During my time in the Idaho Senate, I witnessed something both earnest and troubling—a fellow senator, with good intentions but misplaced priorities, proposed legislation that would mandate all bicycles be equipped with brakes. His concern stemmed from a niche adrenaline sport: barreling down mountains brakeless. Certainly thrilling. Possibly foolish. But enough to warrant a new law?
In that moment, I recalled my core philosophy—one I believe Idahoans broadly share: that the best government governs the least. A government that steps lightly leaves room for freedom, responsibility, and common sense to flourish. When I rose to speak, I asked a simple question: Why are we regulating a problem that barely exists?
A law that would be difficult to enforce, largely symbolic, and ultimately unnecessary? The bill, for all its dramatic premise, failed. Only two votes in favor. Not because brakes are bad, but because legislating for the rare and the hypothetical isn’t what citizens send us to do. Which brings me to today. Our legislature, in its wisdom, has shifted from bicycle brakes to deciding what flags should fly and what welcome signs our schools can display.
The arguments change, but the pattern remains: we craft laws to control symbolic gestures, creating the illusion of decisive action while burdening citizens and communities with mandates that neither solve real problems nor respect local autonomy. Let me be plain. Idahoans do not need Boise’s blessing to decide what flag waves over their farmers market, or what font to use on the “Welcome to Our School” sign.
These aren’t matters of public safety, economic development, or infrastructure—they are matters of community identity. And Idahoans are more than capable of navigating them without legislative babysitting. Now, if you’ll indulge a metaphor: we all know brushing our teeth is good for us. Neglecting oral hygiene can lead to real harm—infected gums, missed workdays, rising public health costs. Yet even with all that evidence, we don’t pass laws requiring everyone to floss twice daily.
Why? Because we trust people with their toothbrushes. Should we not also trust them with their flags? Frivolous laws, however well-intentioned, chip away at the public’s respect for law itself. They invite cynicism. They waste legislative oxygen. And most dangerously, they teach people to see government not as a partner in the public good, but as a meddling force trying to script their every move.
It’s not rocket science, folks. Sometimes the smartest move we can make is to do nothing at all.