[Vision2020] Vote-By-Mail Measure Dies in Committee

[lfalen]

The confidentiality bill also died in committee.  Some of the bills that were deck drawered I like and some I didn't. In any case I think all bills should go to the floor for a full vote. I think we need to explore the possibly of an initiative to require such. It may not be doable, but we should at least look at it.

Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Sue Hovey" suehovey at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:30:06 -0700
To: "Tom Hansen" thansen at moscow.com,  "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Vote-By-Mail Measure Dies in Committee

> We get rid of Sali, already recognized as one of the more zany  members of 
> Congress, and Loertscher moves in to take his place among our own incumbent 
> zanies JoAn Wood and Lenore Barrett.  I think there's a rule--you must have 
> three to form a quorum, but they may be from either the House or Senate.
> 
> Sue
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
> To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 3:29 AM
> Subject: [Vision2020] Vote-By-Mail Measure Dies in Committee
> 
> 
> > >From today's (March 27, 2007) Spokesman Review -
> >
> > "Chairman pulls bill back for new hearing, then doesn't hold one"
> >
> > As Charlie Rich said, "No-one knows what goes on behind closed doors."
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Vote-by-mail measure dies in committee
> > Chairman pulls bill back for new hearing, then doesn't hold one
> >
> > Betsy Z. Russell
> > Staff writer
> > March 27, 2007
> >
> > BOISE - Vote-by-mail legislation that was backed by every county clerk in
> > the state is dead for the year, one of an array of high-profile bills
> > unilaterally killed by legislative committee chairmen.
> >
> > "It's not going anywhere this year," said Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona,
> > chairman of the House State Affairs Committee. "I've got a lot of concerns
> > about it, and I think legitimate concerns."
> >
> > House Bill 94 came out of the House State Affairs Committee on an 11-7 
> > vote
> > in mid-February, and backers were ebullient.
> >
> > "We were doing really well with our vote count on the floor - that's when
> > they pulled it back into committee," said Kerry Ellen Elliott, lobbyist 
> > for
> > the Idaho Association of Counties. "We got the message - we won the 
> > battle,
> > but we lost the war."
> >
> > Loertscher told the House on Feb. 16 that a problem had arisen that needed
> > another look in his committee, and the House backed him on a 53-16 vote.
> > Loertscher said then that he expected to hold another hearing on the bill,
> > but he never did.
> >
> > Committee chairmen have that prerogative - they can decide which bills to
> > place on their committee's agenda. They can even take a bill that's 
> > already
> > passed the other house handily, stash it in a desk drawer and let it die
> > there.
> >
> > Among bills that have died that way this year are Sen. Joyce Broadsword's
> > measure to eliminate exemptions from the state's child car seat law; Sen.
> > Lee Heinrich's bill to raise the fine for seat belt violations; and Sen.
> > Clint Stennett's bill to eliminate the current rule that only those who 
> > have
> > their primary home within a mile can testify at a hearing on a proposed
> > large feedlot.
> >
> > House Transportation Chairwoman JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, sidelined both the car
> > seat and seat belt bills; and House Local Government Chairwoman Lenore
> > Barrett, R-Challis, declined to schedule a hearing on Stennett's feedlot
> > testimony bill.
> >
> > "It's disappointing," said Broadsword, R-Sagle, who had warned lawmakers
> > that if exemptions aren't removed, Idaho babies and toddlers risk becoming
> > "ping-pong balls" inside a crashing car. "When you put your most 
> > vulnerable
> > population at risk, that's just not responsible," she said.
> >
> > Broadsword said eliminating the exemptions, which waive the law if there
> > aren't enough seat belts or if parents want to remove the child to feed or
> > change a diaper, would qualify the state for nearly $1 million in federal
> > grants that would in part pay for car seats for low-income Idaho families.
> >
> > Heinrich, R-Cascade, said his bill to raise seat belt fines could help 
> > boost
> > Idaho's seat belt compliance, which is up to 78 percent, but needs to hit 
> > 85
> > percent to qualify the state for $4 million to $5 million in additional
> > federal highway funding.
> >
> > "I think it's unfortunate. Legislation should be by the will of the 
> > people,
> > not by the individual," Heinrich said.
> >
> > Loertscher said he thought there were problems with the way the 
> > vote-by-mail
> > bill was written. "There may be a constitutional problem, on the right to
> > absolute secrecy of the ballot," he said.
> >
> > With mail-in voting, he said, "There are gaps when it's out of control by
> > the voter or the county clerk."
> >
> > The eastern Idaho lawmaker said there were other problems with the bill as
> > well, but he couldn't remember what they were. "It was two months ago - 
> > boy,
> > you're asking me to remember," he said.
> >
> > Kootenai County Clerk Dan English said there was no constitutional problem
> > with mail-in voting.
> >
> > "I think it was asked and answered early on," he said. If there were such 
> > a
> > problem, he said, Idaho wouldn't be doing absentee voting by mail-in 
> > ballot,
> > and states such as Oregon and Washington wouldn't have instituted
> > vote-by-mail.
> >
> > In the last general election, 25 percent of Kootenai County's ballots were
> > cast as absentee ballots, most of those in the mail, English said.
> >
> > "I guess if there were other concerns, we never had a chance to address
> > them," English said.
> >
> > "It certainly seems to have a lot of popularity with the average voters. .
> > It's disappointing."
> >
> > Loertscher said personally, he doesn't like vote-by-mail. "Voting is a 
> > right
> > and a responsibility," he said. "The easier it becomes, the less important
> > it becomes to us. . It starts to mean less."
> >
> > Elliott said, "It'll come up another day. I think the people want
> > vote-by-mail. . They'd have more time to look at the ballot, examine the
> > issues. People have schedules that are insane now. It's coming."
> >
> > ------------------------
> >
> > Bills killed unilaterally
> > Legislative committee chairmen can kill bills by declining to schedule 
> > them
> > for hearings in their committees. Here are some that have died that way 
> > this
> > session:
> >
> > .HB 94, to allow counties to conduct elections by mail. Passed the House
> > State Affairs Committee 11-7, but was pulled back to committee by the
> > chairman for another hearing, which he then declined to hold.
> >
> > .SB 1094, to eliminate exceptions to the requirement to restrain young
> > children in car seats while traveling. Passed the Senate 29-4; died in 
> > House
> > Transportation Committee without a hearing.
> >
> > .SB 1135, to raise the fine for not wearing a seat belt from $10 to $25.
> > Passed the Senate 22-12; died in House Transportation Committee without a
> > hearing.
> >
> > .SB 1056, to allow people to testify at confined animal feeding operation
> > hearings even if they don't live within a mile of the project. Passed the
> > Senate 30-4; died in House Local Government Committee without a hearing.
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Seeya at the polls, Moscow.
> >
> > Tom Hansen
> > Moscow, Idaho
> >
> > "If not us, who?
> > If not now, when?"
> >
> > - Unknown
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> 
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