If Voters Demanded a Conservative Mandate, Idaho’s Senate Didn’t Get the Memo. By Fred Birnbaum (12/09/24)
Many conservatives are disappointed with the seniority-based new leadership in the Idaho State Senate. Author Fred Birnbaum says:
Problem solvers, visionaries, cost cutters, and reformers are generally not wanted as committee chairmen.
After a three-way race, Senator Kelly Anthon, the former Majority Leader, was elevated to Senate President Pro Tempore. Anthon was committed to maintaining the Senate “tradition” of using legislative seniority to pick committee chairmanships, and since his core Senate supporters were the most senior senators, we shouldn’t be surprised at the outcome. Selecting by seniority dovetails with the establishment’s desire to protect its turf; e.g. cronyism and the status quo.
The selection of the chairs for the 10 Senate and 14 House Standing Committees also disappointed conservatives. Although conservatives make up close to half of the new Senate caucus, they received received only 3 of 10 chairs; moreover, the sprinkling of conservatives throughout the committees prevented them from holding a solid majority.
The chairmanships of key Senate committees are now in the hands of the old guard, with among the worst voting records:
Senator Jim Guthrie: State Affairs Chair
Senator Julie VanOrden: Health and Welfare Chair
Senator Dave Lent: Education Chair
For example, Sen. Guthrie is well known for holding conservative bills in his desk drawer. Birnbaum’s articles lists a dozen representative bills that Idahoans have wanted for years but were withheld from public hearings. (We also highlighted many of these bills here: eolson47.substack.com/i…)
Birnbaum goes on to list many more bills, budgets, and policies upheld by the newly elected or re-elected chairs that are antithetical to conservative Idaho voters.
He concludes:
…while elections have consequences, it is what happens after the elections where the real change occurs. We oppose the seniority system (which hasn’t been consistently applied anyway) in the Senate not because we believe that experience matters; we simply understand that many other qualities in leadership matter more.
After all, nobody came to the Presidency with more relevant experience than Joe Biden, and we all know how that turned out.
ED NOTE
Citizens must take an active role in state politics. Simply showing up at the polls every couple of years is NOT enough. "We the People" must insist that elected representatives do their jobs as the PEOPLE'S representatives -- NOT as representatives of the executive branch, special interests (such as iaci.org), or lobbyists.Related:
Health Freedom & Other Solutions for Idaho & Beyond: eolson47.substack.com/p…
Idaho House and Senate Leadership Elected:
