A Senate committee chairwoman has blocked legislation that would have ended Idaho's distinction as the only state in the nation with no system for reviewing child deaths. Senate Health and Welfare Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, said Idaho doesn't need to review child deaths if every other state is already doing it. "We can use the information that they've gathered," she said. "If they're already doing it, what could be different in a child death in Utah or Montana that we wouldn't have here? Why reinvent the wheel all the time?” House Bill 511 passed the House on March 17 on a 63-5 vote, and it cleared Lodge's committee on a voice vote after a public hearing. But Lodge then asked the Senate to return the bill to her committee, where it's now dead. "The concerns mostly were, what could this lead to?" she said. "Could this lead to maybe more usurping of freedoms? Could parents be charged?" You can read my full story here in today’s Spokesman-Review.

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