BOISE – A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has sided with Attorney General Raúl Labrador and the attorneys general from Louisiana, Montana, and Mississippi, issuing a preliminary injunction against the new Title IX rules pushed by President Biden’s Department of Education. The new rules misinterpret Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination and would now require schools to allow students access to bathrooms and locker rooms inconsistent with their sex. The new rules were scheduled to take effect August 1st.

This preliminary injunction applies to the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho and prevents the new rules from going into effect pending further review by the district court.

“I am grateful for this first-in-the-nation injunction on the Title IX rules, and that Idaho girls and women will be protected,” said Attorney General Labrador.  “The new definition of discrimination that includes gender identity would have a profound impact on the advancements Title IX has made for girls and women in our society. With a single act, the Biden Administration threatened decades of progress and opportunities for females and jeopardized their rights to safety and access within our education system.  This is a tremendous victory, and we are confident we will continue to prevail in court.”

Judge Terry Doughty issued the injunction Thursday, siding with plaintiff states, agreeing that the rules are unlawful.  In his ruling, Judge Doughty confirmed that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing the rules violate Title IX, the First Amendment, and the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

These illegal new rules would apply burdensome requirements on nearly every school, college, and university in Idaho and across the nation. This would have deprived women and girls of the equal educational opportunities they struggled for decades to secure, and cost states billions of dollars to implement. The new rules would also violate First Amendment rights for students and teachers and could prompt Idaho school districts to lose Title IX funding, and likely face numerous lawsuits.

COEUR d’ALENE — Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon was reelected to a second two-year term Saturday in Coeur d’Alene, during the final day of the Idaho GOP’s convention.

“We are not the fringe, folks,” Moon told a crowd of more than 800 people in the Schuler Performing Arts Center on the North Idaho College campus, to thunderous applause.

Moon received 376 votes from delegates who came from across Idaho, defeating former legislator and Coeur d’Alene resident Mary Souza, who captured 228 votes.

In a speech to delegates, Moon described herself as “the real deal,” as well as a hard worker and a person who follows through on her promises.

“We have not moved from where we’ve always stood,” she said. “Some people have. I’m an old horse and I cannot be taught new tricks. I know where I stand, and I think all of you know where you stand. We have been fighting so hard.”

After the election results were announced, Moon called for unity among Idaho Republicans, particularly in “the fight on ranked-choice voting.”

“We want to keep Idaho red, and I know we will,” she said. “We’re going to save our state, and we’re going to make this a great place to raise our kids.”

Party unity was a common refrain throughout the convention and formed the platform for Souza’s campaign for party chair. She urged Idaho Republicans to focus on their similarities, rather than their differences.

“We have an opportunity now to pull together,” she told delegates in a speech. “We can accept each other for who we are and what we believe.”

In a break with the practice of past conventions, reporters were not permitted to observe any of the committee meetings and were not allowed inside the general session at North Idaho College until Saturday afternoon, shortly before the nominations for party leadership positions.

Delegates approved a change to the Idaho Republican Party platform that may significantly impact how Republican legislators approach funding for higher education in Idaho.

“We strongly support professional technical and continuing education programs that provide career readiness and college preparation, but we do not support using taxpayer funding for programs beyond high school,” the party platform now reads in part.

NIC Trustee Todd Banducci, who attended the convention as a delegate, stood in support of the change. He declined to answer questions about his vote.

Mike Waggoner, a college trustee who attended the convention as a guest, did not indicate whether he supports the platform change.

“I don’t know exactly how that’s going to affect us,” Waggoner said. “Beyond that, I don’t have a comment.”

NIC’s operating budget for fiscal year 2024 included a $14.9 million allocation from the state general fund, $17.8 million in property tax revenue and $200,000 in state liquor tax allocation. Those revenue sources made up about 61% of NIC’s $53 million budget.

Coeur d’Alene City Councilman and alternate delegate Dan Gookin didn’t mince words on what he believes the platform change means for Idaho’s higher education institutions, including North Idaho College.

“They just voted to gut higher education,” he said.

Now that opposition for higher education funding is part of the Idaho GOP’s platform, Gookin said, Republican elected officials who vote in favor of such funding risk being punished by county Republican central committees.

The party rules empower central committees to censure Republicans for “substantive violations of party platform,” as well as remove party support and forbid the use of Republican Party identifiers for five years.

Delegates also voted to expand the party’s “Right to Life” article to include assisted suicide, euthanasia and embryo destruction.

“We oppose all actions which intentionally end an innocent human life, including abortion, the destruction of human embryos, euthanasia and assisted suicide,” the platform now reads in part.

The party also added to the platform a call for “excuse-only absentee ballots.”

    North Idaho College trustee Todd Banducci attended the Idaho GOP Convention as a delegate.
  

Dorothy Moon was re-elected as Idaho GOP Chair by a vote of 376-228 at the Idaho Republican State Convention on Saturday.

After serving three terms in the Idaho Legislature as State Representative for District 8, Moon was elected to serve as the chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party in July of 2022.

This year, Moon was being challenged by Mary Souza of Coeur d’Alene, a former member of the Idaho State Senate who announced her campaign a week before the convention.

Mary Souza challenges Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon ahead of convention in Coeur d’Alene.

Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea released the following statement in response to Moon’s re-election: “Today’s re-election of Dorothy Moon further entrenched the extremists who have taken over the Idaho Republican Party. If my grandmother — a Reagan Republican born and raised in Idaho — were alive today, she would not believe what has become of the party. While the Idaho GOP becomes unrecognizable to traditional Republicans, I invite voters of all political stripes to get to know their local Democratic candidates.”

“If you want to stop the school closures and cuts to educational services, your best bet is voting for Idaho Democrats,” Necochea continued. “If you want to protect Launch scholarships, which build our future workforce, your best bet is voting for Idaho Democrats. If you want to protect your local libraries from drowning in frivolous lawsuits, your best bet is voting for Idaho Democrats. And if you want to see our reproductive freedoms restored, you must vote for Idaho Democrats this November.”