IdahoReporter.com is reporting three of the four Idaho Land Board members have objected to House Bill 495 which, if passed, would stop the Land Board from purchasing and operating businesses that compete with private enterprise.  The three objecting Land Board members are Controller Donna Jones, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, and Secretary of State Ben Ysursa.

The website reports their outrage that the legislation would usurp the authority of the Executive Branch in violation of the Idaho Constitution’s separation of powers clause.  Quoting from the article:

“Each one of those respected bodies have to respect the powers granted to the other,” Wasden said of the clash between the legislative and executive branches he sees in the bill.

Hmmm.  Where were Wasden and Jones when their buddy Ben the Clown was for years telling county clerks it was A-Okay for them to open absentee ballots before the polls closed in direct violation of Idaho Code § 34-1005 passed by the Idaho Legislature and which explicitly forbids that?  Apparently to Jones, Wasden, and Ben the Clown, separation of powers only works in one direction.