Idaho
Learning how to be an Idaho Lawmaker
BOISE, Idaho — How do you become an Idaho legislator? First, you win your election in November. Then before the gavel is dropped in January you’re asked to attend a three-day orientation here at the Statehouse.
- A three-day orientation session this taking place this week at Idaho’s Statehouse.
- 2025 freshmen legislators have a lot to take in before the upcoming session.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The 2025 Idaho Legislature will welcome the 68th Idaho Legislature that includes two dozen freshman. According to official numbers, it’s 7 new Senators and 18 new House members, including retired businessman Kent Marmon from District 11A in Caldwell. I asked Mr. Marmon what the challenges are of a crash course.
“A lot of information,” Marmon said. “We’re busy visiting all of these departments finding out what they do how they serve the legislature and the people of Idaho and it’s a lot of information to take. Thankfully we have a nice notebook with power points and people we can call on for help.”
There is a lot of important information coming at the freshmen class — things like how bills are drafted, the Idaho Code, session laws, and constitutional laws. There’s a lot to learn before January.
Representative John Shirts from House District 9A is Air Force J.A.G. officer and still lives on his family farm in Weiser.
“Agriculture was a big issue for me,” Shirts said. “I wanted to have an impact on our farmers and ranchers. Water rights, fentanyl is something that inspired me, as you guys know, it’s killing so many people across our state.”
Representative Rob Beiswender agrees that you have to think fast on your feet.
“There are a lot of pieces to put together working on your issues,” Beiswender said. “You have to be on a committee and take up their issues you’re trying to mish-mash it all together who can trust, who can you team up with, not team up with. There’s a lot of things playing out.”
The 2025 Idaho Legislature will officially kick off with the Governor’s State of the State Address in January, and we will be there.
Idaho
Idaho salon’s customers ‘dropping like flies’ after owner’s tirade about ‘racist, homophobic, misogynistic’ Trump voters
An Idaho beauty salon is seeing customers “dropping like flies” after its owner called supporters of President-elect Donald Trump “racist, homophobic, and misogynistic” in a now-viral TikTok.
“Trump basically gave small men the ability and the courage to be misogynistic and hateful and say s–t like ‘Your body, my choice’ and ‘You won’t have a choice’ and ‘You will bear my child whether you like it or not,” Tiffney Prickett, the owner-operator of Voiage Salon in Coeur d’Alene, said in the video.
“The comments are so gross. The things men say to women are so gross. And I don’t know why more men don’t come to the defense of women. I don’t know why men witness aggression towards women and stand idly by and do nothing. I don’t understand,” the 40-year-old added.
The divorced mother of three suggested that men usually “shrug off” when another man is mistreating a woman.
“I don’t understand why more men don’t have the courage to stick up to these small men who think they can do whatever they want and say whatever they want to women. And I’m just f–king sick of it,” the stylist concluded.
It did not take long for the businesswoman in the deep red state to find herself in a hairy situation with many of her patrons.
“So this is me suffering the consequences of my own action. I just had a client send her husband into my salon and demand a refund for gift cards — pre-purchased — because of my stance that if you support a racist, homophobic, misogynist rapist, and you’re OK with those things because you supported them that you are in fact those things,” she explained in a subsequent video.
“And she was so offended by that he said she did not feel comfortable coming to my salon anymore.”
She said that there was no love lost on her end for losing the 15-year client.
“I didn’t want to deal with them anyway because I knew that that whole family were Trump supporters because I’ve been doing her for 15 years, I’ve been to her family functions and family events. She’s given me gifts over the years. She was a very good client,” Prickett said, seeming to realize the depth of her loss as she recounted their past.
“I knew she was a Republican, which I don’t have a problem with you being a Republican. I have a problem with you wanting to strip human rights away from people,” she added.
“I will stand up for human rights and suffer those consequences.”
After the backlash mounted, Prickett responded to comments that she was “wrong” and would “lose her business.”
“If I lose my business because … I posted a video that said if you support a racist, misogynist, homophobic, rapist, and you’re OK with it, then you are those things, I guess I lose my business,” she said unapologetically.
In another rant, Prickett responds to someone who suggested she keep an open mind and allow for agreeable political disagreements.
Prickett responded simply, “No” and explained that the difference between Trump supporters and herself is not one of “opinion” but of “morals.”
In a video from last week, Prickett revealed that she lost even more Trump-supporting clients, saying, “They’re dropping like flies.”
Prickett added for emphasis that she would “rather go work at Chipotle,” than allow Trump supporters to “feel comfortable” in her salon.
Since her tirade went viral, the website for Prickett’s Voiage Salon no longer appears to be active.
Idaho
Court Rules Idaho Can Enforce Ban On Interstate Abortion Travel
A federal appeals court has ruled that Idaho can enforce its abortion travel ban, which prohibits minors from traveling out of state for abortions without parental consent.
The decision Monday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a 2023 decision that had blocked the law on First Amendment grounds.
The law, signed last year by Gov. Brad Little (R), created a new felony called “abortion trafficking,” defined as when an “adult … with the intent to conceal an abortion from the parents or guardian of a pregnant, unemancipated minor, either procures an abortion … or obtains an abortion-inducing drug” for that minor. “Abortion trafficking” also involves “recruiting, harboring, or transporting” a pregnant minor for an abortion, the law states. Violations are punishable by two to five years in prison.
The law’s sweeping language criminalizes anyone transporting a pregnant minor without parental consent within Idaho to get any abortion care, even outside a clinic. It could apply to a grandmother driving a pregnant minor to the post office to pick up a package containing abortion medication, for example.
The court of appeals largely upheld the law, except for the language that prohibited “recruiting,” a vague term that was not defined within the law. The panel of judges found the recruiting provision is “unconstitutionally overbroad because it prohibits a substantial amount of protected expressive speech.”
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, a vocal opponent of abortion, called the ruling a “tremendous victory” in a press release.
“Idaho’s laws were passed specifically to protect the life of the unborn and the life of the mother,” Labrador said. “Trafficking a minor child for an abortion without parental consent puts both in grave danger, and we will not stop protecting life in Idaho.”
Idaho’s law is one of two in the country that prohibit minors from traveling out of state for abortion care. It was the first to be implemented after Roe v. Wade fell and is the only law of its kind that carries a felony punishment.
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“This decision is devastating for young people in Idaho and the trusted adults who support them,” Rebecca Gibron, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, said in a press release.
“Instead of protecting our youth, this law puts them in harm’s way,” she continued. “It forces minors in abusive households to disclose pregnancies, often with severe consequences, while also criminalizing those who would offer them help.”
Idaho is one of the most extreme anti-abortion states in the country. The state implemented a six-week ban with a private enforcement mechanism as soon as Roe fell, and Little signed a near-total abortion ban just a month later. Idaho went all the way to the Supreme Court to argue that women should not be able to access abortion care during a medical emergency, claiming that Idaho’s abortion ban overrides federal law that requires most hospitals to offer abortion care if necessary to stabilize the health of a pregnant patient.
Read the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision below:
Idaho
Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law mostly can be enforced as lawsuit proceeds, court rules
BOISE, Idaho — A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that most of Idaho’s first-in-the-nation law that makes it illegal to help minors get an abortion without the consent of their parents can take effect while a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality continues.
The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the statute’s prohibition on helping a minor get an abortion by harboring and transporting them with the intent to conceal the procedure from the minor’s parents is likely to be found constitutional and can be enforced.
Part of the law remains blocked, however. The court found that the law’s prohibition on “recruiting” pregnant youth violates the First Amendment. That means prosecutors, for now, will not be able to charge a person with “recruiting” or influencing a minor to have an abortion.
“Encouragement, counseling, and emotional support are plainly protected speech,” the court wrote, even when that speech happens in the “context of deciding whether to have an abortion.”
The ruling largely reverses U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora K. Grasham’s decision, which prevented the law from being enforced after opponents sued the state in the summer of 2023.
Abortion is banned in Idaho at all stages of pregnancy, and the law enacted in 2023 was designed to prevent minors from getting abortions in states where the procedure is legal if they don’t have their parents’ permission.
Supporters of the law call it an “abortion trafficking” ban. Opponents say it is an unconstitutional prohibition on interstate travel and free speech rights. Both sides framed Monday’s ruling as a victory.
“This decision is a significant victory for the plaintiffs, as it frees Idahoans to talk with pregnant minors about abortion health care,” Wendy Heipt, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an emailed statement Monday.
She said the plaintiffs, which include multiple advocacy groups, are also considering their appeal options.
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador in an emailed statement called the ruling a victory for the state.
“Idaho’s laws were passed specifically to protect the life of the unborn and the life of the mother, Labrador said. “Trafficking a minor child for an abortion without parental consent puts both in grave danger, and we will not stop protecting life in Idaho.”
The law makes it illegal to either obtain abortion pills for a minor or to help them leave the state for an abortion without their parents’ knowledge and consent. Anyone convicted will face two to five years in prison and could also be sued by the minor’s parent or guardian. A parent who raped their child will not be able to sue, though the criminal penalties for anyone who helped the minor obtain an abortion will remain in effect.
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