April 6, 2023
Boise–Yesterday afternoon, Governor Little vetoed HB314, the Children’s School and Library Protection Act. In his veto letter, the governor wrote:
My main concern is that the bill’s ambiguity will have unintended consequences for Idaho libraries and their patrons. This legislation makes sweeping, blanket assumptions on materials that could be determined as “harmful to minors” in a local library, and it will force one interpretation of that phrase onto all the patrons of the library…I support the sponsors’ intent of this bill to keep truly inappropriate materials out of the hands of minors…However, I am also concerned that harmful content can be much more easily accessible to youth on their phones and the internet, not at their libraries.
The full text of the letter may be read here.
Conservative groups, such as the Idaho Family Policy Center, Stop Idaho RINOs, and the Idaho Freedom Caucus, are urging voters to contact their legislators and encourage them to override Governor Little’s veto when they return to Boise today.
