BOISE, ID – The Idaho House passed a bill to limit the types of flags state and local governments can display on their property.

House Bill 96, sponsored by Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, would apply to state and local government entities in Idaho — restricting them to only display official domestic government and military flags. Schools, colleges and universities are exempted from the flag bill’s restrictions.

“We need to get back to unity in this country, and unity in this state. This is about uniting,” Scott told House lawmakers. “Government should not be putting out ideologies. They should not — it should be a place where we can go and not be lobbied for a political agenda, and that is what this bill will do.”

The Idaho House on Tuesday passed the bill on a 53-17 vote Tuesday. Eight Republican lawmakers joined all nine House Democrats in voting against the bill.

Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, voted against the bill.

“I agree that we should have the American flag,” she said. But, McCann said it seemed like “there’s just one flag that is objectionable, and this is the rainbow flag that we’re seeing,” apparently referencing the LGBTQ+ pride flag.

“My concern is that we are, again, overreaching our ability here to tell … our local cities or our counties what they can and can’t do in their own city. And that’s where I say that we have a problem,” McCann said. “Our platform clearly defines that we believe in local control.”

Debating in favor of the bill, Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, said the issue boils down to a simple question.

“We’re overthinking this — as we often tend to do. This isn’t about local control. This is about government entities making political statements,” Alfieri said. “The government should be free from politics, and that’s all this is about. … Any government entity should not display a flag which takes a political issue. And that may be the rainbow flag or it may be a MAGA flag.”

While House lawmakers didn’t specifically mention it in floor debate, Boise City Hall has displayed the LGBTQ+ pride flag.

Rep. Monica Church, D-Boise, said it’s clear the bill “discriminates against one city, and one district. And I think we all need to really think about that.”

Scott refuted that, saying “This is about uniting our citizens of our state.”

The bill now heads to the Idaho Senate, where it could be scheduled for a full committee hearing with public testimony and a vote before a possible vote by the full Senate.

The bill would apply to government entities in Idaho, defined as including the state of Idaho, counties, municipalities, special districts and political subdivisions.

The only flags allowed to be displayed by those government entities are:

• the U.S. flag
• government entity’s own official flags
• officials flags of any U.S. state
• official flags of military branches and units of the U.S
• The POW/MIA flag
• Official flags of Native American tribes

If passed into law, the bill would take effect immediately — through an emergency clause. The bill must pass the Idaho Senate and avoid the governor’s veto to become law.

The bill would also authorize the Idaho Division of Veteran Services to develop rules “directing the proper protocol for the location and display of flags flown on state property.”

This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.