Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to revise the definition of “authorized chartering entity.”

This legislation removes the prohibition on sectarian higher-ed institutions from being an authorized chartering entity for public charter schools. It also clarifies what accreditation requirements a college or university must possess to be an authorized chartering entity for a public charter school.

Adds to existing law to provide for the partition of heirs property in certain instances.

TheUniformPartitionofHeirsPropertyActaddressesaproblemfacedbymanymiddletolow-incomefamilies who own real property: dispossession of their land through a forced sale. For many of these families, real estate is their single most valuable asset. Heirs property is real estate owned by the legal heirs of a previous owner. Under current law, multiple heirs take ownership as tenants-in-common, an unstable form of ownership that too often results in the heirs losing their land through a forced partition sale. Millions of dollars of inherited wealth have been lost by families who were vulnerable to real-estate speculators. The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) provides additional due process protections for heirs. UPHPA helps preserve wealth for the heirs who want to retain their property while allowing other heirs to sell their shares of property at a fair price. Nothing in UPHPA prevents a willing buyer and a willing seller from transferring an ownership interest in heirs property. Furthermore, if all co-tenants of a parcel of heirs property agree in writing to a plan of partition, UPHPA does not apply.

Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to revise provisions regarding the legislative review of administrative rules.

The volume and complexity of administrative rules has become unwieldy, and legislative responsibility in this regard must be addressed sooner rather than later. Recent practice is that the Legislature approves the entirety of the Idaho administrative rules structure every year. The purpose of this legislation is to put all administrative rules on an eight-year expiration cycle. This will have the benefit of ensuring that each rule is periodically reviewed for continued relevance and applicability. Beginning July 1, 2026, the eight-year cycle will enable agencies, the Division of Financial Management, and the Legislature to spread this work out over time, rather than the current practice of the Legislature approving annually every administrative rule in existence at once. This legislation also requires every proposed administrative rule to be approved by a concurrent resolution of the Legislature in order to be in effect after the Legislature adjourns each year, sine die. In addition, the legislation requires agencies to allow oral public testimony on their administrative rule proposals, by video conference or phone, improving opportunities for public input, especially for those Idahoans living outside the Boise area. It also requires the agency to post the recording of the public hearing on the agency’s website for at least three years, improving public transparency.

Amends existing law to provide for property tax reduction by city or county initiative and to require voter approval of levy rate increases.

This proposed bill amends section 34-1801B and 34-1801C to clarify applicability to property taxes. It also amends section 63-802 to provide an opportunity for citizens to approve or reject an increase in the levy rate for a local taxing district.

Amends existing law to remove a prohibition on minimum wage-setting by local governments.

This legislation would repeal the prohibition on political subdivisions adopting a higher minimum wage than the statewide minimum wage.

Amends existing law to provide that moneys in the Public School Income Fund and the In-Demand Careers Fund shall be treated as moneys from the General Fund.

House Bill 1 of the 2022 Extraordinary Session established a new transfer from sales tax distributions to the Public School Income Fund and the In-Demand Careers Fund. Both funds are categorized as dedicated funds. ThisbillprovidesforthesetwodistributionstobetrackedandreportedastheGeneralFund. FundingforPublic Schools is primarily provided from the General Fund and each Public School Appropriation Bill accounts for the original fund source for tracking and reporting purposes. This bill maintains that precedent.

Amends existing law to provide that a residential care or assisted living facility resident shall be entitled to in-person visitation subject to certain precautions.

This legislation amends Section 39-3316, Idaho Code, to provide for in-person visitation rights.