Hardliners Attempt to Bypass Norms, Force Vote on Anti-Union Bill

The big news: A group of anti-public education senators tried to force a Senate vote on House Bill 745, the anti-union bill, with a rarely-used procedural move. It didn’t work. 

• House Bill 745 passed the House earlier this month and has been held in the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee since then. Sen. Dan Foreman (R-Lewiston), who chairs Senate Commerce, has thus far refused to hear the bill. 

• Sen. Christy Zito (R-Mountain Home), a member of the hard-right group of lawmakers who have dubbed themselves the “Gang of Eight,” attempted to force the bill out of committee by invoking the procedural move. If it worked, the bill would have undermined Sen. Foreman by bypassing the committee and forcing a vote in the full Senate. 

• Under the procedural move, an “aye” vote would keep the bill in committee. A “nay” would have moved the bill out of committee. The Senate voted 25-9 to keep it in committee. 

The pushback: Sen. Foreman has been facing intense lobbying from special interest groups like the Freedom Foundation to hold a hearing on the bill. But as he said on Friday during the debate over pulling the bill out of committee, “Hearing this bill and passing this bill now will undermine my promising negotiations and work with the teachers’ union in an effort to make positive changes to the public school system.”

• “We thank Sen. Foreman for standing by the democratic process that is used for every other bill that passes through the Idaho Legislature,” said IEA Associate Executive Director Matt Compton. “IEA members truly appreciate the commitment he made to IEA and Idaho public school students with his opposition and his vote — all done under immense pressure.” 

To be clear: The bill is still in play — Sen. Foreman could decide to hold a hearing before the session ends. 

The agitators: Nine senators voted to override Foreman’s authority. They are: 

• Sen. Cindy Carlson (R-Riggins)

• Sen. Phil Hart (R-Kellogg)

• Sen. Josh Keyser (R-Meridian)

• Sen. Josh Kohl (R-Twin Falls)

• Jake Coho (filling in for Sen. Lenney, R-Nampa)

• Sen. Tammy Nichols (R-Middleton)

• Sen. Brandon Shippy (R-New Plymouth)

• Sen. Christy Zito (R-Mountain Home)

• Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld (R-Twin Falls)

This is why May Matters: There is only one way out of this yearly cycle of anxiety for IEA members, who have had to spend valuable energy fighting anti-union bills when they could be focusing on what really matters — Idaho’s children. Learn more and vote in the May 19 primary to end this vicious pattern for good.