Bill to ban state employees from helping lawsuits against Idaho fails in committee
A bill that would've banned Idaho state employees from helping lawsuits against the state of Idaho failed Friday.
House Bill 319, by Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, failed in the Idaho House State Affairs Committee — after several lawmakers worried about the bill's definitions and the broader idea of the bill's namesake focus: 'State Employee Loyalty.'
Ultimately, no lawmaker on the committee made a motion on what to do with the bill, meaning it effectively failed.
'I swore an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the state of Idaho. I did not swear an oath (of) loyalty to this state,' said Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d'Alene.
'It has a potential for preventing people from … doing what they see as their job, which is to serve the people of the state,' he said.
The bill would've banned state employees from assisting in 'any legal matter' against Idaho.
Legal matters, under the bill, would have included litigation or 'any quasi-judicial proceeding,' along with administrative hearings, arbitration or mediation.
Under the bill, state employees who are subpoenaed could still serve as fact witnesses in court. State employees would still have rights to their own legal claims against the state, the bill says.
Presenting the bill to the committee, Boyle said there are several instances of Idaho law professors consulting or being the attorney or record on lawsuits against Idaho — without referencing any specific lawsuits or professors.
'So the state's on one side, and they're being paid by the state. And then they are on the other side, being paid by a private party to fight the state,' she said. 'So this would prevent that. They have to decide one or the other: They're a state employee, or they're a private contractor.'
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Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, asked how the bill would affect state employees using their own personal time.
'This seems to restrict that First Amendment right,' he said.
Boyle suggested an employee who assists in legal claims against the state is a 'dual agent.'
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'If you're being paid by the state and you are supposed to be loyal to the state not actively — in your spare time, or maybe it's not even spare time — fighting against your employer. You're not a whistleblower, in that case. You're a dual agent — maybe you could say,' Boyle replied.
The bill would have defined 'assist' as 'acting as a paid or unpaid agent, consultant, expert, or attorney in any claim against the state of Idaho, receiving any share of or interest in any such claim, or receiving any compensation or gratuity in consideration of assistance in the pursuit of such claims.'
The bill would've allowed the Idaho Attorney General, who is currently Raúl Labrador, to bring civil actions, such as lawsuits, against state employees who violate the bill.
People who violated the bill could've been fired, and would've been subject to at least a $10,000 civil penalty, or a civil penalty as high as the amount of compensation they 'received while engaging in the prohibited conduct,' the bill says.
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