After library bill vote, Boyle abruptly steps down from Idaho House Education Committee

This story was originally published on IdahoEdNews.org on March 2, 2023.

The senior member of the House Education Committee abruptly stepped down Wednesday morning.

Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, stepped down minutes after colleagues voted down a bill to ban school and public libraries from distributing ”harmful materials” to minors. The committee voted to hold the bill on a 9-8 vote. Boyle voted against the motion.

“I’m not going to waste my time any longer in there,” Boyle told Idaho Education News on Thursday afternoon. “This is Idaho, not San Francisco, and I’m a mom and a grandmom.”

Boyle said she was particularly frustrated because sponsors of House Bill 139 were willing to send the bill to the House floor for amendment. Instead, opponents voted to kill the bill.

Boyle was not in the committee room Wednesday when House Education took up a second libraries bill, House Bill 227. That bill would require school boards, public library boards and charter schools to create policies for selecting and removing harmful materials from their shelves. The committee adjourned without voting on the bill.

Nor was Boyle in the committee room Thursday when House Education rejected an education savings accounts proposal. The bill died on a 9-7 vote after a tense committee hearing.

Boyle, serving her eighth term, is one of the senior members of the House. She was also the senior member of House Education. She had served on the committee since 2011, according to Ballotpedia, an online almanac of American Politics.

It’s not yet clear whether House Speaker Mike Moyle will appoint another lawmaker to fill the vacancy on House Education, or whether Moyle will assign Boyle to a different committee.

“He can put me wherever he wants, or I can have three hours to get all my other work done,” Boyle said.

Moyle and House Education Chairwoman Julie Yamamoto were not immediately available for comment Thursday afternoon.