Republican leaders of the Idaho Senate have chutzpah.

Despite a state constitution that promotes open government, and public opinion polls that overwhelmingly favor such a policy, Republican leaders are pushing for a rule change that would allow Senate committees to close their meetings for any reason. The blatant attempt to conduct business behind closed doors will further erode trust in elected officials and violate the heart of the state’s Open Meetings Law.

With a straight face, Majority Leader Bart Davis contends that closures would be rare under his proposed changes, which also include striking an internal Senate rule that says the constitution and state law take precedence when a Senate rule is in conflict. In other words, top Senate Republicans, such as Davis, are proposing to set themselves above state law and be unaccountable to their constituents.

Supermajority Republicans wouldn’t have the nerve to attempt this power play if the Legislature were more evenly divided, fearing a backlash from voters at the next election. After all, this isn’t about blocking the media from doing their work. It’s about self-important legislators denying their bosses, the voters, access to committee proceedings, where testimony is heard, bills debated and amended, and legislation denied or recommended for approval. They aren’t fit to serve in the same chamber as former Sen. Gary Ingram.

In 1974, Republican Ingram wrote in the preamble to his Open Meetings Law: “The people of the State of Idaho in creating the instruments of government that serve them, do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies so created. Therefore, the legislature finds and declares that it is the policy of this state that the formation of public policy is public business and shall not be conducted in secret.”

So he wouldn’t be misunderstood, Ingram, now of Coeur d’Alene, spelled out the bottom line of the Open Meetings Law this week in a letter to the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, which will begin discussing the proposed changes Friday. “It seems to me,” he said “that it gets down to whether or not you are an advocate of openness.” Republican legislators have indicated for a while they don’t support openness. In recent years, the Senate crafted a major tax package in its closed caucus and the House counted noses behind closed doors before overturning voter-approved term limits. In the last two sessions, various committees have closed meetings more than half a dozen times.

North Idaho can’t do much about senators like Davis, who hail from elsewhere. But the region should pay attention to how its senators comment and vote on this measure – Shawn Keough of Sandpoint, Joyce Broadsword of Sagle, Mike Jorgenson of Hayden Lake, John Goedde of Coeur d’Alene and Dick Compton of Coeur d’Alene. None of the five is a shrinking violet. Three of the five hold key positions on committees. The five should take the lead in denouncing this attempt by Davis and others to undercut the committee process.