Explain your position on this year's amendment to the Idaho Constitution, House Joint Resolution 2, to amend the Constitution to confirm the Legislature's authority to review the rules proposed by state agencies each year.

Interview

I support the amendment. The people's representatives--the legislature--should be able to confirm that government agencies (who are not subject to direct election) are being accountable to what the legislature intended and responsive to the needs of the people. To see the alternative to the present system of rules review, we need only look to the Federal way of adopting administrative rules. At the Federal level you often see one or both of two alternatives: overly complex laws that restrict an agency's ability to adapt to real and unforeseen circumstances, or expensive and drawn out lawsuits. Our system is both more efficient and more responsive to the democratic process. However, since the court ruling that established the legislature's right to review was so close (a 3-2 decision), we are always a single justice away from losing that ability without putting it in the Idaho Constitution.

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