Amends existing law to provide that verification of lawful presence is not required to apply for or receive crime victims compensation.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1293 BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO PUBLIC BENEFITS; AMENDING SECTION 67-7903, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE2 PROVISIONS REGARDING EXCEPTIONS TO VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL PRESENCE FOR3 PUBLIC BENEFITS; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE4 DATE.5

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:6

SECTION 1. That Section 67-7903, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby7 amended to read as follows:8 67-7903. VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL PRESENCE -- EXCEPTIONS -- REPORT-9 ING. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, each10 agency or political subdivision of this state shall verify the lawful pres-11 ence in the United States of each natural person eighteen (18) years of age12 or older who applies for state or local public benefits or for federal public13 benefits for the applicant.14 (2) This section shall be enforced without regard to race, religion,15 gender, ethnicity or national origin.16 (3) Verification of lawful presence in the United States shall not be17 required:18 (a) For obtaining health care items and services that are necessary for19 the treatment of an emergency medical condition of the person involved20 and that are not related to an organ transplant procedure;21 (b) For short-term, noncash, in-kind emergency disaster relief; or22 (c) For programs, services, or assistance at short-term shelters that:23 (i) Deliver in-kind services at the community level, including24 services through public or private nonprofit agencies;25 (ii) Do not condition the provision of assistance, the amount of26 assistance provided, or the cost of assistance provided on the in-27 dividual recipient's income or resources; and28 (iii) Are necessary for the protection of life or public safety.;29 or30 (d) To apply for or receive crime victims compensation pursuant to31 chapter 10, title 72, Idaho Code.32 (4) An agency or a political subdivision shall verify the lawful pres-33 ence in the United States of each applicant eighteen (18) years of age or34 older for federal public benefits or state or local public benefits by:35 (a) Employing electronic means to verify an applicant is legally36 present in the United States; or37 (b) Requiring the applicant to provide:38 (i) An Idaho driver's license or an Idaho identification card39 issued pursuant to section 49-2444, Idaho Code;40 (ii) A valid driver's license or similar document issued for the41 purpose of identification by another state or territory of the42

2 United States, if such license or document contains a photograph1 of the individual or such other personal identifying information2 relating to the individual that the director of the department of3 health and welfare or, with regard to unemployment compensation4 benefits, the director of the department of labor finds, by rule,5 sufficient for purposes of this section;6 (iii) A United States military card or a military dependent's7 identification card;8 (iv) A United States coast guard merchant mariner card;9 (v) A native American tribal document;10 (vi) A copy of an executive office of immigration review, immi-11 gration judge or board of immigration appeals decision, granting12 asylee status;13 (vii) A copy of an executive office of immigration review, immi-14 gration judge or board of immigration appeals decision, indicat-15 ing that the individual may lawfully remain in the United States;16 (viii) Any United States citizenship and immigration service-is-17 sued document showing refugee or asylee status or that the indi-18 vidual may lawfully remain in the United States;19 (ix) Any department of state or customs and border protection-is-20 sued document showing the individual has been permitted entry into21 the United States on the basis of refugee or asylee status or on any22 other basis that permits the individual to lawfully enter and re-23 main in the United States; or24 (x) A valid United States passport; and25 (c) Requiring the applicant to provide a valid social security number26 that has been assigned to the applicant; and27 (d) Requiring the applicant to attest, under penalty of perjury and on28 a form designated or established by the agency or the political subdivi-29 sion, that:30 (i) The applicant is a United States citizen or legal permanent31 resident; or32 (ii) The applicant is otherwise lawfully present in the United33 States pursuant to federal law.34 (5) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (4)(b) of this sec-35 tion, the agency or political subdivision may establish by appropriate legal36 procedure such rules or regulations to ensure that certain individuals law-37 fully present in the United States receive authorized benefits including,38 but not limited to, homeless state citizens.39 (6) For an applicant who has attested pursuant to subsection (4)(d) of40 this section stating that the applicant is an alien lawfully present in the41 United States, verification of lawful presence for federal public benefits42 or state or local public benefits shall be made through the federal system-43 atic alien verification of entitlement program, which may be referred to as44 the "SAVE" program, operated by the United States department of homeland se-45 curity or a successor program designated by the United States department of46 homeland security. Until such verification of lawful presence is made, the47 attestation may be presumed to be proof of lawful presence for purposes of48 this section.49

3 (a) Errors and significant delays by the SAVE program shall be reported1 to the United States department of homeland security to ensure that the2 application of the SAVE program is not wrongfully denying benefits to3 legal residents of this state.4 (b) Agencies or political subdivisions may adopt variations of the re-5 quirements of subsection (4)(d) of this section to improve efficiency6 or reduce delay in the verification process or to provide for adjudica-7 tion of unique individual circumstances in which the verification pro-8 cedures in this section would impose unusual hardship on a legal resi-9 dent of this state; except that the variations shall be no less strin-10 gent than the requirements of subsection (4)(d) of this section.11 (c) A person who knowingly makes a false, fictitious or fraudulent12 statement or representation in an attestation executed pursuant to13 subsection (4)(d) or (6)(b) of this section or who knowingly provides14 a social security number that has not been assigned to him pursuant to15 subsection (4)(c) of this section shall be:16 (i) Guilty of a misdemeanor for the first and second offense; and17 (ii) Guilty of a felony for each subsequent offense.18 (7) An agency or political subdivision may accept as prima facie evi-19 dence of an applicant's lawful presence in the United States the information20 required in subsection (4) of this section, as may be modified by subsection21 (5) of this section, when issuing a professional license or a commercial li-22 cense.23

SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby24 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after25 July 1, 2026.26