BOISE -- Impassioned pleas from skin cancer survivors and medical doctors convinced a House panel to get behind a bill that makes teen use of tanning beds a crime.
Monday's unanimous House Health and Welfare Committee vote gives the full chamber a chance to weigh in.
The sponsor, House Minority Leader John Rusche, told the committee that tanners may enjoy a temporary benefit, but risk a lifetime of health risks.
He said Idaho should intervene to protect kids under the age of 18.
Should this become law, violators could be charged with a misdemeanor -- and fined up to $500.
Repeat offenders could be hit with fines of $1,000.
Tanning-bed industry representatives and civil liberties advocates argued the bill encroaches too far into people's personal freedoms and will be tough to enforce.
