1. Idaho Family Policy Center supports effort to repeal the anti-Christian Blaine Amendment
More than 30 state constitutions feature Blaine Amendments, which prohibit faith-based schools and ministries from taking advantage of government programs that are available to non-religious organizations.
Supporters of the Blaine Amendment were originally motivated by late-nineteenth century anti-Catholic sentiment that was prevalent throughout the nation—and unfortunately, this bigoted provision is also found in our Idaho State Constitution.
We can’t allow this backwards constitutional prohibition to stand. That’s why Idaho Family Policy Center testified in favor of HJR 1 – sponsored by Sen. Brian Lenney (R-Nampa) and Rep. Elaine Price (R-Coeur d’Alene) – which would allow Idaho voters to decide whether to remove the Blaine Amendment from the Idaho Constitution.
Our support received coverage by Laura Guido of the Idaho Press, who wrote:
Grace Howat, of the Idaho Family Policy Center, [supported HJR 1]. The Idaho Family Policy Center is a conservative Christian ministry that promotes “God-honoring public policy,” according to its website.
“Today (the Blaine Amendment) is being weaponized by the anti-religion radicals on the secular left to target not only Catholic schools but all faith-based schools,” Howat said.
The committee decided to put their vote on hold while they get some last minute questions answered. Hopefully, they’ll do the right thing and vote to move this resolution to the House floor!
2. Fentanyl bill passes the Idaho House
Cartel members aren’t having a good week. On Monday, legislation sponsored by Rep. Ted Hill (R-Eagle) and Sen. Todd Lakey (R-Nampa) increasing penalties for fentanyl dealers passed the House of Representatives on a 55-13 vote!
House Bill 406 imposes mandatory minimum prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers and creates the crime of drug-induced homicide. More than 78% of likely Idaho voters support imposing mandatory minimums for fentanyl traffickers, according to public opinion polling commissioned by Idaho Family Policy Center.
Adding fentanyl to the list of drugs that already carry mandatory minimums for trafficking amounts “gets the most dangerous criminals off the streets for longer periods of time—protecting public safety,” IFPC President Blaine Conzatti said in his committee testimony.
Soon, the bill should be heard in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee. We will keep you updated!
3. The media misleads public about court battle over trans-ing kids
Here is yet another example of the media lying to you: On Tuesday, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction from a lower court that has paused the Vulnerable Child Protection Act from going into effect while a lawsuit challenging the new law plays out.
Progressive journalists and activists rejoiced, claiming victory. According to Leo Morales, the Executive Director of the ACLU of Idaho:
“This victory is significant for Idaho transgender youth and their parents, and will have an immediate positive impact on their daily lives.”
But don’t be fooled: The Vulnerable Child Protection Act – which was drafted by Idaho Family Policy Center and championed by Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa) and Sen. Lori Den Hartog (R-Meridian) – isn’t finished yet.
Despite the premature victory laps taken by media figures and leftists, we weren’t expecting the appellate court to intervene at this point—and none of this is any indication the law will be ruled unconstitutional in the final analysis.
In fact, other federal courts—including the US Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits—have ruled that similar laws protecting gender-confused children are constitutionally sound, teeing up a likely showdown at the US Supreme Court.
4. Here’s your opportunity to get involved in the fight to restrict children’s access to school and library smut!
While restricting children’s access to pornography in schools and libraries might seem like a no-brainer, every bill introduced so far to effectively address this issue has died in the legislative process.
That is why we need Idahoans to make their voice heard. Sign our petition asking Gov. Little and legislators to take action to protect children’s innocence—and have your friends, family, and church community sign too!
You can either sign our electronic petition or you can print out petition pages to gather signatures and send back to us!
Together, we can make a collective impact by calling on policymakers to prioritize the protection of children.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the fentanyl bill as House Bill 402 instead of its proper bill number, House Bill 406.
One Response
I always find it amusing to come across sites like this. It goes the same way… You love God, you hate half of the citizens in this country (and don’t try to vail hatred with “compassionate correction” or “justified judgement”). You want to cry victim that everyone is shoving their beliefs down your throat, but you’re the ones trying to create laws restricting other’s personal private lives. Oh, and you want to ban books. That in itself should be enough, but then you go a step further and refuse to acknowledge that the bible itself is one of the most comprehensively vile filled books out there, full of lust, genital mutilation, incest, child massacre, entire earth massacre… all and more in vivid detail. I guess my point is that you people seem to get farther and farther away from Christ’s teachings about love, compassion, helping the poor, accepting foreigners, and…. what was the other one? Oh! Judge yourself and STFU about others until you clean your house first. There’s a reason the church is dying in the US.