Idaho Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Idaho, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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What did the Idaho Attorney General say about the 2021 ballot initiative to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults in Idaho?
The AG's Certificate of Review recognized that Idaho may set its own marijuana laws but flagged numerous legal problems in the initiative: a likely single-subject-rule violation in its restitution-sta…
What did the Idaho Attorney General say about the 2021 ballot initiative that would have raised Idaho's minimum wage to $14 per hour?
The AG's Certificate of Review concluded the initiative wasn't preempted by federal law (the FLSA's savings clause lets states set higher minimum wages) and that letting cities and counties set their …
What did the Idaho Attorney General say about the 2021 'Quality Education Act' ballot initiative that would have raised income taxes on high earners and corporations to fund K-12 schools?
The AG's Certificate of Review concluded the initiative was legally permissible. It would replace 2021's tax cuts (Idaho Code section 63-3024) with a higher individual rate on income above $250,000 an…
Did the Idaho AG identify any legal problems with a proposed ballot initiative that would have repealed the new geographic-distribution signature requirement (SB 1110) for Idaho ballot initiatives?
No fatal problems. The AG concluded that (1) the proposed initiative could itself address ballot-access rules because that's a legislative subject, (2) the 6% statewide signature requirement without g…
Did the Idaho AG identify any legal problems in the proposed Idaho Medical Marijuana Act initiative that would have legalized medical cannabis under state law through new Chapter 97 of Title 39?
The AG flagged two vagueness concerns ('an amount that would cause the cardholder to possess more than the allowable amount' and 'unrelated to the medical use of marijuana' for forfeiture purposes) an…
Did the Idaho AG identify legal problems with the July 2019 medical marijuana initiative (proposed Chapter 96 of title 39, Idaho Code)?
Yes. AG Wasden flagged that the proposed chapter number (96) was already taken by a 2019 'Maternal Mortality Review' chapter, identified several drafting and vagueness issues (including a 'must not be…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 8, 2019 minimum wage initiative that would have raised Idaho's minimum wage to $12, raised tipped wages to $8.10, struck the youth subminimum, and authorized counties and cities to set higher local minimums?
No, with several drafting comments. AG Wasden's review concluded all four substantive components, including the home-rule grant authorizing counties and cities to enact higher minimum wages, were prop…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 2019 medical marijuana plus hemp legalization initiative (proposed Chapter 92 of title 39, Idaho Code)?
Yes, in three big areas. AG Wasden warned that bundling a medical marijuana program with hemp legalization likely violated Idaho's single-subject rule under art. XX, § 2 and would be subject to challe…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 12, 2019 minimum wage initiative that would have raised Idaho's minimum wage to $12, authorized counties and cities to set higher local minimums, and struck the youth subminimum (without changing the tipped employees' rate)?
No. AG Wasden's review concluded all three substantive components were proper subjects of state legislation. The FLSA's savings clause permits state minimums above the federal floor; the Idaho Constit…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 11, 2019 minimum wage initiative that would have raised Idaho's minimum wage to $12, raised tipped wages to $8.10, and added CPI indexing?
No, with two minor drafting comments. AG Wasden's review concluded the substantive provisions were within the legislative power of Idaho. The FLSA's savings clause at 29 U.S.C. § 218(a) explicitly per…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the 2018 historical horse racing initiative (Proposition 1)?
Yes. AG Wasden's Certificate of Review warned that wagering on 'historical horse race terminals' (also called 'instant racing') may not qualify as pari-mutuel betting under the Idaho Constitution, cit…
Could a 1995 Idaho ballot initiative raise the state minimum wage to $6.25 per hour by 2000, eliminate the tip credit, end overtime exemptions, and remove farmworkers, domestic workers, and minors from the minimum wage entirely?
Yes. The AG found no constitutional or statutory bar to any of the four changes. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act has a savings clause (29 U.S.C. § 218) that expressly lets states enact more gener…
Could Idaho voters pass a 1995 initiative giving parents a $500 income tax credit for each child not attending public school, and would that survive the U.S. and Idaho constitutions' bans on aiding religious schools?
Probably yes, with revisions. The proposed credit went directly to parents and depended on individual parental choice, which Mueller v. Allen treated favorably under the federal Establishment Clause. …
Could Idaho voters pass a 1995 initiative that banned anti-discrimination protections for gay people, blocked public funds from speech that 'endorsed' homosexual behavior, restricted what teachers and libraries could say or shelve, and would any of those restrictions survive the First Amendment?
The minority-status provision was awaiting U.S. Supreme Court resolution in Romer v. Evans. The public-funding ban was vulnerable under Rosenberger; the public-school provision was vulnerable as viewp…
Could Idaho voters pass a 1995 initiative that banned all abortions after 13 weeks of pregnancy, given the U.S. Supreme Court's 1992 Casey decision?
No, not as drafted. The proposed initiative would have banned previability abortions (abortions before the fetus could survive outside the womb), which Casey clearly forbade. Viability ranges from abo…
If a 1995 ballot initiative changed one word in Idaho's school-bargaining statute (from 'shall' to 'may'), would Idaho teachers actually get to choose their own bargaining representatives?
Probably not. The proposed initiative changed § 33-1271 to make district-level negotiation optional, but did not touch § 33-1273, which made the local education organization the 'exclusive' bargaining…
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Attorney general opinions in Idaho are written by the Idaho Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.