© 2011 Idaho Press-Tribune
TREASURE VALLEY — Nampa GOP Sen. Curt McKenzie will not schedule a committee hearing for Idaho’s perennial gay rights legislation, essentially killing the measure that has failed to get out of committee the last four years.
The bill does not have the votes on the Senate State Affairs Committee to pass through that panel to the full Senate, McKenzie said Monday. McKenzie serves as the committee’s chairman.
“In the past as a courtesy I’ve printed the bill, but I haven’t seen the votes on the committee to send it to the floor, and I don’t think they are there this year, either,” McKenzie said. “The committee has not shifted enough philosophically. You could say it’s gotten more conservative because Sen. (Chuck) Winder (R- Boise) is there instead of Sen. (Joe) Stegner (R-Lewiston).”
Stegner co-sponsored the bill last year that would add the words “sexual orientation, gender identity” to Idaho’s Human Rights Act.
Senate Bill 1033 would change the Human Rights Act so that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people would be protected from workplace and other discrimination.
Supporters of the bill say state law currently allows employers to fire gay people or people who are perceived as gay. The bill has had an exemption for the Boy Scouts added and is supported by the governor-appointed Idaho Commission on Human Rights by a 7-2 vote.
A sexual orientation bill has been sponsored in Idaho since 2007, Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said. LeFavour supports the bill. She said it has been revised and gained support through the years, and she disagrees with McKenzie about the Senate State Affairs makeup. The bill has never had a public hearing.
“Considering the number of members of the Senate who have previously co-sponsored this and considering the impact it has on so many individuals in the state, I can’t imagine not even scheduling a public hearing,” LeFavour said. “If people in his (McKenzie’s) district or around the state think this is of interest to them, they should let him know that they want to see a hearing.”
LeFavour said that those in opposition to the bill are protecting the State Affairs Committee from a politically uncomfortable discussion about the bill. But McKenzie said his reason for blocking the bill from a hearing is a practical one and is common procedure.
Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, sponsored Senate Bill 1033 personally so it was printed without a committee print hearing or vote. McKenzie’s action will mean the bill will not get a public hearing before the committee.
