Bill Description: House Bill 2 would increase the vote threshold necessary to pass a statewide initiative from 50% + 1 to 60%. 

Rating: +1

Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public access to information related to government activity or increase government transparency, accountability, or election integrity?

House Bill 2 would amend sections 34-1811 and 34-1813, Idaho Code, which address the initiative and referendum processes. The bill would increase the vote threshold necessary to pass a statewide initiative from 50% + 1 to 60%. It would leave in place the 50% + 1 vote threshold for passing referendums.

The change made by House Bill 2 would help restore some of the constitutional principles that have been lost to the initiative process. The U.S. Constitution guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," but political and legal trends have pushed the country toward direct democracy for more than a century. The initiative process has been part of this shift.

Increasing the vote threshold for an initiative wouldn't correct this fundamental shift, but it would require an initiative to achieve a higher degree of support than a bare majority, which is a step toward restoring a more republican form of government in Idaho.

(+1)