Idaho has two bodies of legislative government. Like all states, the Gem State has a House and a Senate. In England, it's the House of Commons and the House of Lords. 

Our founding fathers designed both bodies to reflect the values of their constituents. The Idaho House has earned the reputation of being more conservative than the Senate. It's not unusual for members of the House to criticize the Senate for not taking up bills that have passed their body.




 
The Idaho House of Representatives has passed two bills that the media and Democrats have heavily criticized. HB 666 seeks to regulate that librarians must keep smut-ridden books out of the library and out of the hands of Idaho kids. HB 675 would prohibit minors from engaging in actions transitioning from one gender to another until they're eighteen.  Several elected officials, including the Boise mayor, have publicly attacked the bill. Wednesday, members of the Idaho Senate told the Idaho Press that they would not allow those bills to get out of committee, which means those bills will not be allowed to become law. The senators said their constituents are more concerned about working and supporting their families than the bills the House passed recently.  


The senators were reluctant to say whether or not the new property tax bill would get a lengthy hearing. Senator Winder, the leader of the Senate, told the Idaho Press, "I think it's still got a lot of work to be done on it," Winder said. "One of the things I'm hearing now in the background, it isn't a real hard drumbeat yet, but that's to do an interim committee and take a look at our whole tax structure. But whether we can get the House to do that, I don't know."

Political observers will watch if the Senate decides to address these three bills. They tell us that the Senate's action or inaction will significantly impact the upcoming primary in May.

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