Legislative Watch Report - 2023-03-29
The Legislature keeps spending our money, but also considers some major policy improvements.
Recommendations
House
Support H0342, which gives more protection for doctors who perform medically necessary abortions, along with making the process more clear for rape victims to get abortions.
Support H0347, which gives excellent tax credits for parents who do not send their children to government indoctrination centers.
Support H0349, which puts the onus on government bodies to demarcate legally designated Herd Districts, rather than on livestock herders.
Support H0358, which would allow criminal convictions to be set aside if the case against them is discredited by new forensic evidence.
Support H0365, which would end property taxes for homeowners who have paid a total of 10% of the property’s purchase price since they purchased it.
Support H0370, which would reduce the impact of the drug war on cannabis users in Idaho.
Support H0371, a small increase in the grocery tax credit.
Important Bill Status Updates
House
H0163 was signed into law.
H0337 passed the House unanimously, and goes to the Senate this week.
H0338 passed the House by 41 votes, and is being amended in the Senate.
S1015 passed the House by 23 votes and was signed into law.
S1019 passed the House by 39 votes and was signed into law.
S1069 passed the House without objection, and is on the Governor’s desk.
S1097 passed the House by 13 votes and was signed into law.
S1120 passed the House by 14 votes and goes to the Governor this week.
S1125 passed the House by 58 votes and was signed into law.
S1159 passed the House by 23 votes, and is on the Governor’s desk.
Senate
H0113 passed the Senate without objection, and is expected to be signed into law.
H0179 passed the Senate by 21 votes and was signed into law.
H0187 passed the Senate unanimously and was signed into law.
H0191 passed the Senate by 21 votes and was signed into law.
H0198 passed the Senate by 29 votes as amended, and returns to the House for reconsideration thanks to the amendment.
H0224 received a Do Pass recommendation from the Health & Welfare committee.
H0242 was amended in the Senate.
H0262 passed the Senate without objection, and is expected to be signed into law.
H0327 passed the Senate without objection, and is expected to be signed into law.
S1173 passed the Senate as amended by 1 vote, and the House by 50 votes. It goes to the Governor this week.
House Bills
H0340 - Voter Identification Documents
The Bill
H0340 is an iteration on H0126, designed to create some uniformity in the voter registration process. It would require that for any method of registration, one would need to provide a proof of identity and a proof of residence. It also states that student ID cards are not a valid form of ID to vote. They would provide a no-fee alternative ID card from the Idaho Department of Transportation.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We support this bill. If you are going to have elections, you need to put forth effort to prevent fraud and confusion.
H0341 - Crimes, Trafficking, Prostitution
The Bill
H0341 reintroduces H0298 with several spelling corrections.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We continue to be dubious about this bill, being unsure whether it will have the intended effect of protecting women driven into desperate situations from exploitation by pimps.
H0342 - Criminal Abortions, Exceptions
The Bill
H0342 expands the exceptions to Idaho’s abortion ban to ensure that cases where a child has died in the womb, the pregnancy is ectopic or molar are not criminally prosecuted. It also protects medical treatment for a woman who has already had an abortion. It changes the language for situations where a physician applies his judgment to determine that a pregnancy is life-threatening; it allows for cases where medical conditions are not yet life-threatening, but will become so if left untreated, and changes the standard of review for those cases from “good faith” to “reasonable” medical judgment. Finally, it provides that people who report an act of rape or incest to police or child protective services have a right to receive a copy of that report, so that it can be shown to a doctor when pursuing an abortion for those cases.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Each of these changes is a reasonable amendment to Idaho’s abortion ban, accounting for cases where doctors in other states have felt they were not adequately protected under the law in terminating pregnancies to protect the lives of prospective mothers. The access to criminal reports helps deal with the bureaucratic side of the rape and incest exceptions, while still guarding against idle accusations. Regardless of one’s position on the issue of abortion, this bill is a substantial improvement to the law, and we support it.
H0343 - Approp, Edu Bd, Charter Com, Orig
The Bill
H0343 funds the Charter School Commission with $729k to fund 5 full-time positions.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This increase of 7.5% over last year’s budget is slightly over CPI inflation. Nothing about it is egregiously offensive.
H0344 - Approp, Libraries Comm
The Bill
H0344 details the FY2024 budget for the Commission of Libraries.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose the excess spending. They are requesting a budget increase of 53.3%. The budget isn’t for the actual libraries themselves. It is a commission to support libraries.
H0345 - Approp, Cash Transfer, Trailer
The Bill
H0345 moves $50M from the general fund to the Charter School Revolving Loan Fund which previous bills this session had established.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This is a simple accounting move; the funds will be loaned out and are expected to be repaid for the most part.
H0346 - Highway Districts, Subdistricts
The Bill
H0346 reintroduces H0263 with minor technical change, and an expanded discussion of the process to elect highway subdistrict commissioners.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We continue to oppose the expansion in the number of government bureaucrats.
H0347 - Tax Credit, School Choice
The Bill
H0347 reintroduces S1076 with different numbers, expected to cost $30M in Fiscal Year 2024. It also provides the credit for homeschoolers, as well as those sending their children to private schools. The first child in a homeschooling household would yield a $1,300 tax credit, the second $900, the third $500, and any more $200 each.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This bill is an absolute improvement over S1076. Rather than giving an advantage only to private schools, this would give an advantage to all who forgo the government schooling system, helping to counterbalance the additional difficulties that entails. We enthusiastically support the bill, and hope to see the reduction in revenue made up by cutting government spending.
H0348 and H0368 - Salaries of Judges
The Bill
H0248 and H0368 would increase the pay of Supreme Court justices by 3.00% for a total of $165,212. It would increase Court of Appeals judge pay by 4.5% for a total of $157,212. District judges would get a pay increase of 4.7% for a total of $151,212. Magistrate judges would get a pay raise of 8.2% for a total of $143,212.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The proposed increases are all close to the current rate of inflation. We have no reason to oppose.
H0349 - Stray Livestock, Herd District
Background
A Herd District is a legally designated area where Open Range laws do not apply. For example, in a herd district, it is the responsibility of the owner of livestock to prevent them from wandering into the road or onto private lands. In contrast, in Open Range areas, it is the responsibility of landowners to put up fences to keep livestock out.
The Bill
H0349 prevents liability for the owner of livestock when those livestock roam into Herd Districts, if there are no fences and cattle guards enclosing that Herd District. It does not apply in the case of swine.
The bill is set for amendment in the Senate after passing the House by 58 votes.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We support this bill. It cannot be on livestock owners to know where every Herd District’s boundaries are. The governments declaring them are responsible for making them known and keeping their gates.
H0350 - Approp, H&W Behav Hlth, Orig
The Bill
H0350 funds the Division of Behavioral Services with $149.4M, including $58.3M in federal money. It will fund 788 full-time positions, several upgrades to hospitals, and several Substance Abuse programs.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This increases the Idaho-funded budget by just under 9%, substantially over CPI inflation (though likely less than actual inflation). We would hope to see these programs return to the sphere of private charity, which more easily holds addicts accountable for taking the steps toward recovery.
H0351 - Approp, Correction, Orig
The Bill
H0351 details the FY 2024 budget for the Department of Correction.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose this bill. If they stop housing nonviolent criminals, they would be pleasantly surprised how much money they would save.
H0352 - Approp, Soil and Water, Orig
The Bill
H0352 details the budget for the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. It also includes an additional $5 million one-time FY 2023 supplemental for the Water Quality Program for Agriculture.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We would like to see FY 2023 requests be separate from FY2024 requests. With that being said, the FY2024 budget requested is 2.9% more than the original FY2023 budget. This is below the rate of inflation. We have no reason to oppose the budget request.
H0353 - Approp, Edu Department, Orig
The Bill
H0353 funds the Department of Education with $45.8M, including $21.6M in federal funds.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This budget is a 12% reduction over 2023, entirely driven by Federal spending cuts.
Abolish the Department of Education, both nationally and in Idaho.
H0354 - Approp, Transportation, Trailer
The Bill
H0354 spends $647.8M to fund transportation infrastructure construction and maintenance through the end of Fiscal Year 2023 and for the entirety of Fiscal year 2024.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We are Libertarians, a group well known for our hatred and fear of roads. We oppose the funding of such heinous abominations against nature.
Our actual stance: we would hope to see government management of transportation abolished. Private companies already do the construction and maintenance of these infrastructural items. Let them be funded through charity or profit-seeking means.
H0355 - Approp, Millennium Fund, Orig
The Bill
H0355 gives a FY2024 budget for parts of the Millennium Fund that is not accounted for in other bills.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose this spending. They are asking for a 225.1% increase from last year.
H0356 - Approp, H&W Pub Hlth Srvs, Trailer
The Bill
H0356 allocates $250k to satisfy the needs of the Rural Nursing Loan Repayment Fund.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
While we oppose the existence of this program as social engineering, the state still should honor its obligations to average people.
H0357 - Approp, Correction, Add’l
The Bill
H0357 appropriates $750k to fund the possibility of the use of firing squads in place of lethal injections for death sentences.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We dearly wish we could receive three quarters of a million dollars to buy a few guns and set up a firing range. It truly takes a government to be so cost-inefficient.
H0358 - Post-Conviction, Forensic Evidence
The Bill
H0358 would provide a way for convictions to be set aside if the scientific evidence used to convict is later discredited.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We support this bill. We wouldn’t want someone retaining a conviction based on questionable evidence.
H0359 - Approp, State Police, Orig
The Bill
H0359 details the FY2024 budget for the Idaho State Police. They are requesting a total of $102,963,100.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose this bill. We do not condone the current methodology for policing and wish to see it dismantled.
The police operate much like a mafia, enforcing the laws at their own discretion, with no real ability for their racketeering victims to substantially impact those choices. They protect their own from punishment except in the most extreme situations, using legal tools such as qualified immunity and processes like “internal investigations” that yield no justice. They even receive military equipment to use against civilians if those civilians prove unruly, while gun control advocates insist that semi-automatic rifles are too dangerous for the average citizen to own.
The task of investigating rights violations, tracking down the violators, and delivering them for justice does need to be done. However, the modern policing and judicial systems are the wrong approach. We support the abolishment of centralized criminal law, enforcement, and punishment, to be replaced with market solutions like those proposed by David Friedman in his book The Machinery of Freedom (see a summary here).
H0360 - Approp, ISP, Judicial, Add’l
The Bill
H0360 spends $107.5k for the Idaho State Police Support Services Program to develop a record annotation system, and $100,000 for the Senior Judges program to pay personnel.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose the spending on police departments, though we take no issue with paying the promised amounts to retired judges.
H0361 - Approp, Water Resources, DEQ, add’l
The Bill
H0361 spends $272M to fund water quality projects under the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Water Resources.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Most of these funds are being spent to keep up water purification and delivery systems. We would prefer that those systems be sold to private companies to maintain.
H0362 - Approp, Liquor Division, Orig
Background
A similar budget was requested in S1149. It had passed the Senate 20-14-1 and failed the House 13-56-1.
The Bill
H0362 is another bill detailing the FY 2024 budget for the Liquor Division. It is slightly more than the previous request in S1149, accounting for inflationary adjustments.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose this bill. The state should not be allowed to have a monopoly on alcohol.
H0363 - Approp, Edu Bd, Career Tech, Orig
The Bill
H0363 spends $19M on the Division of Career Technical Education to fund 11.5 full-time positions, along with several programs under that division. $11.2M of the funds come from the federal government.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The only element of this bill which we can support is a $434k federal spend on firefighter training. Idaho’s firefighters aren’t going to be privatized any time soon, so it is good for them to get the equipment and training they need, especially on federal money-printer dime.
H0364 - Approp, Education, Trailer
The Bill
H0364 allocates $50M to fund the Career Ready Students program which was passed in H0267.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We opposed H0267, and we similarly oppose this bill funding it.
H0365 - Property Tax Cap for Homeowners
The Bill
H0365 places a cap on the property taxes payable by homeowners by providing a property tax cap exemption. The County determines the homeowner’s property tax cap by calculating ten percent of the purchase price.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We support this bill. With the current arrangement where homeowners pay property taxes indefinitely, they never truly own their homes. It will take roughly thirty years to reach the cap, and should be a tremendous help to the elderly on fixed budgets.
H0366 - Medicaid Conditions
Background
The Affordable Care Act of 2010 included massive expansions of Medicaid availability, including to able-bodied adults who are otherwise able to earn an income.
The Bill
H0366 adds and enhances requirements for able-bodied adults to receive Medicaid funds, such as a work requirement and enrollment caps.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We would prefer to see Medicaid entirely abolished. However, the effect of this bill is likely to be a nullification of the 2010 Medicaid expansion, which we entirely support.
H0367 - Approp, Pdc and Dhr, Trailer
The Bill
H0367 funds the newly created State Public Defender office in the Public Defense Commission with $4.4M.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We took no issue with H0236, which created this office. The cost is reasonable for the purpose being served.
H0369 - Approp, H&W Medicaid, Orig
The Bill
H0369 funds the Medicaid program in Idaho with $4,539,917,000 (four point five billion dollars), $3B of which is federal money.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Medicaid should be abolished and replaced with voluntary charity. This increase of 12.2% over last year’s budget is both extravagant and expected.
H0370 - Idaho Medical Cannabis Act
The Bill
H0370 would allow medical cannabis in the state of Idaho. It would be tightly regulated and only for those diagnosed with a substantial health condition. There would also be limitations on what is considered “medical cannabis”. It would be limited to cannabis that is processed into a tablet, chewable, droplet or pill containing up to 10 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We do not agree with limiting who has access to cannabis, nor the limiting definition of what cannabis is considered legal vs is what is not. We still support this bill as a first step in decriminalizing cannabis.
H0371 - Grocery Tax Credit
The Bill
H0371 would increase the FY 2023 planned $120 food tax credit to $180. It would give those over the age of 65 an additional $20 for a total food tax credit of $200. This increased amount would apply to future years as well.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We support this bill. Preferably we would want food, a non-optional purchase for all, never to be taxed in the first place. While we work toward this goal, we will happily take back the additional $60.
Senate Bills
S1189 - Approp, Transportation, Orig
The Bill
S1189 funds the Transportation Department with $1.03B to fund infrastructure maintenance and 1600 full-time positions.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This bill is a 23.8% cut from Fiscal Year 2023, and an even larger reduction in state funds, with federal funding amounts increasing. We generally like to see budgets shrink, though we dislike seeing federal spending increase and tie the Idaho government more closely to the Federal.
S1190 - Approp, Military Division, Add’l
The Bill
S1190 is an FY 2023 supplemental appropriation for the Military Division. They are requesting $19,000,000 for the Jerome Readiness Center.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
From our understanding, the Jerome Readiness Center is for the National Guard. We would consider funding it if the state would agree to never deploy the National Guard to undeclared wars. Until that happens, we consider this a misuse of taxpayer funds and oppose this bill.
S1191 - State Personnel, Compensation
The Bill
S1191 requires that no more than 15% of each executive agency’s workforce can work remotely at any one time, and requires monitoring of remote workers in order to ensure productivity.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Government employees are by definition unproductive. We would prefer that they all stop working. However, we don’t want to pay their salaries while they do so. We take no issue with this bill.
S1192 - Approp, Energy Resources, Orig
The Bill
S1192 funds the Office of Energy and Mineral Reserves with $8.2M to fund 11 positions. $7M comes from federal funds.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The Idaho-funded elements of this bill are barely increasing. Federal funds are largely funding the IIJA Resilient Grid Grant program, part of the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” which Joe Biden’s administration bragged about, as they printed $1.2B to destroy the value of our currency. We would rather Idaho stop using the US Dollar and refuse these inflation funds.
S1193 - Approp, DEQ, Trailer
The Bill
S1193 funds the ability for the Department of Environmental Quality to engage in contracts with private organizations, giving $180,200 for the first such contract.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We took no issue with S1098, but we would hope to see a reduction in costs in the long run, rather than an increase in spending.
S1194 - Alcohol, Licenses, Theaters
Background
There are a limited number of alcohol licenses available for any given city. Alcohol sale licenses must be put into active use in order to be maintained. If it is not used, the license is returned to the pool to be sold to another establishment.
The Bill
S1194 allows for cities, counties, and other municipalities up to 3 years to put alcohol licenses into active use, rather than the 6 months that applies normally. It also allows historical theaters (built prior to 1950) to maintain their licenses so long as they are used at least 2 times per year, even if 6 months elapse between uses.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We would prefer to see the alcohol license system entirely abolished. As it is, this is likely to cause licenses to trend toward government-owned establishments, so we oppose the bill.
S1195 - Approp, H&W Medicaid Trailer
Background
This session, S1097 created the Medicaid Management Information Systems Dedicated Fund (MMIS), intended to be used to fund IT upgrades in the State’s Medicaid department.
The Bill
S1195 funds the MMIS with $18.6M to build out the IT infrastructure, and $143M (including $129M Federal) for Medicaid operating expenses.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Just as we opposed S1097, we oppose funding its effects.
S1196 - Approp, Park & Rec, Transfers
The Bill
S1196 transfers $95M from the General Fund to the Parks and Recreation Fund to cover the costs of maintenance, capital projects, and projects undertaken with other government agencies.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This money was already spent in other bills this and last year; this simply moves the money into the place where Parks & Rec is able to spend it. There is no reason to oppose this simple accounting.
S1197 - Approp, Perm Bldg Fund, Orig
The Bill
S1197 appropriates $185.2M to fund the maintenance of the government’s permanent buildings, including offices, prisons, police departments, and museums.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The state does need to maintain its properties. We would hope to see prisons closed as a result of ending the drug war and other overcriminalization programs in Idaho, so that these buildings could be sold off and closed down.
S1198 - Approp, Attorney Gen, Orig, FY 2024
The Bill
S1198 funds the office of the Attorney General with $33.2M to cover 228 full-time positions.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This is an increase of 8% over last year’s budget. The office is a necessary part of the government’s organization, but it is clearly doing too much if it needs such a large and well-paid staff.
S1199 - Approp, SAPD, Orig
The Bill
S1199 is a modified reintroduction of S1172. The new bill is for a lesser amount of money.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We have no reason to oppose this bill.
S1200 - Commissioner Salaries
The Bill
S1200 would provide pay increases for each of the Public Utilities Commissioners, State Tax Commissioners, and Industrial Commissioners.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The amount being asked is reasonable, but we are opposing it. We don’t want to make the State Tax Commissioners’ jobs any more lucrative or desirable.
S1201 - Approp, DOPL, Orig
The Bill
S1201 details the FY2024 budget for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The budget requested is down 11.7% percent from the previous year. We appreciate the reduction in government spending.
S1202 - Approp, Edu Bd, Office Orig, Add’l
The Bill
S1202 details the budget for the Office of the State Board of Education.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
They are asking for an increase of 183.1% over last year’s budget. We oppose this bill and would prefer to see a 100% reduction in their budget.
S1203 - Approp, Child Care, Add’l
The Bill
S1203 would provide an additional $28,025,000 in federal funds for one-time child care grants for FY 2023.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We strongly oppose this bill. Getting our daycare system reliant on federal funding is not the solution to the shortage of daycare workers and the rise costs of daycare.
S1204 - 1210 - Approp, Pub Schls Admin
The Bill
These bills all pertain to funding various parts of the public school system.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose all funding requests for the government-run public school system. Taxpayers are not getting a proper return on investment. Despite increases in spending, we are still one of the lowest ranking states in student performance. The current public school model is designed to make obedient factory workers instead of teaching our children to be critical thinkers and creative innovators. To make matters worse, they are also instilling in our children their own ideals for spirituality and morality through social emotional learning. It’s time to stop co-parenting with the government and take back control of our children’s education.
S1211 - Various Funds, Year-end Cash Trans
The Bill
S1211 transfers a total of $145.9M from the General Fund to several other government funds, to cover expenses for programs like police training and Workforce Development Council training. All of these programs are already in place, merely waiting for the expected funds.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose just about every program related to this bill. The funds transfers are just part of how they get carried out.
S1212 - Approp, Work Dev Council, Add’l
The Bill
S1212 would provide an additional appropriation of $5,000,000 to expand Idaho Launch.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
We oppose the Idaho Launch program and oppose this bill dedicating yet even more taxpayer money for it.
Amended Bills
H0058a - School Bond Elections
The Bill
H0058 would modify Idaho Code pertaining to School Bond and Levy elections. It would remove the ability for school districts to have interim March and and August elections and would consolidate the elections to the May primaries and November general elections.
The Amendment
The amendment removes about a page and half of content pertaining to the maintenance of schools that doesn’t impact the core intent - modifying the election dates.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Our stance has not changed: this bill does not have a direct effect on liberty. Its impact on election results are somewhat unpredictable, but would tend to favor candidates associated with the largest political parties, which focus their Get Out The Vote efforts mostly on national and state elections. Out-of-band elections are much easier for smaller parties and movements to win, because they are likely to only see turnout from the most engaged voters. Therefore, while we have no reason to oppose the bill in principle, it is likely to cause additional strategic challenges to the Libertarian Party to the extent that we focus on school board elections.
H0188a - Unclaimed Property Act
The Bill
Idaho Code Title 14, Chapter 5 delineates the manner by which a property is determined to be abandoned or unclaimed, and how a person or business can establish a claim on it for new use.
H0188 completely replaces Title 14, Chapter 5, with many changes to account for the changes in society since the chapter was substantially updated in 1983. It includes references to digital goods like video game microtransactions, virtual and cryptocurrencies, company loyalty cards, and other more modern economic phenomena.
The Amendment
There are two amendments to this bill. The first amendment increases the frequency that notice should be published in the newspaper from every six months to three months. It also specifies that the administrator shall publish at least one notice in the official newspaper of each Idaho county at least three weeks but not more than five weeks in advance of any sale pursuant to this section.
The second amendment extends many of the timelines for claiming property from three years to five years.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Our stance has not changed: this chapter is a massive rewrite, and is far too large for this committee to feel confident giving an informed opinion. We suspect that there are likely serious issues in some part of the chapter which will only be discovered when it comes into effect and conflicts are brought before the courts. Based on that suspicion, we would oppose this major rewrite and prefer to see targeted, specific changes.
H0192a - Pub Assist, Eligibility, Statute
The Bill
H0192 states that any change in eligibility criteria, including financial eligibility criteria, for a public assistance program must be provided in statute and may not be provided in rule.
The Amendment
The amendment changes the title and specifies more clearly that they are referring to financial eligibility. The spirit of the bill remains unchanged.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
This bill does not affect liberty.
H0193a - Facilities, Caregivers, Visitation
The Bill
H0193 is one more avenue to prevent long-term care facilities from imposing isolation on their patients. It defines the term “essential caregiver” broadly, allowing for a person’s close relatives to act as their caregiver, forbidding facilities from defining the term more narrowly.
The Amendment
The amendment makes some modifications to the definitions. It specifies that facilities can have reasonable restrictions on the number of essential caregivers who may visit at the same time. It also adds details to address minors stating that if a patient or resident is a minor or incapacitated, visitation requests must be approved by a person with legal authority to make decisions on behalf of the patient or resident, such as a parent, guardian, or conservator.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Our stance has not changed: we oppose this bill.
H0219a - Scholarships, Armed Forces, Officer
The Bill
This is an education scholarship for the spouses and children of armed forces and public safety officers who are deployed to areas of conflict, disabled, or deceased. It allows such individuals that qualify to not have any tuition or fees at Idaho public higher education institutions or Idaho public career technical colleges. They are also given a set amount of money to cover books, equipment and supplies necessary each quarter.
H0219 would increase the amount for books, equipment and supplies from $500 per quarter to $750 per quarter. It would also extend the eligibility cutoff from 10 years after achieving a high school diploma or equivalent to 19 years after.
The Amendment
The amendment changes the verbage from “disabled” to “unemployable”.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
Our stance has not changed: we oppose this bill.
H0269a - School courses, Career Exploration
The Bill
H0269 would require public school students at some point in their 7th or 8th grade year to take a career exploration course. Students will then develop a career pathway plan with the approval of parents and guardians, and with the advice and recommendation from school personnel.The purpose of a parent-approved student career pathway plan is to outline a course of study and learning activities for students to become college-ready and career-ready as contributing members of society.
The Amendment
The amendment would allow students to submit a form showing the student’s parent or legal guardian has consented to the student not participating.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The amendment represents an improvement. We still oppose the bill as a whole.
S1173a - Resistance by Threatened Party
The Bill
S1173 protects the right of people to declare or show that they have a firearm in situations where they need to defend themselves against unlawful use or attempted use of physical force.
The Amendment
The amendment removes the word “immediately”, changing the criteria from physical force is immediately necessary to just necessary.
Stance of the LPID Legislative Watch Committee
The amendment makes a slight improvement. Our stance has not changed: we support this bill.