People think of Idaho as a conservative state, and for good reason. Hillary Clinton got less than 28 percent of the vote there in the most recent reelection. It’s been ages since the last time any Democrat got 40 percent of the vote in a statewide race.
Idaho’s governor, Republican former Rep. Butch Otter, went through his entire career styling himself as a libertarian-leaning Republican. And with conservatives largely embracing libertarian ideas about curbing civil forfeiture and reducing the licensing requirements for certain professions, you’d think he’s the kind of governor who would support such measures.
So it seemed like a done deal when the state legislature passed modest reforms in these two areas, then left town for the year. Instead, Otter shocked everyone by announcing today by vetoing both.
Mind you, the reforms here were quite modest. Idaho legislators did not pass a complete overhaul of civil forfeiture, as lawmakers did in Ohio, New Mexico and other states. Rather, their bill merely prevented it from being used for mere cases of drug possession, as opposed to trafficking. It also created new reporting requirements for the final disposition of cases where civil forfeiture is used — for example, what property was taken, was the property owner charged or convicted of a crime, and was the property ever returned. The bill in its final form had passed both the Idaho state House and the state Senate unanimously.
Just as law enforcement apparently prevailed in getting the governor’s ear and preventing basic transparency in that area, the local cosmetology lobby convinced him to block very modest reforms to occupational licensing, an area where there is a broad bipartisan consensus that reform is needed. The bill that Otter vetoed would have only slightly eased the state’s draconian training requirements for barbers and stylists, and added a few common-sense exemptions. It had passed 58-11 in the state House, and 29-6 in the state Senate.
The vetoes come as something of a surprise. Otter had not threatened them before the the legislature adjourned for the year on March 29. The local center-right think tank, the Idaho Freedom Foundation, responded Friday with a humorous oped titled “Otter obviously abducted by aliens.”
The worst part of this is that there is no currently mechanism in Idaho for the legislature to override vetoes after its session has ended. So they’ll either have to try again next year, or next governor.
