An attempt to amend the Idaho Constitution that would have made getting petition-driven ballot initiatives in front of voters more difficult failed to meet the required two-thirds majority in both houses of the Legislature in floor action this week.
Senate Joint Resolution 101 would have required petition signatures from no less than 6% of all registered voters in all 35 of Idaho’s legislative districts for a measure to be put on a ballot. The constitution currently requires just 18 of the 35 districts to reach the 6% threshold.
Critics including leaders of Reclaim Idaho, the outfit that successfully organized the 2018 ballot initiative on Medicaid expansion, said Senate Joint Resolution 101 would make ballot initiatives all but impossible in the state.
On Monday, the Idaho Senate voted 27-8 in favor of the changes out lined in the resolution, meeting the two-thirds majority requirement for the measure to advance. But Thursday’s vote in the House failed to meet the threshold in a 39-31 vote.