February 16, 2021
Today, in response to constituent’s demands, the Idaho House passed H 135. The bill is described as, “AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS ACT; AMENDING SECTION 46-1008, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING THE GOVERNOR’S POWERS DURING A DISASTER EMERGENCY, TO PROVIDE SEVERABILITY, AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.”
Idaho Representative Tony Wisniewski (Seat 3B) posted the following information regarding the legislation on his Facebook page:
HALLMARK BILL ON GOVERNOR’S POWER
House Bill 135 passed the House today with a veto proof majority and has been sent to the Senate. Even seasoned Legislators have not seen the amount of careful rewriting of a bill as this one has undergone (started as H001, then H0016, then H098, finally H135). These are the main provisions:
• No constitutionally protected rights can be suspended in a state of emergency
• No jobs will be declared non-essential
• The governor cannot declare a state of emergency longer than 60 days without the consent of the legislature
• The governor cannot circumvent the 60 day limit by reinstating the same emergency order
• The governor cannot spend unexpected funds that exceed 1% of the State budget without the consent of the Legislature
The votes of the legislators can be seen below:
The text of the bill can be found here: H 135
