2022 IDAHO DEMOCRATIC PARTY RESOLUTIONS

1. The Idaho Democratic Party supports efforts to increase mental health care funding from state funds in order to preserve and expand mental health care especially in rural communities and increase funding for school counselors.

 

2. The Idaho Democratic Party supports access to reproductive health care and the right of persons to bodily autonomy. The Idaho Democratic Party opposes laws restricting abortion and pregnancy prevention methods.

 

3. Congress passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2013 to create tax-free savings accounts for people with disabilities to cover necessary and needful expenses while preserving access to public benefits such as Medicaid and Social Security. However, Idaho has not yet established an ABLE account system. The Idaho Democratic Party calls on the Idaho State Legislature to pass a law creating an ABLE account system to implement the provisions of the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2013.

 

4. The Idaho Democratic Party will advocate for the support of the Department of Health and Welfare and for legislation that fully funds its growing needs, not only adequately compensating those who take on some of the most difficult work in the state but appropriately compensating Idaho families who take on other’s children and the social workers who take on the difficult task of ensuring Idaho children are in the safest place and keeping them with their families or the best possible family alternative when necessary.

 

5. The Idaho Democratic Party supports a permanent public school building fund that ensures safe and efficient public school facilities throughout the entire state. In 2005, the Idaho Supreme Court declared the state school funding system unconstitutional because it left the full cost of school construction to the local property taxpayers and then ordered the legislature to fix the problem. The Office of Performance Evaluations (OPE) Report on K-12 School Buildings released in January, 2022 stated that:

• $847 million is needed to bring K-12 school buildings up to ‘good’ condition.

• The high voter threshold needed to pass a school bond has resulted in most school bonds failing over the past 10 years.

• The amount of discretionary funds, which can be used for building expenses, has decreased since 2006.

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6. The Idaho Democratic Party supports increased funding of Idaho public schools, including preschool, and endorses the Quality Education Act Initiative which will increase funding for Idaho’s K-12 public schools.

• Idaho continues to be last in the nation for funding per K-12 student and last in the nation for early childhood education participation.

• Idaho is one of only 6 states that do not offer any funding for Preschool while 57% of Idaho children under age six live with parents who work elsewhere during the day and need to go somewhere while their parents work.

• Idaho is among the top 10 states with the most crowded classrooms.

• Idaho ranks last among its neighbors in school building spending.

• Idaho currently has hundreds of teacher vacancies, largely aggravated by low wages, and many schools can’t find qualified applicants, which could result in inexperienced teachers in hard-to-fill disciplines such as math, science, and special education.

 

7. The Idaho Democratic Party supports and defends all students’ and all learners’ freedom to read and access to information. The Idaho Democratic Party upholds the right of parents to make decisions regarding what their own children can read, but not what other children can read.

 

8. The Idaho Democratic Party supports and defends the Intellectual Freedom of every individual to read and access information without restriction. The Idaho Democratic Party is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Librarians and Library collections to ensure our democratic freedoms.

 

9. The Idaho Democratic Party strenuously opposes the adoption of the 1776 Educational Curricula in the public school system as a part of the American history curricula. The curriculum has been condemned by legitimate historians stating the report, was “filled with errors and partisan politics” and identified factual inaccuracies and a lack of scholarship. The American Historical Association (AHA), in a statement cosigned by 33 other historical societies, stated that the report was completed “without any consultation with professional historians of the United States.” The Idaho Republican Party has declared its support for the 1776 Commission educational curricula. The 1776 Commission was disbanded immediately by President Biden upon assuming office. There is no evidence that critical race theory is being taught in Idaho schools as the 1776 Commission suggests.

 

10. Idaho Democrats will promote legislation to increase the number of eligible Idaho citizens voting through:

• Upholding existing Idaho code that allows non-state IDs to be used in conjunction with proof of address for same day voter registration.

• Supporting Motor-Voter automatic voter registration programs that register voters at the time of driver’s license or state ID issuance or renewal for citizens who will be 18 or over during the next election.

• Requiring early voting in all Idaho counties beginning the third Monday before Election Day and providing resources to all Idaho counties so they can provide the maximum number of early voting opportunities possible.

 

11. The Idaho Democratic Party calls on the Idaho State Legislature to enact a law expanding general local-option taxation authority for all cities, counties, and local government subdivisions in the state. Only resort cities such as Sun Valley, Hailey, McCall, have the authority under Idaho Code section 50-1044 to pass local options taxes and those must be passed by a 60 percent majority vote in these resort cities.

• Creating local-options taxation authorities can enable innovative approaches to services like mass transit besides bus service, such as light rail, trackless tram, and bicycle friendly areas as well as other local priorities including conservation, affordable housing, open space, parks and recreation, and hospitals.

• Idaho is the only state that does not fund mass transit at the state level whereas the expansion of mass transit is in the interest of improving accessibility to transportation for Idahoans with disabilities, improving hours and increasing routes for bus services beneficial to working Idahoans who do not have 9 to 5 working hours, as well as reducing automobile usage and thereby reduce carbon dioxide emissions and alleviating the long-term effects of climate change by removing cars from the road.

• Transferring the tax burden from property taxes to sales taxes for localities can alleviate property tax burdens for homeowners, including disabled and senior citizens on fixed income, and reduce the breakneck pace of housing price increases.

 

12. The Idaho Democratic Party opposes state interference concerning the minimum wage determined by Idaho cities that exceed the national guidelines. Each city knows what is necessary to attain and maintain a viable workforce. Each city should have local control and make its own determination and not be usurped by the State.

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13. The Idaho Democratic Party supports freedom from discrimination because of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” as a civil right that should be included in the Idaho Human Rights Act (Title 67 Chapter 59).

 

14. The Idaho Democratic Party supports:

• Science-based actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change,

• Exploration of statewide expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure, public transit, non-motorized travel accommodations, and incentives for the restoration of passenger train service and transition away from reliance on fossil fuels,

• State tax policies providing incentives for residential and commercial energy efficient facility development and robust energy and building codes that facilitate efficiency and reduce consumer costs, and

• Incentives for job creation in clean, renewable energy technologies.

 

15. The Idaho Democratic Party strenuously opposes the repeal or sunset of any legislation on which the implementation of Medicare and Social Security rely and opposes cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits.

 

16. The Idaho Democratic Party will promote the interests and concerns of rural Idaho by engaging community leaders, enhancing connections to rural voters, creating equitable distribution of funds to rural Idaho, and stimulating economic development in our rural communities that fosters prosperity and provides viable resources that maintain essential infrastructure.

 

17. The Idaho Democratic Party supports common sense gun laws including safe storage, universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, firearm responsibility education, and raising the age to purchase assault-style weapons to 21, in order to prevent injury and loss of life by gun violence in Idaho.

 

18. The Idaho Democratic Party strongly opposes SJR102, a proposed Idaho Constitutional Amendment that would allow the Idaho Legislature to call itself into a special session. For over 130 years Governor of the State of Idaho has been the only person who may call the Idaho Legislature into an extraordinary legislative session and this remains an important check and balance on legislative power; without sufficient checks on the legislature’s power to convene extraordinary sessions, Idaho’s part-time citizen legislature is at risk of becoming a full-time legislature attracting career politicians who spend all of their time in Boise rather than living and working in our communities.