Sponsor: Jim Guthrie
Bill Info: Allows the cultivation, transportation, production, processing, and research within the state of Idaho of industrial hemp with 0.3% THC or less. Does not allow for the use or sale of hemp products such as CBD that contain THC, even in trace amounts.
Climate Change & Energy
Bill Number: HB 274
Position: Oppose
Sponsor: Sage Dixon
Bill Info: Preempts local governments from passing local building codes to meet planning and efficiency needs. Requires legislative oversight and gives the legislature veto power over energy efficiency and building building code requirements.