Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to provide additional exceptions to insurance discrimination and rebate provisions for value-added products or services.

Thepurposeofthislegislationistocreateanallowanceforconsumertobeprovided,forfreeoratareducedrate, risk mitigation devices and services. Possible examples include fitness trackers provided by health insurance companies, or water/leak detection devices provided by homeowners insurance companies. It also clarifies that participation in arrangements that do not violate certain sections of the Bank Holding Company Act and the Home Owners’ Loan Act are permitted.

Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to revise provisions regarding the returning and verification of absentee ballots.

Currently, Idahoans who vote by absentee ballot must sign the affidavit on the outside of the return envelope, exposing the voter’s signature to anyone who sees the mail. The county clerk then accepts the ballot if the signature appears to match the signature in the voter registration record. However, signature matching is an inexactscience. Thislegislationprovidesbothforimprovedelectionintegrityandpersonalinformationsecurity in the absentee balloting process. It does this by adding the requirement that the voter also write their driver’s license or state photo ID number, and the last four digits of their social security number, and requiring the Secretary of State to design a system by which this personally identifiable information, including the voter’s signature, is not be visible on the outside of the return envelope. The solution will likely be either a large-flap two-envelope system or a three-envelope system.

Amends existing law to require law enforcement agencies to adopt a policy against motorcycle profiling and to require training of law enforcement officers regarding the prohibition against motorcycle profiling.

In the 2020 session S 1292 was passed stating that no state or local law enforcement agent or law enforcement agency shall engage in motorcycle profiling. This follow-up legislation simply provides that state and local law enforcement agencies shall adopt a policy to that effect and distribute the policy to all law enforcement agents. It further provides that the prohibition of motorcycle profiling be a part of minimum basic training at the peace officer standards and training council.

Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to provide for campaign finance transparency.

Idaho’s campaign finance laws, also known as the sunshine laws, were originally enacted in 1974 by a citizen initiative to increase transparency regarding money spent on political campaigns and lobbying. This legislation updates and reorganizes the campaign finance laws to increase transparency, simplify reporting, and improve enforcement to better align with increased spending and modern practices in political campaigns. The legislation reorganizes the campaign finances laws by moving the provisions from Title 67, Chapter 66, State Government and State Affairs, to Title 74, Chapter 3, Transparent and Ethical Government. This new chapter separates the reporting requirements and responsibilities into five parts. It also separates the reporting requirements for campaign finance from the reporting requirements for lobbying. Additionally, the legislation makes several changes designed to increase the frequency of reporting, adjust the campaign finance limitations, and improve enforcement by creating an improved fine structure.

Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to establish the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act.

This bill is the result of five years of intense study by legal experts, community groups, and others of the existing Idaho Conservatorship/Guardianship Probate Code. This bill adds more protections for those involved in the process on multiple levels. It provides clarity in areas where questions have arisen in the current Code. It provides multiple detailed alternatives to formal Conservatorship/Guardianship court proceedings, including Protective Arrangements and Supported Decision Making. It retains multiple Idaho procedures that are working well. It requires detailed information at the beginning of a process under the Code. It protects the constitutional rights of persons subject to the Code or those affected by proceedings under the Code, including through more stringent notice provisions, required written statements of rights both at service of the petition and before hearings. It sets higher standards of evidence (usually ‟clear and convincing”). It also moves the Conservatorship/Guardianship provisions for persons with a developmental disability into the Probate Code. This gives the additional protections in the Probate Code while retaining all the existing protections in the developmental disability code. The bill also organizes the Code into a more logical set of Chapters. It also contains model forms and model statements of rights.

Amends and adds to existing law to establish the Idaho Education Opportunity Program.

This legislation creates the Idaho Education Opportunity Program (IEOP) to provide families with school age students, Kindergarten to 12th Grade, a choice to utilize up to 80% of the average per student state funding. EligibleSpecialEducationStudentswouldqualifyfor100%. ThefundingforanIEOPaccountcouldbeusedfor eligible expenses, including Tuition at an accredited private school. or a Personalized Student Education Plan thatwouldincludeexpendituresforTextbooks,reasonabletransportation,educationequipmentandtechnology, educational therapies, fees for testing, admissions, fees to manage the IEOP account, tuition for individual classes, uniforms, tutoring, and technology devices. Eligible Students from families with less than $75,000 of Adjusted Gross Income, entering the program as a kindergarten student, or applying after having attended an Idaho Public School for 90 days in the prior school year, will have priority of appropriated funds. Students in families with an AGI’s greater than $75,000, can be eligible at reduced participation rates. The public school district or charter school of record shall receive the balance of the average distribution (20%) of the average distribution calculation. The Parents agree that IEOP funds shall only be used according to the approved uses andagreethatanyQualifiedSchoolshallprovidetheparentswiththeresultsofanationallynormedassessment. Use of funds for a Personalized Student Education Plan will include a nationally normed assessment. To renew theaccounttheparentshalldemonstratethattheirstudentisatgradelevelorhasshownonefullyearofacademic growth. The bill also establishes a deduction of paid tuition and fees from a families taxable income, excluding any tuition and fees paid with IEOP funds. The effective date of this bill is January 1, 2026, and the first applications will be received by June 15, 2026, for the 2027 school year. The IEOP would likely provide 3,100 students to have the funds to choose an alternative to the Public Scho

Amends existing law to revise a provision regarding the salaries of judges.

Judicial Salaries are established by the Legislature in section 59-502, Idaho Code, which also indexes such salaries to a Supreme Court Justice’s salary to avoid salary compression between the four types of judgeships. JudicialsalariesinIdahohavesimplynotkeptpacewithmarketchanges. Insix(6)ofthelastsixteen(16)years no increase to judicial salaries has been provided via amendment to § 59-502. At the same time, salaries for experienced attorneys have increased. The resulting lag of judicial compensation behind the market salaries for other experienced attorney positions creates serious hurdles to recruiting and retaining experienced, qualified attorneys to serve as Idaho’s judges. Five (5) years ago District Judge openings resulted in an average of eleven (11) applicants per position. By this past fiscal year, that number had plummeted to 4.6 candidates per opening, and several recent District Judge openings only received applications from the bare minimum of three (3) candidates. Judges are also leaving the bench to return to other work. While no judges left the bench to returntootherworkinfiscalyear2023, three(3)judgesdidinfiscalyear2024, andfour(4)judgeshavedoneso thus far in fiscal year 2025. Adequate judicial compensation is routinely cited as a primary reason experienced Idaho attorneys do not pursue or continue a judicial career. This bill seeks to establish judicial salaries that are more competitive with the compensation for other public and private sector experienced attorney positions in Idaho and the judicial compensation rates paid by the states surrounding Idaho. Specifically, this bill will set the annual salary of a Magistrate Judge at $193,000, a District Judge at $201,000, a Court of Appeals Judge at $207,000, and a justice of the Supreme Court at $215,000.

Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding photographic identification on electronic benefit transfer cards.

This legislation would require the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare to add photographic identification to new electronic benefit transfer cards issued to recipients and to develop a strategy to replace current electronic benefit cards to include photo ID. The intent of this legislation is to add accountability and reduce fraud and misuse in SNAP.

Proposes a state constitutional amendment to require any referendum petition or initiative petition to be signed by at least 6% of legal voters at the last general election in each legislative district.

This Joint Resolution will ask the People to vote on more fairly distributing voter involvement in the initiative and referenda process. If passed by the People, the Joint Resolution will ensure that voters from all thirty-five legislative districts around the state are considered, versus only just over half of the legislative districts as is currently allowable. This Joint Resolution maintains the same total number of signatures that are currently required, but it will also require a minimum number of those signatures come from each of the thirty-five legislative districts around the state. The Joint Resolution addresses the current practice of "venue shopping" by well-funded activist organizations. If passed by the Legislature, the Joint Resolution will be placed on the November 2026 General Election ballot, and voters will ultimately decide whether or not to adopt the Resolution.

Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding the deprivation of religious liberty or freedom of speech by a governmental entity.

An articulated right is meaningless without a mechanism for enforcement. In line with the principle of Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium (Where there is a Right, There is a Remedy), this bill ensures citizens have recourse if a government entity violates their rights enumerated in Section 9, Article I (Freedom of Speech) or Section 4, Article I (Guaranty of Religious Liberty) of the Idaho Constitution. A lawsuit could be filed according to existing procedure found in the Idaho Tort Claims Act, chapter 9, Title 6, Idaho Code.

Amends and adds to existing law to establish a wildfire risk mitigation and stabilization pool, fund, and board.

The purpose of this legislation is to address the challenges consumers are facing in obtaining affordable property coverage due to potential wildfire risk. Insurers across the country are contracting or withdrawing from certain areas due to the risk of wildfire. Some states have seen a significant number of carriers leave the entire state. The issue is driven due to the number of forest fires, the high volume of properties damaged by wildfires in other states, the high cost of reinsurance to mitigate the risk and the inflationary cost to replace structures. As insurers contract, it causes market instability and consolidation risk. Other insurers are forced to reconsider their market share. Insurers who stay in the market face consolidation issues which could create solvency issues. The proposal aims to improve and stabilize the market through the creation of an Idaho Wildfire Risk Mitigation and Stabilization Pool and board. It is modeled after mitigation pools and programs in other states. It will provide grants to assist consumers in hardening their homes for the risk of fires, and also look for other ways to utilize the non-general fund sources to stabilize the property insurance market in Idaho.