Topics On My Mind: Marriage Proposals
You may have noticed the Idaho Legislature is knee deep in culture war legislation. We’ve had bills introduced that would: allow militias and other extremist groups to march in parades with weapons; remove the rape and incest exception to Idaho’s abortion laws; allow for more weapons on university campuses; and the list goes on and on.
What we have not begun to tackle this session is property tax relief; increased funding for education; our housing crisis; or a myriad of other issues that have the potential to make the lives of Idaho families better. In short, the Idaho Legislature is choosing culture wars over solving real problems.
Here’s just one specific example. Earlier in the session, a legislator from north Idaho presented a piece of legislation in Senate State Affairs committee that seeks to remove the requirement to obtain a marriage license. Why? Well, that is the question I asked myself. I even met with the legislator to seek answers. While he had his explanations, I was left unsatisfied. In short, he wanted to get the government out of the business of approving marriages.
Right now in Idaho, to have a legal marriage, one must obtain a marriage license from the county clerk and obtain documentation from whomever performs the marriage ceremony. The bill sponsor wanted to minimize the role of the county clerk’s office and shift some of the most important responsibilities over to the marriage ceremony officiant.
Here’s the problem. Currently, one of the key roles played by the clerk is to provide a sworn statement stating the participants to the marriage are of the proper age, not related, and otherwise qualified to be married under the laws of the State of Idaho.
Shifting those key responsibilities to whomever is conducting the marriage ceremony causes me serious concern. Nowadays, anybody can get on the internet and qualify to perform the ceremony. Taking the clerk’s office out of the process will only lead to abuses and trouble. The system isn’t broke, so we shouldn’t fix it.
Just Say No to Vouchers/ESAs
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I am adamantly against vouchers/ESAs. In fact, if I could only accomplish one thing this session, it would be to defeat this proposal. That is saying a lot, because there are many things I would like to accomplish or defeat this year!
Let me take a moment to explain why I feel so strongly about this issue. School choice already exists in Idaho. Those choices include traditional public schools, magnet schools, open enrollment options, 80 plus brick and mortar charter schools, an online charter school option, and funding for struggling families which they can use for education needs. This is not even an exhaustive list. Additional options include private schools, religious schools and home schools. This is why the Heritage Foundation ranks Idaho #3 in the nation in overall education freedom on its Education Freedom Report Card.
In Idaho, parents are simply free to decide where and how their children will receive their education. Voucher/ESA programs simply divert funding from public schools to private, religious and home schools, which can lead to unequal opportunities for students. It creates a two-tiered system where some students have access to resources and opportunities, while others are left behind.
We must give recent investments in public education time to work properly. Passing any kind of legislation that diverts public funds to private, religious and home schools will completely derail education for students in Idaho.
Here are five additional reasons why I oppose vouchers/ESAs:
FIRST: I am against the voucher / ESA proposals because they spend public money without accountability.
Under these proposals, private schools, religious schools and home schools do not have to provide reports to the state or use state education standards. They can spend public money without public accountability.
SECOND: Our state public school budgets run the risk of growing out of control if we must fund a voucher/ESA program.
Just ask other states who have listened to these sorts of clarion calls in the past. In 2011, Indiana created a voucher system. We watched a presentation on day one of this session from a former rural superintendent from Indiana. He explained how Indiana came to regret that choice. He explained how expensive it is to fund an entirely new public education system through vouchers. Rural schools districts suffer the most because public funding can’t keep up. Property taxes will increase. Wisconsin has experienced something similar, as have other states who went the voucher route. We must learn from their mistakes, not repeat them.
THIRD: Most of the families who use the program will be families who are already sending their children to private and religious schools or who are home schooling their children.
In other words, taxpayer money will be used to subsidize a choice these families have already made.
FOURTH: The voucher / ESA system is supported by Wayne Hoffman and the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
That’s enough for me to reject the proposal, frankly. But remember this — Wayne Hoffman, the head of the IFF, holds public education in high disdain.
In 2019, he wrote this in an opinion piece: “I don’t think government should be in the education business. It is the most virulent form of socialism (and indoctrination thereto) in America today.”
The voucher / ESA proposal is simply Wayne Hoffman’s chosen vehicle to run public education off the cliff.
FIFTH: Creating a voucher / ESA system would violate our obligations to uphold the Idaho Constitution.
Article IX, Section 5 prevents appropriating public monies for religious schools. But even if proponents of vouchers can find a way around that prohibition, there is Article IX, Section 1. It is the constitutional provision that states, “it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”
But what is lesser known from that provision is the line which precedes it. That line explains why the framers felt public education was so important. That line reads: “The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”
Public schools serve as a cornerstone for communities, providing education and opportunities to students of all backgrounds and abilities. The role of public schools is to ensure that every child has access to a quality education, regardless of their family’s financial situation. That’s why I firmly oppose voucher/ESA programs that take away funding and opportunities from our students.