Idaho’s Statehouse Showdown

Governor Brad Little has vetoed the bill that would ban employers from requiring workers to be vaccinated to keep their jobs. It is now up to the House and Senate to gather enough votes to override his veto.

The action will occur Thursday morning at both houses return after a few days off. Both Republicans and Democrats would like this session to end so they can hit the campaign trail. 2022 will be a challenging year for Idaho politicians since redistricting occurred.

The legislature will need a two-thirds majority in both Houses to override the governor's veto. Most political experts believe that the legislature doesn't have the votes to override the veto.

Vaccine mandates are a big point of contention in Idaho. Thousands of Idahoans protested hospitals, businesses, and other entities that mandated their employees be vaccinated. Several of the governor's primary opponents have used vaccine mandates to replace Governor Little as one of their many reasons.

Critics say the veto is hypocritical since Governor Little joined a lawsuit against the Biden Administration's vaccine mandates. Little was a significant critic of the president until the United States Supreme Court threw out Biden's policy.

This week's legislative session should be a swift one to end the legislative year. Last year, the legislature convened three times to tackle the Covid crisis and its fallout. The governor has announced he will end his use of emergency powers early next month. Idaho will leave the state of emergency under which we've been living for over two years.