Monica Church — Representative Monica Church questioned how the state would verify whether someone is an outside paid signature gatherer, what penalties apply if they do not have the required badge, and whether the state would need to confirm the Idaho residency of the individuals involved. Her remarks continued the same inquiry into the administrative burden and enforcement of the proposed requirements.
Monica Church — Included in the chair's comment about how State Affairs rewrites law in front of members.
Anne Haws — Anne Haws participated in the amendment discussion by asking whether the proposed disclosure language would invalidate signatures if the requirement is not met, questioning the change from 'resident who's at least 18 years of age' to 'qualified elector,' suggesting that the bill cite a specific statutory section to define 'qualified elector,' and later noting that 'persons' may already cover entities under case law while considering a substitute motion.
Anne Haws — Included in the chair's comment about how State Affairs rewrites law in front of members.
Erin Bingham — Welcomed as a new majority-party member.
Erin Bingham — He is recognized and invited to ask a question or offer a substitute motion.
Erin Bingham — Asks whether removing 'entities' on line 29 also requires removing 'entities' on line 23.
Erin Bingham — Indicates technical difficulties instead of a substantive question.
Erin Bingham — The chair notes that Representative Bingham, Church, and Haws are seeing how the committee works.
Erin Bingham — Introduces the concurrent resolution commemorating the 250th anniversary of America and the Declaration of Independence.
Erin Bingham — Asked how the 250,000 acts of service would be tracked.
Bruce Skaug — Bruce Skaug presents RS 32824 and later RS 32825C1, explaining the proposal(s) and answering committee questions. For RS 32824, he says paid signature gatherers should disclose who is paying them on their badges, clarifies that all payors should be listed, and is open to suggested wording changes and cleanup language. He also notes he checked the proposal with the Secretary of State. The discussion then shifts to the motion to introduce the bill and related sponsor preferences. Later, Skaug introduces RS 32825C1, explaining it would allow legislative leaders to hire private counsel and let the state take offensive action on constitutional issues, and asks the committee to introduce it.
Stephanie Mickelsen — Stephanie Mickelsen asked for clarification on how the bill’s disclosure requirement would work for signature gathering—whether the public would see who is paying at the time signatures are collected or only through a filing with the Secretary of State. She then followed up by suggesting the bill language may need to say 'entities' instead of 'entity.'
Stephanie Mickelsen — Begins a question about whether the bill applies only defensively or also offensively.
Stephanie Mickelsen — Asks whether the bill is limited to defense or also allows the state to sue the federal government.
Stephanie Mickelsen — The chair welcomes Representative Mischel back to the committee.
Judy Boyle — Representative Judy Boyle discusses amendment language concerning who should be identified in the bill. She first suggests adding 'persons' alongside 'entities' because more than one person could be paying. That suggestion is then incorporated into proposed motion language. She later argues that 'entities' should remain in the text because the average reader may not know case law, and this point is treated as debate against the substitute motion.
Judy Boyle — Representative Boyle asked whether the trees in the working forest were intended to be permanent and untouchable or whether they would be harvestable and usable later.
Shawn Dygert — Representative Dygert noted that page 3, line 18 already states that any violation of the relevant code provisions invalidates all signatures collected, and this point was acknowledged in response.
Shawn Dygert — Representative Scott asked whether the trees would be planted on private or public property, and the response clarified that they would be on public property.
Brent Crane — During discussion of RS 32-824, Representative Crane moved to introduce the bill with wording changes, specifying that references to "person" and "entity" be changed to the plural forms and later clarifying that line 23 should also be corrected. Representative Haas acknowledged the error, confirmed the substitute motion language, and was then briefly referenced by the chair in a lighthearted comment about "dueling attorneys" in the debate.
Joe Palmer — Moved to introduce RS 32992 and send it to the second reading calendar.
Jaron Crane — Representative Dygert asked whether Representative Mitchell would be willing to sing the song for the committee, and the exchange was followed by clarification that professional singers had been hired to perform it instead.
Jim Guthrie — Chairman Crane presided over the discussion and motion on RS 32992, then was directly addressed during follow-up questions and explanation regarding the tree plan.