Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun

The Idaho Senate has approved a proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution that would ask voters whether to increase the threshold to qualify a ballot initiative or referendum.

On Feb. 27, the Idaho Senate voted 27-8 to pass Senate Joint Resolution 101, which would require 6% of voters in all 35 Idaho legislative districts to sign a petition for an initiative or referendum to qualify for election. The current threshold is 6% of voters in 18 legislative districts.

Initiatives and referendums are a form of direct democracy that allow the voters to act independent of the Idaho Legislature.

An initiative is putting a new law in effect, like Idaho voters did with Medicaid expansion.

A referendum is putting an existing law before the voters to repeal or retain, like the Students Come First laws, the so-called Luna laws.

Idaho Supreme Court previously ruled against similar legislation

In August 2021, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that a previous bill, Senate Bill 1110, that would have also increased the initiative/referendum threshold to 6% of voters in all 35 legislative districts, was unconstitutional because it would have made it nearly impossible to bring a ballot initiative or referendum forward.

In the ruling, Idaho Supreme Court justices called the initiative and referendum process “fundamental rights reserved to the people of Idaho.”

Sen. Doug Okuniewicz, R-Hayden, said the new Senate Joint Resolution 101 is different from the unconstitutional Senate Bill 1110 because the new resolution is asking voters to increase the threshold themselves, whereas Senate Bill 1110 amounted to the Idaho Legis- lature imposing the increased threshold on the people.

“SJR 101 … would not eliminate the initiative or referendum process; it only makes it more inclusive for all parts of our state while making it harder for special interests to venue shop during that phase of the initiative process,” Okuniewicz said during his floor debate.

Okuniewicz and other supporters argued Senate Joint Resolution 101 gives more rural voters a say in the initiative process. But opponents argued all voters, including rural voters, get a say on initiatives or referendums when they are on the ballot. Instead, opponents say the new 6% threshold for all 35 legislative districts simply represents an additional roadblock to even reaching the ballot.

Sen. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, said the Idaho Legislature has a long history of restricting the initiative and referendum process.

“When the people use their right, their direct legislative rights, which the constitution allows them, the Legislature doesn’t like it and responds by saying, ‘Well let’s make it harder to use,’” Ruchti said on the Senate floor.

In the end, the Republican-controlled Idaho Senate was able to achieve the two-thirds support required to pass the proposed amendment.

Senate Joint Resolution 101 heads next to the Idaho house of Representatives for consideration.

If two-thirds of the members of the Idaho House also vote to pass Senate Joint Resolution 101, the proposed constitutional amendment would appear on the November 2024 general election ballot in Idaho. It would take a simple majority of Idaho voters to approve SJR 101 in the November 2024 general election.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com

Alabama Republican Rep. Barry Moore has introduced legislation to make the AR-15 the “national gun” of the United States. As of Feb. 23, more than 6,000 people have been killed in gun violence this year alone, according to ABC News.

In the aftermath of the toxic train derailment in Ohio, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced efforts to create new rules on trains transporting hazardous materials, including their braking systems, The Lever reported.

President Joe Biden pointed out that rail companies “spent millions…to oppose common-sense safety regulations.” Government players are also at fault for caving to corporate pressure. Taxpayers, as well as Norfolk Southern, will be paying for it.

A major expose on child labor in the U.S. was recently published by The New York Times, titled, Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. The report found factories full of underage unaccompanied migrants who have jobs such as making processed foods, working as carpenters, slaughterhouse workers, milking machine operators, rock wall builders and makers of motor parts. Injuries, some severe, often occur early in their employment.

Corporate heads say they’ve been unaware of the problem. Overwhelmed by caseloads, Human and Health Services is unable to ensure safety of the legally entered migrant youth. Only a third reunite with parents in the U.S.; the rest go to relatives or “sponsors.” The latter frequently push the children for thousands in inflated payments. Interviews with caseworkers show about two-thirds of unaccompanied migrant children end up working fulltime. Those enrolled in school may drop out due to exhaustion.

There’s some truth to the complaint “my vote doesn’t matter,” when factoring in the presidential Electoral College, as it can sideline the popular vote when determining who will be president. For states that are predictably “red” or “blue,” a presidential candidate ignores them to focus instead on swing states, representing about 20% of voters. Twice this century a presidential candidate has won office without the popular vote.

Abolishing the Electoral College, according to columnist Robert Reich, would require a constitutional amendment, and is unlikely to pass. The other option: The Na-

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

tional Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Under that idea, each state gets a number of electors, based on their population. The total number of electors is 538; whoever gets 270 electoral votes wins. Under the compact, states with at least 270 electoral votes agree to award all their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote. So far, 15 states and D.C. have joined the compact, totaling 196 electoral votes.

The Roosevelt Institute estimates that more than half of 2022 price increases were caused by corporate profit motive, leading to the term “greedflation.”

New filings in Dominion Voting’s lawsuit against Fox News: top Fox brass knew election denial claims were false, various media reported. They were warned against spreading the lies by a Fox board member and former U.S. leader of the House, but favored capturing viewers over telling the truth. The filing included claims that Fox owner Rupert Murdoch had shared confidential info about then-candidate Biden’s ads and debate strategy with a senior adviser to former-President Donald Trump.

“Anchors” at Wolf News demonstrate the hazards of AI when applied to news media. The site was pro-China and distributed on Facebook and Twitter, according to The New York Times. Evidence that AI was involved became noticeable as the “anchors’” voices were not in sync with their mouth movements. The fake anchors are created using “deepfake technology.”

One episode showed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surrendering to Russia. A company enabling AI fakes says it’s “as easy as writing an email.” Disinformation experts say the online forgeries have the potential to be misused to set off unrest.

Blast from the past: the Richmond Enquirer in 1856 wrote, “Every school and college in the South should teach that slave society is the common, natural, rightful and normal state of society. Any doctrine short of this contains abolition in the germ: for, if it be not the rightful and natural form of society, it cannot last, and we should prepare for its gradual but ultimate abolition. … To teach such doctrines we must have Southern teachers and Southern school books. It is from the school that public opinion proceeds, and the schools should be set right. No teacher should be employed in a private family or public school at the South who is not ready to teach these doctrines. Parents, trustees and visitors should look into this.”