Introducing the Sportsman Legislative Voting Record

BOISE- The Idaho Wildlife Federation will be producing a Sportsman Legislative Voting Record after the 2020 legislative session and after all future sessions. The Record will include the vote of every legislator on pieces of legislation that impact fish, wildlife, hunting, fishing, trapping, access, land management, and other issues that may arise. Deciding what legislation is relevant, and if it is supported or not, is a diverse group of guides, outfitters, public and private land hunters, ranchers, biologists, and attorneys - all with years of experience on sportsman matters.

Every Idaho legislator was sent a letter (which can be read below) notifying them that their voting record on relevant legislation will be published. The letter also serves as an invitation for legislators to reach out to the Federation to work together to form policy that reflects the views of Idaho sportsmen.

“Legislators have the tough job of making sense of several hundreds of bills each session - and working out implications or unintended consequences - in typically less than 90 days,” says Brian Brooks, executive director of the Federation. “We hope this serves as a catalyst for cooperation, lending our knowledge and the perspective of our 45,000 affiliated members to create good policy.”

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Federation is prohibited from intervening in elections and endorsing candidates or parties. As required by law, the Voting Record will not editorialize or comment on any legislators, nor will it explicitly or implicitly approve or disprove of any legislator’s voting record. “This will be an educative tool for the sportsman community- a simple interface for folks to see how their elected officials vote on issues impacting them,” continued Brooks.

Becca Aceto, the Federation’s Communications and Outreach Coordinator, added, “Our members and member organizations are growing more politically engaged, as sportsmen were years ago. There was incredibly high demand for this product, which is not a new idea.” Several industry associations and nonprofits produce similar voting record documents.

The Sportsman Legislative Voting Record will be available every April, immediately after each legislative session.

For more information, contact the Idaho Wildlife Federation at info@idahowildlife.org or call 208-342-7055.