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Legislative Notebook: It was a big week for highly anticipated – and consequential – bills in Idaho • Idaho Capital Sun [1]

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Date: 2025-01-25

In an effort to help Idahoans follow major bills, resolutions and memorials through the legislative process, the Idaho Capital Sun will produce a “legislative notebook” at the end of each week to gather information in one place that concerns major happenings in the Legislature and other news relating to state government. To receive the full extent of our reporting in your inbox each day, sign up for our free email newsletter The Sunrise on our website at idahocapitalsun.com/subscribe/.

Here is our quick rundown of the major happenings during the third week of the Idaho Legislature’s 2025 session.

Legislation introduced to allow public funds for private education, bill introduced to repeal Medicaid expansion

Measures that address some of the most controversial and fiscally consequential issues that may come before the Idaho Legislature all session were introduced this week.

Legislators introduced highly anticipated legislation on Wednesday that would allow millions in public funds to pay for private and religious schooling expenses – referred to as school choice – in the Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate. State lawmakers also introduced on Friday legislation to fully repeal Medicaid expansion in the state after voters passed a law via ballot initiative in 2018 to allow health insurance access for Idahoans that fall within the “Medicaid gap.”

Tens of thousands of Idahoans in the “gap” earned too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to qualify for tax subsidies on Idaho’s health insurance marketplace, Your Health Idaho.

Both issues have come before the Idaho Legislature before, but bills to fund private education with public taxpayer dollars and bills to repeal or reform Medicaid expansion haven’t successfully made it through both chambers of the Legislature in years past.

This year, due to several factors including changes to which legislators make up the relevant committees that hear these bills and prevailing changes at the federal level with the Trump administration, may mean these policies could be on surer footing in 2025.

But standing in their way on both issues is one overarching question: How much will these proposals affect the overall state budget and its financial future?

Democrats, education groups and other advocates have said any proposal that allows public dollars to go toward private education would affect the state’s general fund and its ability to fully fund other public services and infrastructure projects.

Similarly, some Democrats and even one Republican on the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee questioned how much repealing the voter-supported Medicaid expansion law would cost the state.

The Medicaid expansion repeal bill’s fiscal notes estimates it would save the state at least $110 million annually. But Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said repeal may cost the state more than that.

“I think this fiscal note is entirely inaccurate,” Rubel said. “Everything that I’ve seen indicates that it would actually cost the state more to get rid of Medicaid expansion than it would save. … There have been huge savings throughout the system — in corrections and behavioral health, certainly in terms of all those funds we had to stand up before to ensure we don’t lose all the rural hospitals.”

Legislation of interest during the third week of the 2025 session

What to expect next week

Senate State Affairs Committee

House Bill 14, a bill that would require all Idaho state agencies to recommend outdated, obsolete or unnecessary laws for the Idaho Legislature to consider removing, will be before the committee on Monday after passing the House on a 68-0 vote on Thursday.

House State Affairs Committee

House Bill 32, a bill seeking to prohibit the state, cities, counties, public health districts, school districts and state officers from mandating the use of masks, face shields or coverings to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, will be before the committee for a full public hearing on Monday.

Quote of the week

“This bill is not about whether the death penalty is good or bad … Our job is to make sure to carry out the most efficient manner under the bounds of the Constitution.” – Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, on House Bill 37, the bill that would make the firing squad the primary way of administering the death penalty in Idaho

Social media post of the week

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ACLU of Idaho (@acluidaho)

Photo of the week

How to follow the Idaho Legislature and Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s work during the session Here are a few tools we use to track the Legislature’s business and how to let your voice be heard in the issues that matter most to you. How to find your legislators: To determine which legislative district you live in, and to find contact information for your legislators within that district, go to the Legislative Services Office’s website and put in your home address and ZIP code. Once you’ve entered that information, the three legislators – two House members and one senator – who represent your district will appear, and you can click on their headshots to find their email address and phone number. How to find committee agendas: Go to the Idaho Legislature’s website, legislature.idaho.gov, and click on the “all available Senate committee agendas” link and the “all available House committee agendas” link on the right side of the website. How to watch the legislative action in committees and on the House and Senate floors: Idaho Public Television works in conjunction with the Legislative Services Office and the Idaho Department of Administration through a program called “Idaho in Session” to provide live streaming for all legislative committees and for the House and Senate floors. To watch the action, go to https://www.idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/Legislature/ and select the stream you’d like to watch. How to testify remotely at public hearings before a committee: To sign up to testify remotely for a specific committee, navigate to that committee’s webpage, and click on the “testimony registration (remote and in person)” tab at the top. How to find state budget documents: Go to Legislative Services Office Budget and Policy Analysis Division’s website https://legislature.idaho.gov/lso/bpa/budgetinformation/. How to track which bills have made it to Gov. Little’s desk and any action he took on them (including vetoes): Go to the governor’s website https://gov.idaho.gov/legislative-sessions/2025-session/. You can scroll down to the bottom of the site and enter your email address to get alerts sent straight to your inbox when the page has been updated.

Reporting from Idaho Capital Sun journalists Clark Corbin, Mia Maldonado and Kyle Pfannenstiel contributed to this legislative notebook.

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[1] Url: https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/01/25/legislative-notebook-it-was-a-big-week-for-highly-anticipated-and-consequential-bills-in-idaho/

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