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Idaho Politics — Senator Lenney Formally Requests Explanation for $546,400 Hispanic Commission While Scotch-Irish Receive Zero State Recognition. By Idaho Senator Brian Lenney (11/12/25)
Senator Brian Lenney issued a formal inquiry to the Idaho Governor's office asking why the state absurdly sends $546,400 tax dollars annually to the Hispanic Commission while providing no equivalent recognition or funding for Scotch-Irish descendants or most other ethnic groups (see below for another example of ethnic funding).
Senator Lenney requests a written response from the Governor’s office by December 15, 2025.
📌 Of course, what Senator Lenney pointedly illustrates is that the state of Idaho should not be funding ANY special-interest ethnic groups. Spending taxpayer money on the Hispanic Commission is discriminatory and wasteful.
Summary (Grok ai, edited; images from article)
Scotch-Irish indentured servitude in America dates to the 1620s and continued through 1775, with servants bound for four to seven years in exchange for passage to the colonies.
Senator Lenney’s Scotch-Irish ancestors died in Pennsylvania coal mines with life expectancy of 40 to 50 years due to cave-ins, gas explosions, and lung disease; labored on Virginia tobacco plantations where two-thirds of indentured servants died within months from disease and exhaustion; and perished in Carolina turpentine camps described as a 'human slaughter pen' while earning 50 cents to one dollar per day.
The Scotch-Irish received zero reparations, zero land grants, and zero acknowledgment from any government entity. The policy was to sign a seven-year indenture contract and hope to survive it.
If ancestry-based commissions serve a public purpose, the state must explain selection criteria.
Alternatively, eliminate all ethnicity-based funding and classify residents as Idahoans on government forms, regardless of ancestors' deaths.
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OUR TAKE
Good for you, Sen. Lenney, to use Scotch-Irish treatment as an example (somewhat sarcastic, but appropriate). The point is: Ethnic based commissions and subsidies have no business in America or Idaho. Recall the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Not liberty and justice for some. Not special handouts or commissions for some. But equal treatment for all — the traditional American way.
Unequal treatment is wrong and must stop. It likely violates the US Constitution 14th Amendment Equal Protection clause 1 (tinyurl.com/bddtp2mc) and the spirit of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (tinyurl.com/4dxdrffb).
Solution: DEFUND the Hispanic Commission and any other special interest commissions immediately. It'll take REPEAL legislation to completely dissolve these entities, but at least we can cut off wasteful funding in the meantime.
But Wait, There’s More!
Per Grok, ai:
The Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs was established by Senate Bill 1171 (1987), enacted as Chapter 163 of the 1987 Idaho Session Laws, codified in Idaho Code Title 67, Chapter 72 (§§ 67-7201 et seq.)
Idaho Code: tinyurl.com/3umrcy4v
1987 Session Laws: tinyurl.com/2m4z4bty
Per Grok, Idaho also has...
Idaho Council on Indian Affairs: Established by Idaho Code Title 67, Chapter 40 (§§ 67-4001 et seq.):
(scroll down for link)
