BOISE, Idaho — Further regulation on Idaho's signature gathering initiative process is waiting, ironically, for Governor Brad Little's (R-Idaho) signature.
The House passed Senate Bill 1377 (S1377) Wednesday after a short debate questioning the constitutionality of the bill. The bill would require any person receiving payment to gather signatures for an initiative process to disclose they are paid. This bill outlines a verbal notice and a visual badge on the petitoner's clothing to denote their status as a paid worker.
Rep. Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) was the only lawmaker to speak other than the floor sponsor Rep. Brandon Mitchell (R-Moscow). Rep. Mitchell pitched the bill as a transparency measure against out-of-state money influencing Idaho policy.
"If we were so worried about transparency and voters knowing who's paying for what, we don't do this for any other political activity. I can spend a million dollars hiring people to knock every door in my district telling everybody that Ilana Rubel is the cat's meow," Rep. Rubel said. "They wouldn't have to wear a pin or tell anybody that I'm paying them."
Rep. Rubel questioned the constitutionality of the bill; the Idaho State Supreme Court overturned a previous law to regulate the initiative process through Reclaim Idaho v. Denney (2021). The court regarded the initiative process to be a right of the people.
Reclaim Idaho, the largest citizen lawmaking group in the state, is largely comprised of volunteers, according to co-founder Luke Mayville. S1450 functional changes little to their operations; however, he disagrees with the legislation on a matter of principle.
"Every year, there are legislators who come out with legislation that attack the initiative process. Never do they consult us about it. We believe the reason is clear. They don't like Citizen initiatives, they don't like citizens to take matters into their own hands," Mayville said. "So, any one of these bills may not, you know, take that right away. But when they keep accumulating and they keep making it harder and harder to put initiatives on the ballot, that's where we have to worry that the initiative process could become unworkable."
The Idaho Secretary of State's office wrote KTVB in an email they are unaware of any paid petitioners in the state.
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