BOISE, Idaho — This story originally ran in The Idaho Press
The leader of the Idaho Senate has removed a lawmaker as vice chair of a committee after she sent a newsletter that was critical of her fellow lawmakers.
Senate Pro Tem Chuck Winder also wrote to another senator asking him to apologize to his fellow members of the state budget writing committee for his post on state spending. Both posts urged followers to donate to candidates in the upcoming 2024 election.
Sens. Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls, and Scott Herndon, R-Sagle, are both members of the Idaho Freedom Caucus, and both wrote posts that were critical of state spending and of the interests supporting some of their colleagues in the Senate.
Zuiderveld, who served her first year during the 2023 session, wrote a post on her Substack that criticized the Idaho Association of Industry, known as IACI, and the candidates it supports.
She quoted IACI’s website that says the organization supports candidates “who demonstrate commitment to the ideals of a free market society, who believe in the rights of the individual, and who are committed to preserving the free enterprise system.”
Zuiderveld wrote, “In their own words, they state that they determine which candidates will receive their support based on who demonstrates a commitment to their ideals and the free market. In other words, who will carry out their agenda. One must also question their definition of a free market.”
She shared a photo with IACI endorsements of 35 Republican legislators in both chambers.
In a Nov. 6 letter, Winder wrote that she had posted an article that “openly attacked the integrity of your fellow members of the Idaho Senate.” He wrote that in his position as president pro tempore, he has “a duty to protect the integrity of the legislative process and members of the Senate.”
“When such integrity is threatened, I may exercise my authority to remove Chairs and Vice Chairs who fail to conduct themselves in a manner expected of an elected official,” Winder wrote. “As such, I have decided to immediately remove you as Vice Chair of the Health and Welfare Committee; you will only be allowed to serve as a member of the committee.”
Herndon’s post focused on state spending, including the authorization of using federal money. He bemoaned that no budget bill that came out of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) was killed on the Senate floor and returned to the committee for a rewrite; lawmakers may not end the session until all the budget bills are passed.
"Out of 110 budget bills, some of them are probably still bad when they get to the senate or the house floors, and they should be voted down and sent back to JFAC for some more work," he wrote.
Winder wrote in his letter that the post was “Degrading and disparaging” every Senate member of JFAC.
“Members of JFAC are tasked with setting the budget for the entire state, which requires countless hours of reviewing, analyzing, and thoughtfully considering budgetary bills. Your statements are unnecessary and inexcusable,” Winder said.
Winder added that he asked JFAC staff what budgets the senator worked on and was told Herndon only worked on “one small budget.”
Herndon updated his original article to say he worked on five budgets; he was the floor sponsor on the supplemental budgets for the State Appellate Public Defender and the Office of the Attorney General, as well as the fiscal year 2024 budgets for the Office of the Governor, the Public Defense Commission, and the Department of Labor — Sen. Kevin Cook is listed as the contact on the Labor Department bill, but Herndon presented the bill for debate.
Winder wrote that the article didn’t rise to the level of an ethics complaint, but he requested that the senator retract it, apologize to every Senate member on JFAC, refrain from “such personal attacks against” other senators and “start doing the work required of every other member of JFAC. “
In an emailed press release from the Idaho Freedom Caucus, Herndon said, “This is a direct attack by one senator to erode our ability to serve the people of Idaho who elected us. Our duty is to inform and give voice to the people of our districts, not to amplify the views of Senator Winder. His hostile comments, which are factually inaccurate, are degrading and disparaging.”
Zuiderveld also said in the release, "Regardless of what actions the leadership takes, I do not work for them; I work for the people. I will not allow intimidation to silence me.”
The Idaho Freedom Caucus, which is part of the State Freedom Caucus, has six public members in the Senate and seven in the House listed on its website. The State Freedom Caucus includes 11 states and is meant to “advance limited government and conservative values,” according to the website.
Herndon and Zuiderveld and other members of the caucus voted against many of the budget bills of JFAC, such as for the Department of Fish and Game, the Office of the Secretary of State, the Department of Lands, the Department of Juvenile Corrections, and the Office of State Treasurer. They voted for other bills, many of which had unanimous or near-unanimous support, such as for the Department of Correction and the Military Division.
Herndon in his post said he voted for the teachers division appropriation because he supported the raises for teachers but voted against the school operations bill because it included discretionary funding, meant to offset some of the impacts of rising inflation.
Winder could not be reached for comment by press time.
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