4 Idaho Senate bills aim to increase Legislature's authority while limiting governor's power

BOISE, Idaho -- Idaho senators on Wednesday joined their House colleagues in introducing legislation seeking to wrest power from Republican Gov. Brad Little on emergency declarations like the one dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Four pieces of Senate legislation, just like the House bills brought forward a day earlier, aim to increase the authority of the part-time Legislature while limiting the governor’s power. Public hearings on the legislation are expected in the Senate State Affairs Committee in the coming weeks.

Lawmakers say they were left out of the decision to impose pandemic restrictions on businesses and residents after Little declared an emergency in March. Lawmakers also say they should have had a hand in determining how to spend the $1.25 billion that the state received in federal coronavirus aid last year.

“There’s a role for the Legislature,” said Republican Sen. Chuck Winder, president pro tempore of the chamber. “There’s a role for the representatives of the people to be involved in this process when you have ongoing emergencies.”

Read more: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article248492435.html