Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, today re-introduced his unsuccessful bill from last year attempting to set up a process through which Idaho lawmakers could nullify federal laws or rules or U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Without comment, the House State Affairs Committee voted to introduce Shepherd’s bill; last year it died without a hearing.

“Thank you, committee, very much appreciate it,” Shepherd said.

Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, the committee chairman, said, “Well, that didn’t take as long as anticipated this morning.”

Shepherd read to the committee from the bill’s Statement of Purpose: “There are many Federal Court actions, Federal laws and executive orders that have been enacted that are not compliant with the original intent of the United States Constitution. All elected officials and appointed judges are required to take an oath of office to uphold the Constitution. Our oath of office requires us to uphold the Constitution therefore to have ha legal process in statute is the best way we can keep our oath.”

The bill, which runs for two and a half pages and includes an emergency clause, says, “The Idaho Legislature hereby declares that the state of Idaho, on behalf of its citizens, is the final arbiter of whether an act of Congress, a federal regulation or a court decision is unconstitutional” and may declare them “null, void and of no effect regarding any Idaho citizen residing within the borders of the state of Idaho.” It then orders that no such laws may be enforced in Idaho.

Last year, when Shepherd introduced the same bill, the Twin Falls Times-News reported, “Federal courts have held consistently that they, not the states, have the right to decide whether a law is constitutional. Attempts by states to nullify federal laws were fairly common in the 1800s but mostly stopped after the Civil War. The last time the U.S. Supreme Court took up the question was in 1958, when it blocked attempts by Southern states to nullify the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision ordering an end to school segregation.”

“Shepherd is a strong believer in state over federal power and has introduced legislation in keeping with that theme in the past, including a bill in 2014 to nullify Environmental Protection Agency regulations and a resolution in 2015, prompted by court rulings declaring a constitutional right to gay marriage, calling for the impeachment of federal judges who don’t follow the Constitution’s original intent.”

Shepherd, 75, is a seventh-term state lawmaker who owns a sawmill and log home company in Riggins.

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