Conservative Scott Herndon vs Liberal Jim Woodward

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Voted

Liberal Jim FAILED to Protect the Border

On social media, Woodward states that he supports the illegal immigrant amnesty called for in 2023’s SJM101.

Woodward also voted to begin the process of granting driver licenses to illegal, criminal immigrants when he supported SCR107 in 2021.

SCR107 called for granting driving privileges to all residents of Idaho, including “residents whose presence is not in accord with federal immigration law, but who have become integral, essential, and meaningful residents of the State of Idaho and whose skills and talents fill workforce needs.”

When asked to explain this vote, Liberal Jim said, “I voted Yes on that because I wasn’t going to stick my head in the sand when we had a problem”.

The Idaho Dairy Association employs thousands of illegal immigrants and wants amnesty and driver’s licenses for them. That is why the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC donated $1,000 to Liberal Jim on 12/19/2023.

Here is their spokesman Bob Naerebout explaining how they need to employ illegals:

Scott Herndon PROTECTED the Border

In 2024, Scott Herndon sponsored and passed Senate Bill 1216 that strengthens Idaho’s law against illegal immigrants having Idaho driver’s licenses.

Scott and the Idaho Freedom Caucus have passed House Bill 464 in the House. This Interstate Compact for Border Security authorizes the governor to enter agreements with other states to secure our borders against illegal immigrant invasion.

Scott Herndon also co-sponsored House Bill 615which prevents illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer funded public welfare benefits other than emergency medical services.

Scott co-sponsored HJM8 calling for the impeachment of President Joe Biden for his complete failure to secure the southern border against invasion.

Senate Bill 1081 in the 2023 session that would have issued driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Pressure from conservatives like Scott Herndon helped kill that bill.

Scott Herndon opposed Senate Joint Memorial 101, a petition to the US Congress because it included a request for amnesty to immigrants that are illegally in Idaho. The memorial specifically stated:

An effective process by which persons currently present in the United States without lawful status and who are gainfully employed and their immediate family can obtain work authorization or residency status, without a pathway to United States citizenship, provided said persons have no criminal history beyond their immigration-related violations, and provided further that an appropriate fine is assessed and paid in satisfaction of their immigration-related violations;

SJM101 was killed in the Idaho House of Representatives.

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Voted

Liberal Jim FAILED to Protect Children

Three years in a row Woodward helped kill a bill in the Senate Education committee that would have protected children from aggressive sexual education.

In 2021, House Bill 249 passed the House 56-12 with all Republicans in favor. The bill covered sex education in public schools. Basic sex education topics like anatomy and reproduction would remain a parental opt out in public schools.

H249 would require active parental permission be granted for topics like instruction in gender identity, sexual orientation, eroticism, sexual pleasure, or sexual intimacy. But, Liberal Jim Woodward joined the Democrats to oppose more parental authority over these aggressive sexual topics being taught to children in our public schools.

That same year, Woodward also supported Senate Bill 1193 which spent $6 million on education resources for young children. Those materials included a book by Nina Benedetto called About Chris. Targeted for children as young as ages 5-7, the book teaches about confusion on gender identity and encourages compassion for gender dysphoria.

Fortunately, the bill was rejected by the House after passing the senate by just one vote.

Scott Herndon PROTECTED Our Children

Scott Herndon supported House Bill 71, which passed the Idaho legislature in 2023 and was signed by governor Little. The Vulnerable Child Protective Act prohibits puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex reassignment surgeries for children under the age of 18.

Scott Herndon helped write and pass House Bill 498. The governor signed the bill on March 20, 2024. It requires distributors of porn online to verify the age of users. It prevents those content creators and distributors of pornography from providing porn to those under age 18.

Scott also supported adding a definition of abstinence in Idaho law to the definitions section dealing with sex education in public schools. Signed into law in House Bill 228 was the definition that abstinence is “the absence of any sexual activity prior to marriage, which activity includes physical contact between individuals involving intimate or private areas of the body that can potentially: Result in pregnancy; Transmit sexually transmitted diseases and infections; or Present emotional risks.”

In 2023, Scott Herndon supported House Bill 314. H314 would require libraries and schools to take reasonable precautions to keep obscene materials out of the hands of those under the age of 18. While the governor vetoed that bill, Herndon came back the next year and helped House Bill 710 become law in 2024. After years of effort, there is finally a requirement in Idaho law that sexually lewd materials NOT be provided to children at taxpayer funded government schools and libraries.

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Voted

Woodward SUPPORTED DEI and Critical Race Theory

In 2022, Woodward voted to fund the full Idaho public colleges and universities budget which included $3.8 million of funding to support over 50 staff positions at Boise State University and the University of Idaho for LGBTQ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

In 2021, Liberal Jim approved a $6 million grant to a group that teaches Critical Race Theory to children ages 0 to 5 years old. Senate Bill 1193 also supported gender dysphoria books for children ages 5 to 7. Read more here.

Herndon OPPOSED DEI and Critical Race Theory

Herndon proposed a substitute budget in 2023 to remove the 50 staff positions and the $3.8 million of funding for LGBTQ DEI positions at the state colleges and universities. While the funding was not cut, Scott Herndon passed into law language that prohibits these taxpayer funded universities from using public funds for these positions and related activities.

In 2024, Herndon co-sponsored Senate Bill 1357 to eliminate DEI programs from state government.

Scott Herndon also supported Senate Bill 1274 which prohibits public colleges and universities from requiring hiring and admissions conditioned on a requirement that applicants submit or ascribe to a diversity statement. S1274 has been signed into law.

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Voted

Liberal Jim FAILED Taxpayers

Woodward was in office and approved the budgets for fiscal years 2020-2023. During that time Liberal Jim voted YES to every spending bill. That is hundreds of spending bills. The Idaho Senate never said no to more spending during the Woodward years.

As a result, state spending grew 43.3% over those 4 years from $9.o billion to $12.9 billion.

Liberal Jim also approved more than $22 billion of extra, new spending from federal debt financed Covid relief. 43% of Idaho’s budget is federal dollars. About $1.6 billion of each year’s budget is federal debt.

Jim Woodward has argued that we should accept all federal money. But much of the federal money is a debt burden upon our children and grandchildren. Woodward voted yes for all of the borrowed federal money.

Scott Herndon Achieved Spending Reforms

By opposing some of the bloated budgets in 2023 and debating excess spending on the Senate floor, Scott Herndon entered 2024 and helped the budget committee completely revamp their process to achieve the ability of the legislature to reject bloated line-item budgets.

The legislature can now save Idaho taxpayers money and control the growth of Idaho’s state spending for the first time in a decade. Read Herndon’s review of the new budget process here.

Prior to 2024, the legislature only ever reviewed 19% of total state spending in any year before approving the budgets. With the reforms, the legislature will review much more of total spending by diving into each state agency’s base budgets.

Democrats and liberal Republicans were resistant at the start of the 2024 session. By the end of the session though, even they admitted the budget process is better than in previous years. Read about the early session fight here. Read Senator Herndon’s view versus the governor’s view on the budget reforms in 2024 here.

Scott Herndon has also been instrumental in passing a significant property tax cut that averages 18% per homeowner in the passage of House Bill 292. While the governor vetoed that property tax cut, Herndon helped convince every Republican in the Senate to override the veto. It was the first veto override by the Idaho legisalture in over 15 years.

In 2024, Scott Herndon supported and the Senate passed House Bill 521. H521 cuts Idaho’s flat income tax rate from 5.8% to 5.695%. This will save taxpayers over $60 million a year going forward.

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Voted

Liberal Jim OPPOSED Free Markets

Woodward voted with the Democrats for Senate Bill 1098 in 2021. S1098 required private health benefit plans to provide 12-month subscriptions to birth control for their policy holders.

Conservative Republicans held the line in the Senate, and the bill failed in a 16-18 vote. It did not advance to the House of Representatives.

Scott Herndon SUPPORTED Free Markets

The same type of bill came back in 2024 as Senate Bill 1234. This time it mandated 6 months of birth control prescriptions. Unfortunately, it squeaked by the Senate in a 19-16 vote and cleared the House by just 1 vote, 35-34.

Scott Herndon opposed S1234, but free market capitalism lost.

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Voted

Liberal Jim FAILED Idaho

Even though over 80% of the Republicans voted for Senate Bill 1381 in 2022, Jim Woodward defected from the Republican majority to join the Democrats to oppose this bill.

S1381 would have limited the ability of private and public entities to impose a requirement that individuals receive a coronavirus vaccination.

Jim stated in November 2021 regarding SJM105 that certain workers ought to be required to take the Covid jabs, and he followed that up with his vote on S1381.

S1381 passed 45-23-2 House, 24-11-0 Senate.  The bill was vetoed by the governor, and Liberal Jim voted against the bill a 2nd time. As a result, the Senate failed to override the governor’s veto.

Scott Herndon PROTECTED Idaho

Fortunately, the Covid PAUSE Act was reintroduced in 2023 as Senate Bill 1130.

The coronavirus and its vaccinations are relatively new medical developments, and the decision to receive such a vaccination is a very personal decision. Individuals should not be discriminated against because they have or have not received a coronavirus vaccination.

S1130 established limitations on the ability of private and public entities to impose a requirement that individuals receive a coronavirus vaccination.

Scott Herndon voted for S1130, and it passed the Senate 28-7 and the House 43-27. The governor signed the bill into law.

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Would Vote

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Would Vote

How Woodward Voted

How Woodward Voted

How Herndon Would Vote