Protect Our Libraries Party
There are just three weeks until the May Library Elections! Now is a great time to get to know these candidates. Let’s get together and give them a final boost to put them across the finish line! Meet our speakers, Mary Anne Saunders in the Ada Free Library District, and Destinie Hart in the Meridian Library District.
We have released 20 more tickets! Get them before they run out!
Door Knocking and Phone Banking
It’s time to get involved! Reaching out to voters is the best way to make your impact on elections. We need to do all we can to make sure we have good candidates on the library boards across Ada County.
Phone Banks are recurring every Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 PM! Join in person at the IDP HQ at 413 W Idaho St, or virtually via zoom. Click HERE!
Door knock for Destinie Hart and the Meridian Library District on Saturdays at Fuller Park! 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM – while the weather is perfect like this, there’s absolutely no better way to spend a Saturday morning! Click HERE to RSVP!
Door knock for Mary Anne Saunders in Star this Sunday at Blake Haven Park at 2:00 PM! Click HERE to RSVP, and keep your eyes on Mobilize or this email for upcoming door knocks around Ada for Mary Anne!
Click HERE to see all our events on Mobilize!
Legislative Updates – School Vouchers
Thanks to our Democratic legislators and a tremendous amount of public support, good things happened for Idaho education during this session.
Due to our emails, phone calls and testimony, ESA vouchers were defeated. Numerous bills were presented throughout the session and we stopped every single one!
Idaho Launch grants expand an existing program to provide Idaho high school graduates with $8000 toward tuition to a career training program or community college. This investment in workforce training will help students while creating skilled labor for Idaho.
There were historic increases in education funding, primarily thanks to the work of Reclaim Idaho and other grassroots efforts. In addition to almost $250 million for teacher and staff salaries, over $48 million was authorized for discretionary school spending.
HB292, the property tax bill, provides schools $100 million to pay off bonds, but removed the important March election date for school bonds and levies.
Legislative Updates – Library Bills
Over and over this year, the Republican legislators tried all kinds of different bills to disrupt libraries in order to effectively ban books. They finally succeeded in passing HB 314, which they saw as a compromise, but which allowed anyone to sue libraries for thousands of dollars if they claimed the library had an offensive book. The definition of the material that offended them was so broad that it included any book that contained a description of nudity.
Thankfully, Governor Little vetoed the bill, after receiving more emails and phone calls to his office. The vetoed bill failed to pass a veto-proof majority in the house by just one vote!
Thank you to everyone who sent in testimony about this bill. And thank you to our Democratic legislators and the few Republicans who voted this bill down.
Legislative Updates – Trans Bills
Unfortunately, HB71 passed and is now law in Idaho. This bill criminalizes care for trans youth. The legislature and the Governor were able to plug their ears and ignore all our testimony against this bill. I don’t know how many of them have bought into their own talking points, but I could name a few that couldn’t care less about who they hurt, and whose freedom they trample on. Being cruel and unjust to trans people is part of the larger goal of erasing us entirely.
I believe this bill makes a big step towards that goal of erasing trans people from Idaho. Next year, I’m sure they’ll come back, emboldened by their win, with even worse bills. But for now, they have made Idaho a more dangerous place to come out as trans, and have withheld the care that saves lives from those who do so anyway.
Upcoming Events
Capitol Tour with District 18 Legislators
April 15th – 10:30 AM
Idaho Capital Building 1st Floor Rotunda
Protect Our Libraries Party!
April 17th – 7:00 PM
Barbarian Brewing, 114 E 32nd St. Garden City
GET YOUR TICKETS
District 19 Yard Sale
April 22nd – 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM1320 E Hays Way, Boise
Contact us if you have an item to donate!
District 18 Spring Wine Event
May 15th – 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Mill District Clubhouse, 4057 S Mill Site Ave, Boise
Get your tickets HERE!
Thanks for supporting local Democrats,
Lily Pannkuk,
Field Director
Ada County Democrats