Idaho Bills

States findings of the Legislature and provides for a joint session of the House and Senate to hear a message from the Governor.

This House Concurrent Resolution is to allow the Governor to deliver the State of the State address during a Joint Session of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

States findings of the Legislature, commends approval of the Stibnite Gold Project, and requests the remaining permits for the project be expeditiously processed and approved.

This joint memorial encourages the President of United States, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Commanding General of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the congressional delegation representing the State of Idaho in the Congress of the United States, the Governor of Idaho, and the Idaho Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources to ensure the Stibnite Gold Project in Valley County maintains its positive record of decision, and successfully enters into the development phase of the project. The Final Record of Decision issued by the United States Forest Service on January 3, 2025, represents over a decade of collaboration and engagement between Perpetua Resources, local communities, stakeholders, and government agencies. This decision will boost Idaho’s local and state economies, restore an abandoned mine site, and help secure a domestic supply chain for essential energy, technology, and defense materials.

Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Agriculture and the Soil and Water Conservation Commission for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

This appropriation provides enhancements to the FY 2026 maintenance budgets for the Department of Agriculture and the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Enhancements to the Department of Agriculture include a pay structure for agricultural investigators, a 5% change in employee compensation for fresh fruit and vegetable inspectors, replacement items, and IT hardware. Enhancements for the Soil and Water Conservation Commission include onetime funding to replace a vehicle and support the Water Quality Program for Agriculture (WQPA). This legislation also includes a FY 2025 deficiency warrant to reimburse actual expenditures incurred in FY 2024formonitoringandcontrolofexoticspeciesincludingJapanesebeetles,Mormoncrickets,andotherexotic pests. Chapters 19 and 20, Title 22, Idaho Code, authorizes the Department of Agriculture to use deficiency warrants for the monitoring and mitigation of invasive species and pests.

Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding refugee medical assistance.

This bill is relating to the Refugee Medical Assistance Act in Chapter 5 Title 56 of Idaho code. It establishes provisions regarding eligibility, limitations on benefits, and defines terms. The bill also declares certain administrative rules null and void.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding advanced opportunities.

The Advanced Opportunities (AO) program provides funds to all Idaho students (public, private, and homeschool) to help pay for CTE fees, dual-credit courses, AP tests, and other academic endeavors to help students “go on” to post-secondary training or education. The longstanding practice has been for homeschool students to use their funds through partnerships with local school districts. However, recent interpretations counter the intent of the Legislature. This law clarifies that homeschool students can also use AO funds to obtain dual credit through community colleges. This bill also provides alignment between public school and private school AO programs for college entrance exams, advising for students who have taken 15 credits through AO, how the state handles a student’s failure on courses or exams, and paying fees for community college dual enrollment.

Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to provide that legislative approval is required for certain state plan amendments and waivers and to provide legislative approval for certain state plan amendments and waivers.

The Medicaid Reform and Cost-Containment Act strengthens Idaho’s Medicaid program by controlling cost, ensuringitslong-termsustainability, protectingruralhealthcareaccess, andimplementingnecessarysafeguards against fraud and abuse. By requiring legislative oversight of Medicaid waivers and amendments, this legislation ensures that critical safety net providers, including rural emergency hospitals and community-based clinics, continue to serve Idaho’s most vulnerable populations. This act prioritizes cost containment by establishing sideboards on Medicaid expansion to maintain fiscal responsibility while ensuring resources are directed to those most in need. Furthermore, it provides a trigger for cost management if Medicaid is changed at the federal level. By balancing healthcare access with financial accountability, this legislation keeps Idaho’s Medicaid program sustainable, efficient, and focused on delivering high-quality care while preventing unnecessary dependency on government services.

Amends and repeals existing law to provide for local school boards to require internet filtering and to remove provisions regarding digital and online library resources and wireless technology standards.

There are currently three sections of code that require local school districts and charter schools to have internet filtering policies: 33-132, 33-137, and 33-1025. This legislation follows the intent of the Idaho Code Cleanup Act by consolidating the three sections into one section, 33-132 and repealing 33-137 and 33-1025. Additionally, it amends 33-2508 to correct a code reference to the new consolidated section 33-132.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund and the School District Facilities Fund.

This legislation makes the first significant changes to provisions governing the usage of the Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund since its creation in HB 743 (2006), nearly 20 years ago. By providing a state backstop for remediating unsafe school facilities, should local efforts fail, this legislation helped to end a long-running school facilities lawsuit in the Legislature’s favor. Since 2006, the fund has been used only once, to address an unsafe school facility in the Plummer-Worley School District. The primary reason it has been little-used is the provision requiring the state to appoint a District Supervisor over the school district while the state-funded project is being completed. This legislation removes the requirement for the state to appoint a District Supervisor for smaller projects, which are more commonly needed at smaller schools in rural Idaho. This is important because rural Idaho school districts, which often have large, untaxable tracts of federally owned land within their boundaries, sometimes do not have enough bonding capacity to replace an entire building. For this reason, the legislation expands the use of this fund to allow school districts to access it for a project for which their authorized bond is inadequate to complete the project. This legislation also changes the mechanism by which most of the costs are repaid by school districts into the fund. The law currently provides for a state-imposed plant facilities levy, which runs for the shorter of 20 years or the full repayment of the school district’s share of the project costs. Under this legislation, the school’s share of the costs would instead be repaid from the school district’s Public Schools Facilities Fund distributions, after the usage of such funds for any bonds already issued prior to July 1, 2025.

Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

This appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for the Division of Indirect Support Services provides enhancements to the FY 2026 maintenance budget that include funding for a SQL server replacement, replacementitemsandOITSrecommendedhardwarereplacements. Thisbillalsoincludessectionsoflanguage directing the department to provide a report on state vehicle inventory, to provide a report on the administrative burdenoffederalgrants, languageprovidingguidanceonfederalfundinglimitations, andprovidingconditions, limitations, and restrictions. Additionally, this bill includes language related to the Division of Licensing and Certification. ThislanguagedirectsthedepartmenttoprovideareportontransitioningtheDivisionofLicensing andCertificationtotheDivisionofOccupationalandProfessionalLicenses(DOPL),aswellaslanguagerelated to transfer limitation exemptions for FY 2025 and FY 2026. This bill does not include enhancement 16, Cloud Server Capacity and Support. This bill also does not provide funding for the purchase of 60 replacement vehicles, as requested by the department. This appropriation represents a $1,105,600 reduction from the agency submitted budget request. Overall, the total FY 2026 budget for Indirect Support Services is 5.9% less than the FY 2025 Original Appropriation, representing a reduction of $3,311,200. This 5.9% reduction from FY 2025 was due to the amount of onetime appropriation in FY 2025 that was not repeated in the FY 2026 budget, as well as from the amount for requested replacement items that were not included in this bill.

Adds to existing law to provide that the director of the Department of Health and Welfare shall seek a waiver to exclude candy and soda from supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits.

This legislation would require the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare to request a waiver from the federal government to be able to exclude candy and soda from SNAP eligible foods. Food stamps are currently fueling the junk food epidemic, with soda ranking as the number one commodity bought with food stamps. Taxpayers are funding a growing health crisis, including childhood obesity. Banning soda and candy from food stamps would prioritize health and nutrition while also reducing taxpayer’s out-of-control Medicaid costs. Make Idaho Healthy Again!

Adds to existing law to provide that ivermectin may be sold or purchased without a prescription or consultation with a health care professional.

This bill allows Ivermectin suitable for human use to be sold over the counter in Idaho without a prescription or consultationwithahealthcareprofessional. Ivermectinhasalonghistoryofsafeuse,andremovingprescription requirements enhances health care freedom, reduces burdens on providers, and ensures Idahoans can access it without unnecessary restrictions.

Amends and adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding the crime of aggravated lewd conduct with a minor child under sixteen, to establish provisions regarding the crime of aggravated lewd conduct with a minor child twelve or under, and to provide a punishment for the crime of aggravated lewd conduct with a minor child twelve or under.

The State of Idaho is one of the least harsh in the nation for sentencing of convicted child molesters. This legislation amends Idaho Code 18-1508 regarding the crimes of lewd conduct with a minor child under the age of sixteen (16). It allows for a jury or judge to impose the death penalty on a person convicted of certain sexual crimes against children when certain statutory aggravating circumstances are proved. This legislation details the special sentencing proceeding, evidence presentation, and jury instructions. It specifies the statutory aggravating circumstances that must be proven for a death penalty sentence. Additionally, it addresses the notice of intent, by the prosecutor, to seek the death penalty and minimum periods of confinement.

Relates to the appropriation to the Military Division for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

This appropriation to the Military Division provides enhancements to the FY 2026 maintenance budget that include a public safety communications network administrator, ITS billing adjustment, replacement items, IT hardware, and funding for hazardous materials regional response. For FY 2025, the bill also provides an additional appropriation of $540,000 to the division for Public Safety Communications support, and an additional $759,200 for IT maintenance and licensing. A cash transfer of $34,200 is provided from the General Fund to the Hazardous Substance Emergency Response Fund to reimburse costs for cleanup of hazardous materials incidents. A cash transfer of $8,600,000 is provided from the State Emergency Relief Fund to the division's Miscellaneous Revenue Fund.