Senate panel sends bill limiting public health districts to amendment after debate over preventive powers

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1031 to the fourteenth order for possible amendment on a substitute motion after about an hour of discussion and one public comment on the measure.

Senator Brian Lenny, sponsor of SB 1031 and the senator for Nampa (Idaho Legislative District 13), told the committee the bill would narrow broad language in state law that currently allows health districts to take “all things” necessary for preservation and protection of public health. "They can do all things," Lenny said, adding later, "We can do concentration camps. We can do anything," as he urged statutory limits tied to necessity, reason and scientific evidence.

The bill would require that actions by local public health districts be "specifically authorized by state law" and be "necessary and reasonable," and it stipulates that preventive health measures may be used only in cases of a demonstrated, immediate public-health risk supported by scientific evidence. That language prompted multiple senators to ask whether…