Idaho Bills

Adds to existing law to establish the Idaho Rural Health Transformation Fund and the Rural Health Transformation Committee.

The purpose of this legislation is to establish the Idaho Rural Health Transformation Program in state statute and to create the Idaho Rural Health Transformation Fund within the state treasury. This fund will receive federal grant moneys awarded to Idaho through the federal rural heath transformation program and any additional moneys appropriated by the Legislature. This legislation also establishes the Rural Health Transformation Committee, a legislative oversight body responsible for governance, review, and recommendations related to the use of rural health transformation funds. The committee will ensure funds are used solely for federally approved purposes, are distributed through a transparent and accountable process, and align with Idaho's approved rural health transformation plan. The committee will provide legislative oversight, require sustainability planning for funded initiatives, receive regular reports on expenditures and outcomes, and make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the use of funds. The act includes public reporting requirements and sunsets the committee once all funds have been expended. An emergency clause is included to allow timely implementation consistent with federal grant timelines. RS33184 rural health.

Amends existing law to remove language prohibiting a political subdivision from enacting a minimum wage that is higher than the state minimum wage.

This legislation restores the power of local government to establish an increased minimum wage should it elect to do so.

Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding medical mandates.

Restores medical freedom for all Idahoans by removing vaccine mandate language from school and daycare laws. Makes minor improvements to the Medical Freedom Act. Prohibits local governments from preempting Medical Freedom Act. Changes the immunization information system back to opt in, which it was in the beginning of its creation. It is a privacy violation for an individual’s confidential medical records to be retained by the state without their knowledge and consent.

Adds to existing law to provide for the Legislative Services Office to provide the joint-finance appropriations committee with a calculated reduction from the governor's budget document.

This legislation directs LSO to perform a calculation of historical personnel expenditures compared to original personnel appropriations for each entity with 50 or more FTPs. That ratio is used by JFAC to reduce the agency’s requested amount for increases in employee compensation, benefits, and health insurance.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the practice of physician assistants.

Idaho has been a leader in scope of practice reform, and many past reforms aided Idaho’s application for Rural Health Transformation funds. Further, Idaho’s RHT application indicated that the state would explore the possibility of expanding scope of practice of physician assistants. To address existing provider shortages in this state, this bill expands the scope of practice for physician assistants to assess and treat a patient without physician supervision within the education, training, and experience of the physician assistant and the standard of community care.

Amends existing law to provide that freedom from discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity is a civil right.

This legislation adds the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the Idaho Human Rights Act, provides definitions for these terms, and amends the stated purpose of the Act consistent with the legislation's other amendments.

Amends and adds to existing law to provide for a licensed midwife to obtain and administer medication indicated for maternal care or neonatal care if a midwife possesses requisite education, training, and experience.

This legislation will improve the practice of midwifery in the state of Idaho by removing unnecessary barriers and by deleting obsolete language regarding the formulary for licensed midwives.

Adds to existing law to establish the Merit-Based Health Care Act.

The Merit-Based Health Care Act amends Title 56 of Idaho Code to require that Medicaid-funded employment and contracting decisions be based solely on merit, professional qualifications, and clinical competency. It prohibits discriminatory hiring and specified DEI practices—such as race- or sex-based preferences, mandatory bias training, and ideological pledges—while preserving exemptions for federal civil rights compliance, clinical data collection, and accredited medical training. Compliance is made a material condition of Medicaid participation, enforced by the Attorney General through civil penalties, with a limited private right of action for professionals facing retaliation.

Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding fertility preservation services.

The purpose of this legislation is to protect future reproductive health by ensuring access to fertility preservation services for individuals undergoing cancer treatment that may cause infertility. The legislation requires certain health benefit plans to cover standard fertility preservation procedures, such as the collection and preservation of sperm, unfertilized eggs, or ovarian tissue, for patients receiving medically necessary cancer treatment known to threaten fertility. These services must align with established medical guidelines and do not include continued storage fees.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding Idaho Digital Learning Academy funding.

This legislation makes changes to the funding formula for the Idaho Digital Learning Academy (IDLA), emphasizing its core mission of being a gap filler in our public school system. It addresses concerns about students being double funded in specific situations, overuse by certain schools and students, elementary school programs, driver’s education costs, private school, homeschool, and virtual school program use, and alignment with the statewide general fund cut. It allows districts to pay directly for IDLA enrollments in those situations in which the state will no longer pay. The total fiscal impact of this bill is intended to address the cut proposed in the governor's recommended budget.

Amends existing law to provide for investment in physical gold and silver in certain instances, to provide for storage of physical gold and silver, and to provide for a maximum allowed investment.

RS33781 / S1421 Since the year 2000, the M2 money supply has grown by 380 percent. It has almost quadrupled. A quadrupling of the money supply will eventually accelerate the rate of inflation. By adding physical gold and silver to Idaho Code §57-720 and to Idaho Code §59-1312, the permanent endowment funds authorized by Idaho Code §57-715 and investments into the Public Employee Retirement Funds respectively will be permitted to hold some portion of these funds in physical gold and silver to help secure these assets against the risk of inflation and/or to achieve capital gains as measured in Federal Reserve Notes. The new authority will be confined to holding gold and silver directly and in a manner that does not assume the counter-party risk involved with other current holding, such as corporate bonds, treasury bills, and other debt instruments. This measure does not empower an investment in paper forms of the metal like futures contracts, or other gold and silver derivatives. The authority is confined to physical gold and silver, directly owned by the state and stored in a secure depository or any bank or credit union with a class 1 vault and, if stored in Idaho, licensed by the Department of Finance. The legislation also permits storage in states contiguous to Idaho or in the state of Texas when stored in a precious metals depository.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding student participation in nonacademic public school activities.

This legislation clarifies and strengthens rules governing dual enrollment for students educated in nonpublic schools, public charter schools, and traditional public schools. It refines academic eligibility requirements for participation in nonacademic public-school activities by requiring students to demonstrate grade‑level proficiency through state‑recognized tests or nationally normed assessments, and it assigns oversight of academic standards to the student’s primary education provider. This bill also clarifies residency requirements, ensures that charter‑enrolled students may participate in activities at their resident public school when those activities are not offered at their charter school, and reorganizes existing subsections for clarity.

Amends existing law to provide that certain judges shall not be eligible to serve as a senior judge and may not elect to receive certain retirement compensation.

This legislation will ensure that Idaho voters are able to vote for the replacement judge of their choice when a judge is about to retire. Currently, there is a practice where judges retire so early that their positions are vacated for such a length of time that an appointment is made to fill that vacancy. The appointed judge then becomes the incumbent judge at the next election and is almost guaranteed to be re-elected. This legislation provides that judges must finish their terms if they want to participate in the Senior Judge program, which involves part-time work for judges after retirement. Idaho needs its judges to work part-time after retirement as Idaho's courts typically run at capacity. Judges will agree to these new rules when they file a declaration of candidacy for a new term. Prior to filing a declaration of candidacy for a new term, these new rules will not apply to a sitting judge.