[Vision2020] We know whbere they're coming from...

[Ron Force]

House, in 30-32 vote, kills 'Too Great for Hate' specialty license plate
bill

   - Posted by Betsy <https://www.idahopress.com/users/profile/brussell>
   - Mar 19, 2020 Updated 43 min ago
   -
   -

   In a stunning apparent last vote for the Idaho House this year, the
   House has voted 30-32 on SB 1297, Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb's bill to create
   a specialty license plate with the slogan "Too Great for Hate" to benefit
   the Wassmuth Center's Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial. There was no
   debate against the bill before the vote; after it, the House immediately
   went at ease for a closed-door GOP caucus.

   In his opening debate in favor of the bill, Rep. John McCrostie,
   D-Boise, said, "The Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial sends a powerful
   message across our state ... that Idaho is too great for hate." It serves
   as a living classroom for Idaho schoolchildren, he noted. "It is the only
   Anne Frank memorial in the United States." Located next to the Boise River
   and the public library, the memorial is festooned with quotes from human
   rights leaders around the world.
   -

   Everyone can visit the memorial and see themselves in the quotes, in
   their wisdom and humanity," McCrostie said. "The funds ... from this
   license plate will sustain and expand educational programs at the Idaho
   Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial."

   The House earlier passed legislation to cut off new specialty license
   plates, but that exempts all those approved before July 1 that sell at
   least a certain number each year. McCrostie said thousands of members of
   the Wassmuth Center want to buy the plates, and "this plate is anticipated
   to remain solidly over the threshold."

   Earlier in the session, the House enthusiastically approved a new
   "Choose Life" specialty license plate.

   McCrostie recalled that as a child growing up in Mountain Home, he
   remembered passing a sign on the freeway whenever his family drove to Boise
   that said, "Idaho is too great for hate." "As a child, I didn't know the
   history of the Aryan Nations, but I always remembered that slogan," he
   said. "This is a positive message that is symbolic, it is inspirational,
   and it is aspirational."
   -

   "The 'Too Great for Hate' license plate stands as a testament to the
   Idaho that we love, serve, and that we've chosen for our homes."

   Buckner-Webb is the Idaho Legislature's only African-American member. As
   the House was voting down her bill, the Senate was paying tribute to her
   other retiring senators for their service and accomplishments.

   A comparison of the House votes for the "Choose Life" license plate,
   which passed on a 55-12 party-line vote with three members absent, shows
   all but one of those voting "no"  on the "Too Great for Hate" plate voted
   "yes" on the "Choose Life" plate -- so it's not just about opposition to
   all specialty license plates. The one member who was absent for the "Choose
   Life" vote but voted "no" today was Rep. Randy Armstrong.
   -

   After the House GOP emerged from its closed-door caucus, no further
   action was taken on SB 1297, such as a motion for reconsideration -- which
   would have had to come from someone who voted on the prevailing side.
   Instead, the bill was returned to the Senate, where Senate President
   Pro-Tem Brent Hill received it and ordered it to be filed.
   -



Ron Force
Moscow Idaho USA
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