An arrogant Idaho GOP resolution to reduce freedom by making it harder to pass an initiative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Gem State Patriot News blog on January 13, 2024 there is a post by Dorothy Moon titled The Idaho GOP is Growing, as Conservative Idahoans Embrace Message of Faith, Family, and Freedom. But it really is about reducing the freedom of citizens. She states that:

 

“The first resolution seeks to raise the threshold needed to approve a citizen’s initiative. It takes a supermajority for your local school district to increase taxes, so why should major structural changes to our election system or billions of dollars in welfare be decided by a simple majority? This resolution asks the Legislature to codify a 2/3 supermajority for initiatives going forward.”

 

That is an unfair comparison because, as shown above it only takes a simple majority (half the votes) for the legislature. Why should an initiative have to get another 1/6th of the votes? The initiative is rarely used, but really serves as a useful safety valve - for citizens to accomplish what the legislature has chosen to avoid.

 

The supermajority requirement for bond elections recently was discussed at the Idaho Statesman both by Bryan Clark  on December 18, 2023 in an article titled Why the supermajority makes no sense: When a bond fails, it can cost taxpayers more | Opinion and a second article by Jason Mercier on December 20, 2023 titled Lowering the bond supermajority is worth discussing, but taxpayers need protection.