House members debated whether to get rid of the Empowering Parents microgrant program sooner, or later.
Sooner prevailed.
The House Education Committee approved a bill that would eliminate the program on June 30 — which would give families only a few months to spend their state-funded grants, or lose them entirely.
Like its pandemic-era predecessor, Strong Families, Strong Students, Empowering Parents has covered out-of-pocket education expenses. Grants max out at $1,000 per child or $3,000 per household.
Sen. Camille Blaylock, the sponsor of the repeal bill, said about 80% of the money is going toward computer equipment, creating a technology “slush fund” that has outlived its pandemic purpose. “This program risks becoming a permanent entitlement.”
Parents and vendors argued for keeping the program — saying the grants also help families pay for music and dance lessons. One mother turned over some of her time to let her daughters play violin and cello and tout the benefits of the program.
“This money is so impactful for these kids,” said Sarah Vuittonet, the owner of a Nampa dance studio. “To take that away from them and their parents is just disgusting.”
Currently, about $40 million sits in the Empowering Parents fund — the $30 million of state money earmarked for this year, and about $10 million of unspent money. Families would have ample communication about the June 30 deadline, Blaylock said. And the state’s Empowering Parents vendor, ClassWallet, collects 2% from Empowering Parents purchases, and would be motivated to help families spend their money, she said.
Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, said she was worried that families will spend the money wildly in order to beat the deadline. She tried to talk the committee into phasing out the program.
“This feels a little bit rushed,” she said. “Love this or hate this, this money has been promised.”
Other committee members were unpersuaded.
“At some point we have to tear off the Band-Aid,” said Rep. Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston.
“It’s great to have fun money, but it’s not great to have fun money when you’re dipping into your neighbor’s pocket to pay for it,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski, R-Post Falls.
The committee voted 10-4 to send Senate Bill 1142 to the House floor, recommending it pass. The Senate passed this bill Thursday.
Anti-DEI bill easily clears Senate
Senate Republicans overwhelmingly approved an anti-DEI bill.
Senate Bill 1198 would bar colleges and universities from opening diversity, equity and inclusion offices, hiring DEI officers or requiring DEI-related coursework, unless it’s part of a chosen degree program.
Colleges and universities that violate these provisions, and decline to “cure” violations within 30 days, could face a 2% cut in state funds for the division or office where the violation occurred.
Sponsoring Sen. Ben Toews said Idaho colleges and universities are “suppressing the search for truth using divisive DEI techniques under the banner of Marxist critical theory.”
“Should our institutions of higher education be havens for free inquiry and pursuit of truth, or should they be vehicles for indoctrination and activism under a worldview that rejects the very idea of objective truth?” said Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene.
The Senate voted 27-8 to approve the bill. Just two Republicans opposed it.
Sen. Jim Guthrie said it could be costly for colleges and universities to comply with the DEI prohibitions. And the Legislature shouldn’t be “taking the lead on what we think should or shouldn’t be taught,” he argued. However, he acknowledged that something “needs to be done” related to DEI.
“There’s some sideboards that need to be put up, and I think the State Board did that with their policy,” said Guthrie, R-McCammon.
The State Board of Education in December adopted a resolution barring student support centers “based on DEI ideology” and prohibited “a central office, policy, procedure, or initiative” grounded in DEI.
Much of the Senate debate focused on the message that restricting DEI on campuses would send. Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow argued that the movement to quash DEI is inspired by “fear” of “ideas that are challenging the status quo.”
“Throughout history, the greatest threats to freedom have not come from open debate, but from the suppression of it,” said Wintrow, D-Boise. “When we start banning discussions about diversity, equity, inclusion, we’re not protecting our values, we’re banning them.”
Sen. Todd Lakey countered that diversity, equity and inclusion “seem to be reasonable words.” But colleges and universities have “taken those terms and twisted them into discrimination.” said Lakey, R-Nampa. “We’re going to force diversity, we’re going to force equity, we’re going to force inclusion and give advantage to someone in the name of those terms.”
SB 1198 now heads to the House.
Senate declines to fund administrative costs for House Bill 93
The Senate rejected a bill that would have funded seven positions to administer House Bill 93’s private education tax credit.
The budget bill proposed $675,000 for the State Tax Commission to set up the tax credit and hire two software engineers, a taxpayer services representative, a financial specialist, a tax auditor, a technical record specialist and a tax compliance officer.
An irregular coalition of 22 senators rejected the budget. Opponents included a mix of spending-averse conservative hardliners along with Democrats and Republicans who opposed HB 93. Passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Brad Little last month, the bill created a $50 million program for private school and home-school expenses.
Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking noted that the cost to administer the program has already gone up. Idaho Education News previously reported that the bill’s fiscal note — which called for $255,800 in administrative costs — did not accurately reflect the positions needed.
“The way I’m looking at it, these aren’t auditors,” said Ward-Engelking, D-Boise. “They’re not going to tell us how the money was spent. They’re just going to implement the program.”
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee could rework the budget proposal and draft a new bill. If not, the Tax Commission could be obligated to administer the program using its existing budget.
Senate committee approves bill allowing local governments to tap state legal funds
A bill that would allow local governments to tap into state legal defense funds is heading to the Senate.
The Senate State Affairs Committee voted along party lines Monday to advance Senate Bill 1125. Sen. Dan Foreman’s bill would allow local governments to request aid from the Idaho Constitutional Defense Fund when they’re sued over a law passed by the Legislature.
Earlier this month, national book publishers, authors, the Donnelly Public Library and some Idaho parents filed a lawsuit challenging House Bill 710 in federal court. The Eagle Public Library and three county prosecutors — from Ada, Nez Perce and Valley counties — were named as defendants along with the state.
Local governments with small budgets can be “buffaloed” by lawsuits from groups with more resources, said Senate President Pro Tem Kelly Anthon, and it behooves the state to stand behind its laws.
“Sometimes, when the Legislature passes (a law), they anticipate it may be challenged, and that’s just the process,” said Anthon, R-Rupert. “If we shied away from a piece of legislation every time we think that it may be challenged … I don’t think we’re doing our job.”
Advocacy groups representing cities and counties testified in support of the bill. Shoshone County Prosecutor Benjamin Allen said a judgment against a small local government can “break the budget … not to mention the difficulty in summoning the resources needed to litigate in the first place.”
“As elected local officials, we strive to be good stewards of the resources that we’re tasked with managing and supportive partners to our fellow elected officials at the state level,” Allen said. “That support can be tested when new legislation is passed and private interest groups challenge the constitutionality of that legislation.”
Sen. James Ruchti cast the sole vote against the bill. The Pocatello Democrat seized an opportunity to chide the Legislature’s Republican supermajority for enacting “constitutionally specious” laws.
“It’s legislation we knew darn well was going to be constitutionally challenged, and we’ve put local governments right in the middle of this,” he said. “This body is not, in my opinion, disciplined enough to recognize good policy and bad politics.”
House passes WWAMI bill, sending it to Little
The amended WWAMI medical education bill has worked its way through the Legislature, and it will go to Gov. Brad Little.
The rewritten bill walks back a plan to cut state-funded seats with WWAMI — a medical education cooperative named for the member states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. A State Board of Education committee will review Idaho’s medical education needs ahead of the 2026 legislative session. The committee might wind up recommending reducing WWAMI seats, standing pat or expanding.
Idaho now pays for 40 WWAMI seats per year, at a taxpayer cost of $7.5 million.
House Bill 368 also calls for adding 30 medical school seats over the next three years, with partners other than the University of Washington-led WWAMI program.
Idaho ranks No. 50 in the nation in physicians per capita. But some lawmakers have voiced frustration with WWAMI — for its refusal to take on additional Idaho students, and for its reluctance to sign a statement saying its spends no Idaho tax dollars on abortion training. (The UW signed such a statement in February.)
Without debate, the House passed the amended House Bill 368 55-15. The original version passed by a 46-21 margin.
Lawmakers scurry to rewrite vetoed ‘health freedom’ bill
Two days after Gov. Brad Little vetoed the original version, a new version of the “Idaho Medical Freedom Act” made its 11th hour debut.
The bill still contains a sentence with a far-ranging impact on K-12 schools, colleges and universities: “A school operating in the state shall not mandate a medical intervention for any person to attend school, enter campus or school buildings, or be employed by the school.”
While this language remains untouched, the new bill couches this policy against existing state education laws — including Idaho’s parental rights act, K-12 immunization guidelines, and a law that allows schools to close their doors during an outbreak, or bar students who have a contagious or infectious disease.
The new bill also exempts daycare centers from restrictions involving businesses.
The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee hastily introduced the bill Monday afternoon, which could set the stage for another hearing. However, the House State Affairs Committee has a second bill, the “Idaho Medical Freedom Act 2.0,” on its Tuesday morning agenda. According to the agenda, House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, and House Assistant Majority Leader Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, are co-sponsoring the bill.
Senate approves library digital access grants
Without debate Monday, the Senate approved a pared down budget that would give digital access grants to public libraries.
The $1.23 million in federal grants is about half of what the Idaho Commission for Libraries requested. Earlier this month, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee wrangled over whether to fund the program over concerns from conservative hardliners that it promoted diversity, equity and inclusion.
The grants are designed to improve internet access and digital skills for “populations that are particularly vulnerable to digital exclusion,” according to the ICL website.
The Senate voted 24-11 to advance Senate Bill 1196. It now goes to the House.
House approves budget that partially funds statewide testing updates
The House Monday approved a portion of funding the Idaho Department of Education requested to revamp statewide testing.
House Bill 464 includes a number of line items that state superintendent Debbie Critchfield requested. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee cut or scaled back many of the requests, and the House voted to advance what was left over Monday.
The bill includes:
- $500,000 in federal funds for a transition to a new Idaho Standards Achievement Test when the current ISAT vendor contract expires; IDE requested $2.7 million.
- $265,800 in state funds to revamp the Idaho Reading Indicator; IDE requested $625,800.
- $800,000 in federal funds to maintain and upgrade a federally mandated data dashboard and report card; IDE requested $1.1 million.
HB 464 now heads to the Senate.
Senate runs through education budget add-ons
The Senate passed several education “enhancement” budgets Monday afternoon.
Here’s the rundown.
- House Bill 451 would provide an additional $504,900 for educational services for the deaf and the blind. The budget is focused on staffing and salaries, including two new staff positions, money for teacher pay raises and funding for staff recruitment and retention. This budget passed on a 27-8 vote.
- House Bill 452 would provide an additional $3.6 million for the Idaho Digital Learning Academy. IDLA is expecting an increase in course enrollments next year, from its current 52,000 enrollments to about 58,000 enrollments, said Sen. Codi Galloway, R-Boise, the budget bill’s sponsor. The bill passed 27-8.
- House Bill 453 cuts nearly $1.6 million from the K-12 budget for facilities. It passed on a 33-1 vote.
- House Bill 454 puts a modest increase into the budget for K-12 salaries: slightly more than $1.6 million. It’s an add-on to a K-12 teacher pay budget totaling almost $1.4 billion. It passed, 33-1.
All four budget bills go to Gov. Brad Little.
