September 6, 2025
“Where Were the Courageous? Idaho’s Covid Failure”
$1.25 Billion Reasons They Stayed Silent
By: Idaho Dist. 24 State Senator Glenneda Zuiderveld
Here’s my honest opinion on the Covid-19 Response Study Task Force: if all we accomplish is more meetings, studies, and recommendations, then we will have squandered the people’s tax dollars. Idahoans aren’t asking for another report they’re asking for real action. And while this effort is well-intentioned, it comes nearly five years too late.
Let me share my experience as an active citizen during that time, an experience that ultimately led me to run for the Senate. We the people pushed back, and because of that resistance, things didn’t get as bad as they could have.
As you’ll recall, Governor Brad Little brought Idaho to a standstill, not because of Covid itself, but because of money and fear. On March 13, 2020, he issued an executive order before there was even a single confirmed case in Idaho, sending our state into a tailspin that lasted over a year. In that proclamation, he cited directives from the World Health Organization (WHO). In my opinion, by following those global orders, Idaho surrendered its sovereignty and fell lockstep into a system that treated us as subjects rather than a self-governing people.
The order even claimed “risk to life” as justification. But everything we do carries risk, driving cars, farming, hunting, or even walking across the street. We don’t shut down society because of risk. And perhaps most alarming of all, the order admitted we were shutting down for “potential cases,” not actual ones. (March 13, 2025 EO)
Businesses and churches were shutdown while big-box stores like Costco and Walmart stayed open. Families lost their homes. Our elderly were locked away, unable to hug or visit their loved ones, many dying not from the virus, but from the deadly toll of loneliness. At the same time, lives were lost to medical decisions that often proved more harmful than the illness itself. I remember friends who took loved ones to the hospital, only to be barred from being with them, then receiving the heartbreaking call that they had died after being treated with remdesivir. One husband called me at 3 a.m., weeping and screaming, “They’re killing her, and they won’t let me be with her.” Another wife, seeing her husband improve, begged that he not be given remdesivir. He was on the verge of being released, but a doctor went against the wishes and treated with remdesivir and he died shortly after.
Citizens were forced to wear masks that defied true science, and pressured to take vaccines rushed through without adequate study or proof of long-term safety. All of this was orchestrated through fear tactics. Fear that stripped away freedoms, devastated families, and left scars Idahoans still carry today.
People were even reporting businesses and neighbors if they thought someone was breaking the order. Moms were arrested for simply taking their kids to a park. I remember sitting inside a restaurant waiting for a to-go order when police came in, threatened the owner, and ordered us to leave. Pastors were even arrested for holding worship services outside their churches.
Tom and I were considered “essential” in our work, so we traveled over 50,000 miles that year across the western states. It was like driving through a ghost town, empty highways, deserted cities, and large hotels with only a handful of guests. Truck drivers struggled just to eat; most restaurants were closed, and the only options were truck stops or fast-food drive-thrus where semis couldn’t even fit. More than once, we picked up meals for drivers and brought the food back to them just so they wouldn’t go hungry.
I share all of this because some people did rise up and fight back, along with a handful of courageous representatives. I was there with many others, we filled the gallery and spilled into the halls, because a few bold legislators tried to call themselves back into session to put an end to the shutdown. Could you imagine if all of them had shown up? Can you imagine how many lives would have been saved, how many businesses would still be open and flourishing today? (15 Brave Legislators)
But of course, when $1.25 billion is dangling in front of you, suddenly “complicated” becomes the favorite excuse.
The 15 Brave Legislators!
- Judy Boyle, Midvale
- Tammy Nichols, Middleton
- Brent Crane, Nampa
- Dorothy Moon, Stanley
- Mike Kingsley, Lewiston
- Priscilla Giddings, White Bird
- Vito Barbieri, Dalton Gardens
- Tim Remington, Coeur d’Alene
- Heather Scott, Blanchard
- Tony Wisniewski, Post Falls
- Chad Christensen, Ammon
- Terry Gestrin, Donnelly
- Paul Shepherd, Riggins
- Ron Mendive, Coeur d’Alene
- Christy Zito, Hammett
Fast forward to today. Five years later, and finally there is a Covid Response Study Task Force. For what? To tell us what we already know? That it was unconstitutional? That the Governor broke the law? That ninety legislators didn’t have the fight to show up and put their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor on the line for the people?
So what’s next? Another House Concurrent Resolution? How about we put the Governor on trial? They say they don’t want to call anyone out? I’m sorry, but this is not the time for access politics this is the time for confrontational politics. I want people held accountable.
But let’s be honest: if they didn’t have the courage to do it then, why would they have the courage to do it now? And you can bet your bottom dollar when the next world pandemic or manufactured collapse comes you will see a few rise, but many will once again flee in fear.
Yes, I am passionate about this, because it feels like an old wound has been ripped wide open. I refuse to stay silent.
I challenge this committee: take the next step, hold our Governor accountable and I will lock shields, stand shoulder to shoulder, and hold the line with you until justice is done!
