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Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
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State official: Claims of a new $400 million education investment are ‘misleading at best'
The Idaho State Capitol Building in Boise shines in the sunlight on Jan. 7, 2025. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) This story originally posted on on May 9, 2025 A state education official tempered what he implied were exaggerated claims about investments in public education during a post-legislative tour stop in Pocatello Thursday. The Legislature did increase funding this year for public education — but debate over the amount continues between politicians, education stakeholders and the Idaho Department of Education (IDE). IDE staff directly countered Rep. Wendy Horman's touting of $400 million in new public education investments, and watered down Gov. Brad Little's showcasing of $50 million for rural school facilities. Some Idaho education groups concerned with state's new public schools budgets, operations funding Gideon Tolman, the IDE'S chief financial officer, did not mention Horman by name, but said claims of a new $400 million investment were 'misleading at best.' Public education's financial gains were few but appreciated, IDE leaders said, during a 2025 legislative session that had moments ranging from surprising to heartbreaking. From a failed $3 million request for high-needs students to the state's first private school choice tax credit, the repercussions led to a sense of gloom among the district leaders and superintendents who gathered at Idaho State University for a recap of the session. As politicians and educators scramble to craft the narrative over what the session meant for public education, Little held his own press event Thursday, where he said 'it's both our constitutional and our moral obligation to the next generation that we increase funding, and more importantly, have better outcomes for public schools.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In a column for EdNews, Horman wrote that 'public education received $400 million in new funding.' That sparked frustration among education stakeholders who said the public schools budget provides no new additional state funding for anything other than pay increases and benefits for school staff, as Clark Corbin of the Idaho Capital Sun reported. In response, Horman told Corbin that just $100 million in new general fund dollars will go to pay and benefits. The other $300 million is located outside public school budgets in the form of tax cuts and facilities payments sent to districts to pay down levies and bonds. IDE staff publicly chimed in Thursday. Tolman said there was a $100 million increase for pay and benefits — a fact stakeholders and politicians seem to be able to agree on. The other $300 million is not accessible to charter schools, Tolman said. For traditional school districts, this funding is either 'very restricted or has been repurposed' — meaning it was already in education coffers, but got moved from one account to another. For example, Little has touted a $50 million investment for rural school facilities, a promise he outlined in his state of the state address. But that $50 million isn't as new or accessible as it seems, Tolman said. Half of it had been sitting in a facilities cooperative fund, 'which has been on the books for about 20 years,' Tolman said. To access it, a district had to run a failed bond or levy, and document a health and safety concern in the building. Over the 20 years, only two districts have been able to use the fund — Plummer-Worley to build a new school, and Salmon to replace a roof. School districts that meet those conditions can apply for and receive the funds, but would have to pay back the funds with state dollars they received for paying down bonds and levies, if possible, Tolman said. But, if the money isn't repaid within 20 years, it will be forgiven. The second half of the $50 million comes from a preexisting bond levy equalization fund, which was discontinued in the 2024 session — but the cash remained. So this year, legislators moved those dollars into this new fund. That, Tolman said, helps illustrate why the $400 million claim is misleading — 'because it's repurposing funding that either was given to you and taken away and now given back to you, or was already in the account, or that doesn't apply to charters.' At a separate event held the same day, hours later, Little touted 'an additional $50 million for rural school facilities.' He also cited $85 million for increased teacher pay, and 'additional literacy investments. While Little's claims about public education investments were more modest than Horman's, he seemed to defend her thinking when asked about the $400 million. 'If a district receives money to pay for facilities, pay for maintenance, that's money they can use elsewhere,' Little said. Facing an $82 million special education funding gap, state superintendent Debbie Critchfield pushed to shore up funding in two ways — a new, student-weighted funding formula and a $3 million funding request for high-needs students. Both failed. The fate of the funding formula rewrite — a long sought-after change that legislators have previously pursued, without success — was likely not a shock. But IDE staff were 'surprised' that the relatively small, $3 million ask 'ended up being a fiscal hangup for some,' said Greg Wilson, Critchfield's chief of staff. 'It goes back to how these requests, however minuscule, require a high bar in order to get them across the finish line.' Wilson said he knew the $3 million 'isn't a lot,' but said it seemed a 'reasonable amount to get it through the (legislative) process and get something in place.' Scott Muir, superintendent of Soda Springs School District, asked IDE leaders why legislators oppose additional special education funding. 'As we see the rise in special education, and we cannot meet the needs, now we're going to see advocates and lawyers stepping into the process and school districts are going to suffer for that,' he said. Tolman said some legislators are not aware of the $82 million gap between what the federal government provides and what schools need. 'Other comments we have heard are, 'Why are you educating special education students at all? Why are they part of the public school system?'' Tolman said. 'There is a real lack of understanding or an unwillingness to learn more about the problem.' 'It kind of breaks your heart when you listen to the comments some of the legislators made regarding the students that we not only want to serve but are required federally to serve,' said Spencer Barzee, the IDE's deputy superintendent for eastern Idaho. Some legislators were also surprised by the high costs associated with students who might need a one-on-one aide, or who have feeding tubes or are nonverbal, Tolman said, adding that the $400 million in tax cuts may also have made it difficult to approve even small asks. Wilson said increased special education funding will be a priority in the next legislative session. Little said special education funding is also a priority for him. But there's a caveat — the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education could lead to increased uncertainty, and require a wait-and-see approach, he said. Little took a similar tack when addressing private school choice. When asked whether he planned to push for more oversight and accountability for the program, and whether he would advocate to keep its $50 million cap in place, Little was noncommittal. 'We'll see how the implementation goes,' he said. 'We'll obviously work with our legislative partners for next year. Anything is relative to what the budget looks like next year.' 'All of those issues will be on the table,' he continued. 'But public education will continue to be the top priority.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
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Idaho now has a powerful mini-legislature within its official Legislature
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, the Idaho Legislature's powerful budget committee, meets daily during the legislative session. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) Idahoans can breathe a sigh of relief now that the Legislature has folded its tent and gone home. The bright side of this year's session is that it could have been worse. The session lasted two weeks longer than expected, costing taxpayers about $20,000-$30,000 per day. The main reason for the delay was the inability of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) to finalize budgets for state programs. JFAC set many budgets even before it knew how much revenue would be available, and it then squandered time figuring out how to operate without defined procedural rules. Without a guiding script, Idaho Legislature's budget committee strays from voting procedures Adding to the delay was JFAC's decision to ignore the constitutional order of setting budgets. Since statehood, general legislation, which establishes state laws, was the job of the entire Legislature. Committees hold hearings, take testimony and produce bills for debate in both houses before sending them to the governor. JFAC's job has been confined to providing the funding to finance the programs established through that policy-making process. However, in recent years JFAC has had the nerve to set itself up as a mini-legislature within the official Legislature. That is, to fund legislative policies with appropriation bills but also to set its own policies with 'intent language' in the bills. JFAC co-chair, Rep. Wendy Horman, justified the committee's use of policy-making intent language, claiming it is the committee's job to set 'conditions, limitations and restrictions' on spending. She said, 'it is the job of JFAC to set fiscal policy.' The Idaho Constitution would disagree. Appropriation bills are to fund the government, not to set state policy. Several JFAC members have raised legitimate concerns. Sen. Julie VanOrden said the use of intent language to set policy skirts the public vetting process and is 'a real abuse of power.' Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking correctly observed that JFAC is 'a budgeting committee, it's not a policy committee.' JFAC's constitutionally improper policy-making has created memorable problems in the past. In the 2022 session, JFAC put intent language in House Bill 764, saying that federal money designed to make up for pandemic-related learning loss was to serve 'school-aged participants ages 5 through 13 years.' When about 80 legitimate schools and child care centers received grants, the extreme-right outrage machine swung into action, claiming fraud and abuse because some kids under 5 might have benefited from the federal money, which federal guidelines allowed. That resulted in a flurry of pointless legal actions and investigations, which ended up costing the state way more than the miniscule amount that may have been incidentally spent on kids under 5. In 2024, JFAC put intent language in House Bill 770, the funding bill for the Department of Transportation, that killed a favorable sale of the bedraggled transportation department building on State Street in Boise. The restriction resulted in litigation and will end up costing the state millions trying to renovate an outdated building that will be an unusable money pit. This year, JFAC has picked up the pace of its unlawful policy-making. In House Bill 459, the Department of Labor appropriation bill, the mini-legislature required the preparation of several reports, including one requiring 'an analysis of the impact of illegal immigration on the state's labor market and the potential costs and benefits of using E-Verify.' This should be done through legislative action, not in the funding process. Senate Bill 1209 calls for several legislative items. Among other things, Section 4 requires Idaho State University to lead any negotiations toward acquisition of the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. Section 6 requires the State Board of Education to develop a new outcomes-based funding model for Idaho's colleges and universities. Section 7 requires audits of state institutions of higher learning for compliance with Idaho's ill-defined diversity, equity and inclusion laws. In essence, the DEI laws prohibit many of the virtues that Jesus taught in the New Testament. Senate Bill 1196, requires the Idaho Commission for Libraries to report on compliance by state and school libraries with Idaho book ban laws. There are a number of other similar policy-making bills the JFAC mini-legislature churned out this session, but the list is too lengthy to lay out here. It is high time for JFAC leadership to establish procedural rules to expedite the funding of programs enacted through the established legislative process. More important, however, is that the committee get back into its proper lane of setting budgets, rather than establishing state policy. If not, it may be necessary for those affected by its improper policy-making to institute court proceedings to get JFAC to comply with its limited duty of funding programs enacted by the official Legislature. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
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Idaho House passes budget for Vocational Rehabilitation program facing financial shortfall
Members of the Idaho House of Representatives hold a floor session on March 10, 2025, at the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) The Idaho House of Representatives voted Friday to approve next year's budget for the embattled Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX House Bill 460 is a 2026 budget enhancement for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Vocational Rehabilitation is a state/federal program that seeks to help people with disabilities secure and retain employment, according to the division's website. At the time that the division's financial troubles came to light last year, Vocational Rehabilitation was serving about 8,000 Idahoans with disabilities. A year ago, at the very end of the 2024 legislative session, the former administrator of Vocational Rehabilitation suddenly told the Idaho Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the division was out of money and would be unable to pay its bills, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, is a powerful legislative committee that sets the budgets for every state agency and department every year. Since the financial problems came to light publicly, the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration (which is part of the U.S. Department of Education) notified the state that the Vocational Rehabilitation grant was considered high risk because of significant concerns about the division's financial accountability, the Sun previously reported. In September, the Sun reported Vocational Rehabilitation was offered $10 million in emergency federal funding to help the division pay for people the division has already committed to helping. In order to fully access the federal funds, Idaho would need to provide $2.7 million in state funds. CONTACT US Fast forward to Friday, and House Bill 460 provides $35,000 in additional funding for the fiscal year 2026 budget for interpreter services and a one-time $4.4 million supplemental funding appropriation for the current fiscal year 2025 budget. The supplemental funding includes $2.7 million as a state match to allow Vocational Rehabilitation to access $10 million in emergency federal funds intended to help the agency stay afloat and $1.7 million for client services that have already been provided but are not eligible for federal reimbursement. Idaho's state government runs on a fiscal year calendar. The current 2025 fiscal year ends June 30, and the 2026 fiscal year begins July 1. Rep. Wendy Horman, an Idaho Falls Republican who serves as co-chair of JFAC, acknowledged the division's financial concerns Friday and said Vocational Rehabilitation is under new leadership. 'I must give praise to the interim director, who stepped into a difficult situation and is trying to make sense of what's going on, but it's a very complicated situation,' Horman said. Without any debate, the Idaho House voted 49-20 to pass the Vocational Rehabilitation budget bill. House Bill 460 heads next to the Idaho Senate for consideration. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-03-2025
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Without a guiding script, Idaho Legislature's budget committee strays from voting procedures
Idaho Legislature Budget and Policy Analyst France Lippett gives a presentation to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee at the State Capitol building on Jan. 23, 2024. JFAC co-chairs Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, (center) and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls (right) are leading the meeting. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) The Idaho Legislature's powerful budget committee appeared to deviate again from the new voting procedures that have already created confusion and division in their wake. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, on Wednesday attempted to send a failed motion to the Idaho House of Representatives – one week after committee leaders said there is no mechanism to send failed motions or bills to the Idaho House. The committee co-chairs told the Idaho Capital Sun they rely on a written script to guide them when there is confusion, and they both forgot to bring the script Wednesday. JFAC is a powerful legislative committee that sets every budget for every state agency and department. In that regard, JFAC is arguably the most important committee in the entire Idaho Legislature. Whether it's funding for public schools, money to maintain state parks, funding to pay Idaho State Police troopers or money to fight wildfires on state lands, JFAC must sign off. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX For decades, JFAC voted together as a 20-member committee made up of both representatives and senators, and it was clear that motions and budgets required a simple majority of the full committee to pass and advance. But over the course of the past several years JFAC's two co-chairs, Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, have implemented a series of major changes to JFAC's daily schedule, budget-setting procedures and voting procedures. Idaho Legislature's budget committee openly feuds over new budget procedures Grow and Horman said the changes increase transparency and accountability and ensure there is more budget buy-in at the committee level before budgets advance to the full Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate. But during the 2025 legislative session, JFAC members and House Speaker Mike Moyle, a Star Republican who is not a member of JFAC, have publicly feuded over JFAC's voting and budget procedures. Some JFAC members and legislators – and former legislators and other community members – have criticized JFAC for passing major tax cuts and budgets before setting a revenue projection to build the fiscal year 2026 budget around. Now, JFAC has fallen behind, and the unfinished 2026 fiscal year budget is delaying legislators from adjourning this week like Republican legislative leaders hoped. JFAC is not operating under formal, published rules this year after the Idaho House did not adopt joint rules of the Idaho Legislature during the 2025 organizational session in December. The joint rules provide definitions of things like bills and cover how joint committees, like JFAC, operate and lay out the rules for committee minutes, debate and press credentials. While the Idaho Senate adopted joint rules during the organizational session, the House did not. Moyle has said that was deliberate because House members disagree with Joint Rule 11, which states that the Senate chairman shall serve as the chair of committees meeting jointly, like JFAC. Moyle said the Idaho House doesn't want to give up the ability to set agendas and share chairmanship of the committee with the Idaho Senate. In the absence of written joint legislative rules, Horman said JFAC is operating based on precedent from the past couple of years and operating under the terms of a February 2023 letter that she and Grow signed. The February 2023 letter states that JFAC will use the joint voting procedure used in the past while also announcing the votes of the 10 JFAC House members separately from the 10 JFAC Senate members. 'If a bill receives majority support from the joint committee and does not receive majority support from the House or Senate committee, the bill will be sent to the house from which the majority of members did not vote in the affirmative,' the letter states. Horman and Grow have both told the Sun they agree that it takes six votes from the House members and six votes from the Senate members to constitute a majority in JFAC, regardless of how many JFAC members are physically present. That means that if only seven JFAC House members are present, a vote of 5-2 would not be considered a majority because they did not reach the required six votes, even though a majority of House JFAC members voted to support it. No other committee in the Idaho Legislature operates that way, which creates confusion in itself. Adding to the confusion, on March 12, Horman and Grow said they have two different interpretations of the February 2023 letter, which leads to two different standards for how votes are handled in the same committee. On March 12, Horman said that if a motion or budget does not achieve the required six votes among House members on JFAC, the motion or budget is dead and does not advance. Horman said the House clerk told her there is no mechanism to bring a motion or bill forward and assign it a bill number if it does not achieve a majority in committee. That same day, Horman and Grow said the Idaho Senate has a different interpretation. Under the Senate interpretation, if a budget or motion does not achieve the required six votes among Senate JFAC members that motion or budget would be sent to the Idaho Senate for consideration because that is the chamber where it failed to achieve a majority of support. 'We've agreed to disagree,' Horman told the Sun on March 12. Fast forward to Wednesday's meeting at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, and JFAC appeared to deviate from the procedures the committee outlined on March 12. On Wednesday, Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, and Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, made an attempt to pass budget intent language requiring the Idaho Department of Labor to produce a report studying the impact of unauthorized immigration on the state's labor market and requiring a cost-benefit analysis of employers using the E-Verify system. After some debate, Idaho Senate members voted 8-2 to pass the language requiring the report, but the Idaho House members on JFAC voted 4-5, failing to reach six votes and falling short of a majority among House members present. Seconds later, Grow noted that among the entire committee, the majority voted 12-7 to approve the budget intent language. But Grow announced he was sending the intent language to the Idaho House because it failed to reach a majority among House JFAC members. 'Well, the majority votes yes, 12 yes – ayes – (and) seven nays, one absent and excused. However, the House, having failed to vote in the affirmative on this motion, it will be sent to the House and you can deal with it,' Sen. Grow said during the meeting Wednesday. However, under the voting procedures Horman and Grow announced March 12, there is no mechanism to send a failed motion or budget to the House. When a reporter with the Idaho Capital Sun asked Horman and Grow about the voting procedures after Wednesday's meeting adjourned, Horman and Grow said they forgot to bring their written script that describes how to proceed to Wednesday's meeting to read from. 'We both forgot to put our script up here today,' Horman said. After the meeting, Grow said he would like to apologize if he misspoke during the meeting. In the absence of a written script, Grow told the Sun he was thinking back to the February 2023 letter. 'I'm just referring to the letter. It was (from) a few years ago, which said, if it fails on one side, it goes to that side; if it fails on the other side it goes to that side for consideration,' Grow said. '(Horman) can consider it. She can do what she wants to do with it. If she wants nothing to do with it, then nothing happens.' Grow and Horman alternate serving as the chairperson of JFAC each day. Grow was serving as JFAC chairman Wednesday. After the meeting, Horman told the Sun she would have handled the budget intent language differently if she was serving as JFAC chairwoman Wednesday. 'I wouldn't have said it will be sent to the House,' Horman said. 'I would have said it will be considered at a later date.' At any rate, after the meeting, Horman clarified the budget intent language requiring the report on immigration's impacts on the state labor force is dead for now, but it could be brought up again. The issue over the intent language does not affect the Idaho Department of Labor's budget, which passed without controversy under a separate motion. Horman said House members have not changed their interpretation of the February 2023 letter since clarifying voting procedures March 12. 'If it fails (on) my side (among House members) it fails, therefore there is nothing to send,' Horman told the Sun Wednesday. 'They're handling it a little differently (in the Senate).' In an interview Wednesday with the Idaho Capital Sun, Horman referred to Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure. Horman flagged a section of the manual that states: 'Rules of legislative procedure are derived from several sources and take precedence in the order listed below: a) Constitutional provisions and judicial decisions thereon. b) Adopted rules. c) Custom, usage and precedents. d) Adopted parliamentary authority. e) Parliamentary law.' Citing Mason's, Horman told the Sun it is unfair and inaccurate to suggest JFAC is not operating under any rules. Horman shared a passage from the manual that says historically members vote individually – not by houses – when voting in joint committees. Under more modern practices, the manual says 'members vote by houses, a quorum being present, and such vote carries only upon favorable vote of the committee members of each house.' Horman said House members adhere to the more modern practice outlined in the manual. Horman also disagreed that there is confusion over JFAC's voting procedures. She said the 2023 letter and modern guidance in Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure provide that certainty. 'We have tried to create certainty; this is what this is. It's certainty, right?' Horman told the Sun. 'So for people who are stuck in how JFAC used to operate, like some members of the committee? Sure, they think it's dysfunction, because we're not doing it how we did in the past. But for three years, this is the new way. And so there's certainty. We have certainty. Now maybe you just didn't have the script and didn't say it this way today. But this is our agreement. So we have certainty and agreements that we're going to handle it differently.' Grow said he and Horman are trying to build consensus to pass budgets as they navigate a difference of opinion. 'We're just trying to thread a needle here because they (in the House) are interpreting it different than our folks,' Grow told the Sun. 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Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
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Legislative Notebook: As tax cuts sail through Legislature, budget committee sets revenue forecast
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, the Idaho Legislature's powerful budget committee, meets daily during the legislative session. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) In an effort to help Idahoans follow major bills, resolutions and memorials through the legislative process, the Idaho Capital Sun will produce a 'legislative notebook' at the end of each week to gather information in one place that concerns major happenings in the Legislature and other news relating to state government. To receive the full extent of our reporting in your inbox each day, sign up for our free email newsletter, The Sunrise, on our website at Here is our quick rundown of the major happenings during the ninth week of the Idaho Legislature's 2025 session. Less than 24 hours after the Idaho Senate passed a major income tax cut bill that reduces state revenue by $253 million and weeks after the Idaho Legislature's budget committee passed the maintenance budgets for all state agencies, the committee ultimately decided how much money the state has to work with to fund departments and public services for fiscal year 2026. A projection for the state's revenue forecast was set Wednesday – the 59th legislative day of the 2025 session – by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC. The budget committee voted 16-2 to set the revenue projection for fiscal year 2026 at $6.4 billion, a 6.8% increase above the level in the current fiscal year 2025 budget. That's the same $6.4 billion revenue projection that the Idaho Legislature's Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee recommended in a Jan. 9 letter to JFAC members. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE But during the second week of the 2025 legislative session, JFAC members discussed and then voted down two proposed revenue projections on Jan. 16. Since then, JFAC set and passed bare bones maintenance of operations budgets that combine all state agencies and departments into about 10 bills. JFAC went on to consider dozens of other budget enhancements for state agencies, and Republican legislative leaders proposed tax cuts that, when combined, would reduce state revenue by more than $400 million. But until Wednesday morning, there was no revenue projection in place to show how much money the Idaho Legislature has to build its 2026 budget around. Idaho Legislature's budget committee openly feuds over new budget procedures The budget committee's cochairs, Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, and Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, said the senators and the representatives on the committee needed time to work through disagreements on the projections. 'As you know, we try to work things out – not just here on the floor – but try to get folks to agree to things,' Grow said during Wednesday's JFAC meeting. 'And we haven't had any success getting that agreement so we figured we just better go ahead (today) and try to give it our best shot and try to go for it.' A few minutes later, Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking and Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, cast the only two votes against the revenue projection on Wednesday. 'This is the wrong way to do our budgets,' Ward-Engeking said. 'We've done a lot of actions in this committee. We've sent our maintenance budgets out. We've looked at tax reduction, or tax cuts and revenue reduction, before we set our revenue projection and I don't believe that's the right way to do budgets. I believe this revenue projection should have been set at the beginning of the session, and then we work towards that number in everything that we do and the spending and in the tax reductions or the tax cuts.' Legislators have set a target adjournment date for March 21, just two weeks from now. Sponsored by Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, and Rep. Robert Beiswenger, R-Horseshoe Bend, and signed into law by Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday, House Bill 32 prohibits local governments, health districts and school districts from mandating that an individual must wear a mask or face covering to prevent the spread of an infectious disease. The government mask mandate ban law has a few exceptions, allowing face mask requirements in certain job settings where masks are required and are needed 'to perform required job duties,' such as in health care, work with hazardous materials, or industrial settings 'where respiratory protection is vocationally required.' Little advocated for local control of mask mandates throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and never instituted a statewide mask mandate to combat the coronavirus. The bill takes effect immediately through an emergency clause. House Bill 345: Co-sponsored by Rep. Jordan Redman and the chairmen of the Legislature's Health and Welfare committees, the bill would require the state to seek work requirements for able-bodied Idahoans on Medicaid, and to give Idahoans eligible for Medicaid expansion access to tax credits to buy insurance on Idaho's health care exchange. The Idaho House voted 61-9 along on party lines Thursday to pass the bill. It now heads to the Senate State Affairs Committee and may be taken up in the coming days of the session. House Bill 243: Co-sponsored by Reps. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, and Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, the bill would repeal age-based child-to-staff ratios for child care facilities in Idaho law. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee advanced the bill on Wednesday to the full Senate for consideration with a recommendation that it pass. It is on the Senate's third reading calendar and may be taken up in the coming days of the session. Senate Bill 1101: Sponsored by Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, the bill would clarify and add guidance to Idaho coroners' roles in death investigations. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee advanced the bill on Thursday to the full Senate for consideration with a recommendation that it pass. It is on the Senate's third reading calendar and may be taken up in the coming days of the session. House Bill 290: Sponsored by Rep. Dori Healey, R-Boise, the bill would transfer decision-making authority about vaccination requirements for children attending day cares and schools from the Department of Health and Welfare to the Idaho Legislature. The Idaho House passed the bill 49-21 on Wednesday. It now heads to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, where it may be heard in the coming days of the session. House Concurrent Resolution 16: Sponsored by Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d'Alene, the resolution would create a legislative committee to study Idaho's property insurance market. The resolution, introduced in the House Health and Welfare Committee on Thursday, is in response to Idaho's destructive wildfire seasons and dozens of insurance companies pulling out of the state. It may come before the committee for a full public hearing in the coming days of the session. House Bill 231: Sponsored by House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian, the bill would increase the tax credit Idahoans receive on groceries from $120 to $155. The Idaho Senate voted 30-3 on Wednesday to pass the bill. It now heads to the governor for final consideration. Senate Bill 1001: Sponsored by Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, the anti-SLAPP (which stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation) bill aims to protect free speech and curtail frivolous lawsuits. The Idaho House voted 70-0 to pass the bill on Wednesday. It now heads to the governor for final consideration. House Bill 362: Sponsored by Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, the bill would prevent elected officials in state or federal positions from simultaneously serving in elected city, school or highway district positions, with some exceptions for rural areas. The House State Affairs Committee advanced the bill Friday with a recommendation that it pass. It may be taken up by the full House in the coming days of the session. ProgressRpt Senate State Affairs Committee House Joint Resolution 4: Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, the resolution seeks voter approval to amend the state constitution to give the Legislature exclusive authority to legalize and regulate marijuana and other drugs. The House voted 58-10 to pass the resolution on Wednesday. It now heads to the committee, where it is on the agenda for Monday for a full public hearing. Senate Bill 1141: Sponsored by Sen Codi Galloway, R-Boise, the bill bans unauthorized public camping or sleeping on public property in Idaho and prohibits political subdivisions from allowing it. It provides exceptions for designated recreational areas and certain state lands. It was introduced by the committee on March 3, and it is on the agenda for Monday to be back before the committee for a full public hearing. 'Idaho families and businesses need and deserve to keep more of their hard earned money. It is the right thing to do. Idaho's continued strength comes from our focus on good government and the Idaho taxpayer. I appreciate my partners in the Legislature for sharing our goal of prioritizing tax relief while taking care of the needs of a growing state. As we continue to deliver historic tax relief, we must ensure our budget balances as the Idaho Constitution requires.' – Idaho Gov. Brad Little, on signing the largest income tax reduction in state history into law through House Bill 40 How to follow the Idaho Legislature and Idaho Gov. Brad Little's work during the session Here are a few tools we use to track the Legislature's business and how to let your voice be heard in the issues that matter most to you. How to find your legislators: To determine which legislative district you live in, and to find contact information for your legislators within that district, go to the Legislative Services Office's website and put in your home address and ZIP code. Once you've entered that information, the three legislators – two House members and one senator – who represent your district will appear, and you can click on their headshots to find their email address and phone number. How to find committee agendas: Go to the Idaho Legislature's website, and click on the 'all available Senate committee agendas' link and the 'all available House committee agendas' link on the right side of the website. How to watch the legislative action in committees and on the House and Senate floors: Idaho Public Television works in conjunction with the Legislative Services Office and the Idaho Department of Administration through a program called 'Idaho in Session' to provide live streaming for all legislative committees and for the House and Senate floors. To watch the action, go to and select the stream you'd like to watch. How to testify remotely at public hearings before a committee: To sign up to testify remotely for a specific committee, navigate to that committee's webpage, and click on the 'testimony registration (remote and in person)' tab at the top. How to find state budget documents: Go to Legislative Services Office Budget and Policy Analysis Division's website How to track which bills have made it to Gov. Little's desk and any action he took on them (including vetoes): Go to the governor's website You can scroll down to the bottom of the site and enter your email address to get alerts sent straight to your inbox when the page has been updated. Reporting from Idaho Capital Sun journalists Clark Corbin, Mia Maldonado and Kyle Pfannenstiel contributed to this legislative notebook. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
