BOISE, Idaho — In 2018, the Idaho State Legislature passed the Public Integrity in Elections Act.
The intention of this act was to make it illegal for government entities to use taxpayer dollars to pay for political advocacy, be it support for or against, a specific candidate or measure on a public election ballot.
The act did include a few exceptions, allowing certain public entities, like schools, to provide factual and neutral information on a topic, like a tax levy or school bond, to help educate the voting public.
Representative Jason Monks, the Chair of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee and author of the Public Integrity in Elections Act, identified what he thought was a violation of the act by the West Ada School District in their campaign for the $500 million tax levy, included on the ballot for the 2023 May election.
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Producing a professional campaign video for the upcoming levy, Monks thought, had crossed the boundaries of neutral and factual, and according to the language in the act, was illegal.
The Ada County Prosecuting Attorney Jan Bennetts agreed. After their office conducted an investigation, it was determined that several pieces of content in the video could be characterized as "advocacy" and in violation of the Act.
The West Ada School District, once approached by the office regarding the violation, removed the video from its website, with a commitment to better educate those who produce internal messaging to avoid future violations.
In a press release issued by the House Speaker's office, Rep. Monks said “It is important that people have confidence that the taxes they pay will be used for the services government is obligated to provide, not slick campaign ads that lobby the
public for even more taxes.”
