The door to the chambers of the House of Representatives at the Idaho State Capitol building in Boise on Jan. 11, 2023. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)
As the Idaho House of Representatives was about 16 minutes into debating a bill that would’ve required state lawmakers to disclose out-of-state travel they didn’t pay for, the chamber erupted into procedural chaos.
Rep. Kent Marmon, R-Caldwell, who is serving his first term in the Idaho Legislature, said several lawmakers had left the floor, and moved the House recess — essentially stop doing business — until lawmakers return to vote on the bill.
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Third-term lawmaker Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, objected, saying lawmakers can leave.
Then Rep. David Leavitt, R-Twin Falls, who is also serving his first term in the Idaho Legislature, made a hardly used motion, called a “Call of the House.” If ordered by one-third of lawmakers present, the move would prompt the House doors to be locked, require all lawmakers present to remain and be tallied, and let the House Sergeant at Arms — if ordered by the majority of members present — to arrest House lawmakers who weren’t on the floor and bring them to the floor.
Several lawmakers sighed.
House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian, who was filling in for House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, as the presiding lawmaker over the Idaho House, swiftly called the House at ease.
When the House resumed around 12 minutes later, House Assistant Majority Leader Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, moved the House to adjourn until Thursday morning — without voting on the bill.
McCann objected.
Then Monks announced the voice vote for adjournment — which is typically a daily, swift motion as the House wraps up work for the day.
House lawmakers shouted “aye” and “nay.”
Rep. Stephanie Micklelsen, R-Idaho Falls, who sponsored the legislative travel transparency bill, House Bill 378, shouted to request a roll call vote.
Monks did not acknowledge her motion, and said the motion to adjourn passed.
Then several lawmakers shouted again.
What is the legislative transparency bill?
House Bill 378, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, would require all Idaho legislative officials to report out-of-state travel, paid by another individual or entity, that is “reasonably related to a legislative or governmental purpose or to an issue of state, national, or international public policy.” Legislative travel paid through personal funds or campaign funds would not be subject to the bill.
“In this body, we scream and yell about having transparency: transparency in our schools, transparency by every government agency,” Mickelsen said in the House floor debate on her bill Wednesday. “So today, this is the transparency bill for us as legislators — to show that we walk the walk and talk the talk. If we ourselves are unwilling to be transparent about what we are doing, how can we expect anyone else to do anything less than that?”
Several lawmakers — including Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston — spoke in support of the bill, but several lawmakers also felt like the bill was unfair by only requiring reporting for travel that lawmakers don’t pay for themselves.
“The biggest thing for me is the fact that the good lady didn’t mention that this excludes people who use their own money,” Rep. Clint Hostetler, R-Twin Falls, said in the House floor debate on the bill. “So if it’s really about transparency, shouldn’t everybody — whether they can buy their way out of transparency or not — have to declare that? To me, this creates kind of a transparency caste system, right? If you can afford it, you don’t have to be transparent. But if you can’t afford it, or someone else pays — all of a sudden, you’re liable for transparency.”
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Idaho state lawmakers explain unusual adjournment in the House on Wednesday
Immediately after the House adjourned, Monks approached reporters on the House floor and said the Call of the House motion had not yet been seconded.
“So I was able to take another motion. Which I did. Adjournment is higher in ranking as far as motions we take than a Call of the House. So I had to take the adjournment before I could take the Call of the House,” Monks told reporters.
Asked about Mickelsen’s motion for a roll call vote on adjournment, Monks said he had not recognized her.
“I don’t have to recognize people,” Monks told reporters.
Asked about McCann’s objection, Monks said she can’t object to a lawmaker making a motion.
Minutes later, McCann approached reporters on the House floor, saying she wished the House would’ve voted on Mickelsen’s bill.
“I don’t know if they think that there’s something funny going on, that leadership is gone, that Mike left. I don’t know,” McCann told reporters.
She said she believed the House would have rejected the Call of the House motion. She also said she didn’t see a lot of lawmakers leaving the House floor.
Mickelsen also approached reporters on the floor after the House adjourned.
She said the bill, if passed, would let Idaho voters “know who is influencing our elections (and) who’s influencing our legislation.”
“If you want to talk about why we’re where we’re at right now with people running the kind of bills that they’re running, it has to do with this out-of-state influence. It’s the very same people that came in and bought Idaho for ($)2 to $3 million that we’re trying to with our other campaign bills that are up to try and at least shed light on what’s going on,” Mickelsen told reporters. “And I gotta tell you, mold grows in deep, dark places. But as soon as you expose it to light, it stops. And they’re wanting to pick it apart here, pick it apart there, because they know that this is one of those things that they have all participated in.”
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