Senator Lenney Formally Requests Explanation for $546,400 Hispanic Commission While Scotch-Irish Receive Zero State Recognition

For immediate release

BOISE, Idaho - Senator Brian Lenney issued a formal inquiry today regarding Idaho’s allocation of $546,400 in annual taxpayer funding to the Hispanic Commission while providing zero dollars in equivalent recognition for residents of Scotch-Irish descent.

“My Scotch-Irish ancestors died in Pennsylvania coal mines where life expectancy averaged 40 to 50 years due to cave-ins, gas explosions, and lung disease, labored on Virginia tobacco plantations where two-thirds of indentured servants died within months of arrival from disease and exhaustion, and perished in Carolina turpentine camps that federal inspectors described as a ‘human slaughter pen’ while earning 50 cents to one dollar per day,” Senator Lenney stated.

“They received zero reparations, zero land grants, and zero acknowledgment from any government entity at any level. The policy was straightforward: sign a seven-year indenture contract and hope to survive it.”

Senator Lenney noted that documented Scotch-Irish indentured servitude in America dates to the 1620s and continued in major waves through 1775, with servants typically bound for four to seven years of labor in exchange for passage to the colonies.

“If Idaho has determined that half-million-dollar ancestry-based commissions serve a legitimate public purpose, the state needs to explain its selection criteria,” Senator Lenney added.

“Alternatively, Idaho could eliminate all ethnicity-based funding and classify residents exclusively as Idahoans on government forms, regardless of whether their ancestors died in coal mines, on plantations, in turpentine camps, or from natural causes.”

Senator Lenney is requesting a written response from the Governor’s office by December 15, 2025.

Contact:

Brian Lenney(R)
BLenney@senate.idaho.gov
District 13
2^nd term
PO Box 3753
Nampa, ID 83653-3753
Home (208) 614-1289
Statehouse (208) 332-1329 (Session Only)

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