BOISE— Several changes are coming to the Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on July 1 as new legislation takes effect. These changes will improve customer service and offer more options to Idahoans. 

Driver’s License and ID Cards

• Customers who are eligible to renew their driver’s license online will get a $5 discount for completing the transaction online. 
• The requirements for getting a free identification card (ID) for voting have been reduced. Legislation has removed the rule that applicants must not have had a valid driver’s license for 6 months before applying for the free ID.

Commercial Drivers and Vehicles

• Commercial drivers will now be able to get a commercial driver’s license (CDL) for eight years. The previous limit for CDLs was four years. CDLs will also be checked against the National Drug and Alcohol Clearing House. 
• DMV will now issue two-year weighted registrations for commercial and non-commercial vehicles up to 60,000 lbs. The previous limit was one year. 

License Plates

• Idaho will offer a Space Force Plate to eligible customers. 
• All Purple Heart recipients will be able to get a Purple Heart plate for free. Previously the fee exemption only applied to disabled Purple Heart recipients. 
• Legislation also created a Gadsden Flag “Don’t Tread on Me” plate. Plate sales will help fund educational grants for firearms safety training. While the legislation goes into effect on July 1, per the timeline included in the law, plates will be made available by January 1, 2025. 

Driver’s Education

• Parents in rural school districts or districts without driver’s education programs will be able to teach the on-the-road portion of driver’s ed. Parents must keep a log of drive time and skills learned. Students will complete the classroom driver’s ed course through the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA). More information is available from the Idaho Department of Education. 

Other

• The definition of “resident” to get a vehicle registration, title, license, or identification card has been changed from 90 days to 30 days. This does not change the definition of resident for voting purposes. 
• If an owner wants to sell a vehicle that has no active registration, they can get up to two 30-day temporary registrations for the purpose of selling the vehicle. 

Great news for travelers who work and play in the Teton Valley. After a massive rockslide closed Highway 22 over Teton Pass three weeks ago, the Wyoming Department of Transportation has reopened the pass.

RELATED | Teton Pass reopens with interim detour after major road collapse

I asked Stephanie Harsha from W-DOT what their geologists are saying about the cause of the slide. “It was what our geologists called a perfect storm, so the weather is a big factor with the warming temperatures, and they warm up 20 degrees and with it not cooling off at night the ground just saturated it.”

It was not only important to get the pass open for the busy Fourth of July weekend, but also for the commuters from Victor and Driggs Idaho to get work in Jackson. “It was a big impact to their daily lives I heard people saying it was costing hundreds of dollars a week because of the detour.”

Harsha mentioned they received a lot of help from I.T.D. in getting the popular pass open.

“Together with our stakeholders, partners, contractors, and community advocates, we were able to accomplish this major feat in a matter of weeks – despite expectations that it would take months, or even years – all while keeping safety paramount,” said John Eddins, WYDOT District 3 Engineer. “Of course, we have so many to thank for this achievement.”

WASHINGTON (BP) – In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) sent the case of Idaho and Moyle v. U.S. back to the Ninth Circuit Court in a ruling released, June 27. The case involves a conflict between state law and the Biden Administration’s use of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

“At the heart of the case is the wild assertion by the Biden Administration that abortion is healthcare. Instead of dismantling that argument and protecting lives, the Court punted,” said Brent Leatherwood, Ethics & Religious Liberty (ERLC) president.

“We agree with Justices Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch that any perceived conflict here is the result of the federal government’s novel approach to EMTALA. These justices would have moved forward with ruling on the merits of the case––and the Court should have done so,” he said.

The “unsigned order from the justices leaves in place an order by a federal judge in Idaho that temporarily blocks the state from enforcing its abortion ban, which carves out exceptions only to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape or incest, to the extent that it conflicts with a federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. That 1986 law requires emergency rooms in hospitals that receive Medicare to provide ‘necessary stabilizing treatment” to patients who arrive with an “emergency medical condition,’” according to Amy Howe at scotusblog.com.

Leatherwood said the ERLC will continue to work to support the state law in the case.

According to the ERLC, “While Idaho’s law is allowed to remain in effect in the meantime, it is limited by a decision from the lower court permitting abortion when the health of the woman is deemed at serious risk, and continuing litigation will resolve a lack of clarity on what that terminology means.”

Leatherwood called the Biden Administration action a means to “radically reinterpret laws meant to save lives.”

Lawyers for the Biden Administration argued the law caused confusion between the state’s law prohibiting abortion and the federal regulation mandating physicians perform an abortion in a case when the mother’s health is deemed to be at emergency risk.

“I am disappointed that SCOTUS has not rejected the Biden administration’s blatant attempt to hijack a law that protects mothers and babies. Throughout my 30-year career, EMTALA has never confused me or my obstetric peers when providing emergency care, especially considering 90% of obstetricians do not perform elective abortions,” said Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN who also serves as the vice president and director of medical affairs at the Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Pro-life advocates believe some women are manipulating the federal policy to receive an abortion in Idaho despite the state law.

“I have always – before Dobbs, and since– been able and willing to intervene if a pregnancy complication threatened my patient’s life, and every state pro-life law allows us to act. Forcing doctors to end an unborn patient’s life by abortion in the absence of a threat to his mother’s life is coercive, needless and goes against our oath to do no harm,” she said.

According to the ERLC, “The case will return to the Ninth Circuit with the injunction from the lower court once more in effect, where the court will hear the case on the merits and proceed, essentially, as if the Supreme Court had never taken up the case. This case or other litigation raising these underlying questions will likely return to the Supreme Court in coming terms.”