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Capitol Letters: Tense debate over transgender health care

By Ryan Suppe, State Politics Reporter

A doctor from Pocatello told lawmakers yesterday that transgender patients likely would have killed themselves if they hadn’t received gender-affirming care as kids.

Republicans advanced a bill that would criminalize such treatment. Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, and the Idaho Family Policy Center, a religious lobbying group, the legislation would make it a felony for medical providers to offer puberty blockers, hormone therapies and transition-related surgeries to minors.

The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee approved the bill on a party-line vote after hours of tense public testimony.

Supporters of the bill said gender-affirming care makes irreparable changes to a child’s development.

“We do not allow minors to get tattoos, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, sign legal documents,” Skaug said. “Why would we allow them to make decisions to cut away healthy bodily organs and to start down the road to chemical castration at age 12?”

Several parents with transgender children and several doctors spoke against the bill, although medical experts were divided over the issue and offered conflicting testimony.

Shelley Canalia, of Pocatello, said her transgender son, now 24, tried to take his own life five times starting at age 12 and sought gender-affirming care only after “extensive” therapy.

“The idea that this is some sort of quick fix, it is not,” Canalia said. “Gender dysphoria is not discomfort, it is a pain. Watching your child experience that is horrifying.”

Read my full story here.

Bill eliminating oversight committee advances

Idaho Republicans yesterday advanced a bill to eliminate a bipartisan legislative committee, despite concerns that the move would inject partisanship in a valued research group.

The bill, from House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, would eliminate the bipartisan Joint Legislative Oversight Committee, which oversees the Office of Performance Evaluations, and shift its oversight to the Republican-controlled Legislative Council.

Opponents of the bill fear it would give Republicans outsized control over the nonpartisan Office of Performance Evaluations, which conducts research on state agencies and programs. Topics of the agency’s recent reports include public school staff wages and rural emergency medical service funding.

Rep. Brooke Greene, D-Boise, said she’s “incredibly concerned” by the proposal.

“It is the only committee, that we have here in this body in this Legislature, where it is truly bipartisan,” she said.

The House State Affairs Committee cleared the bill on a party-line vote.

Susan King, of Boise, during a public hearing told the committee that she’s appreciated reports by the agency, especially one from 2020 on the state’s response to Alzheimer’s disease, which runs in her family.

“As a taxpayer, I believe that accountability and state government requires that the Office of Performance Evaluations stay neutral and independent,” King said. “I want to have access to accurate, unbiased information about what is going on in my state.”

Rakesh Mohan, director of the Office of Performance Evaluations since 2002, said there will always be politics in policymaking, but it can be minimized.

“There is no better system than having a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee where there are equal number of both major parties, equal number of senators and House members,” he said.

The bill now heads to the full House.

What to expect today

  • 9 a.m. House State Affairs. Committee members will hear a proposal from Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, to eliminate March and August school bond elections.

  • 9 a.m. House Education. A bill from Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, that would require high schools teach a financial literacy class is on the docket.

  • 1:30 p.m. Senate Judiciary and Rules. Lawmakers will consider a bill from Sen. Ali Rabe, D-Boise, that would regulate fees landlords charge renters. The bill would require that fees are “reasonable” and clearly stated in writing.

  • 3 p.m. Senate Local Government and Taxation. Sen. Julie VanOrden, R-Pingree, will present a bill related to city annexations, and Sen. Geoff Schroeder, R-Mountain Home, and Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, will present a bill related to development impact fees.

Find the full list of committee meetings and agendas for the House here, and for the Senate here.

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