[{"_1":2,"_124":-5,"_125":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100,112],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6640894,"mediaKeyId","2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7","parentId",2548786,"title","Committee advances bill limiting some public benefits to people with lawful presence, sparking debate on child and public-health impacts","audioSeconds",3641,"startMs",1645000,"endMs",5286000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7&start=1645&end=5286","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7/thumbnail_1645000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6640894/Idaho/Committee-advances-bill-limiting-some-public-benefits-to-people-with-lawful-presence-sparking-debate-on-child-and-public-health-impacts","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6640894-40175de990c0ca8c7982875582cb0508/orig.mp4?Expires=1777143597&Signature=eGq8u8TRyVk0imkQ9lpOdQKJA0XwnZ4hPcH795iPjVQsXcUC77M~XBmVgZrybkdYyDFnLvgtEPmJtrN0eRspeiF2zOzpnd~a8mLtAAMTeXbULaa4liUKxzM~eiJCfsZRGiuunGyo0ejWUUXGRU4umD449KUPDqf68ApO7GRQ1jTIu3W-8Il8lMh~6u4XzAWAFGExNeJ3zQ-OBAylyOPgcyS4TVthC71W2IcLrQTr-wgbu11RscrEx~kEphwV7x~HcV3TDQRfF1qvci2nlvzPg-l-FsfrMC~wIOjV6bWj0v3QL~k~97pYYY0UsP~tbx~6fVeBYxMaEmvJu4HXDzpuEA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Idaho Legislature","date","2025-03-11T00:00:00Z","article","The House Health and Welfare Committee voted 10-5 to send House Bill 135 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation after more than an hour of testimony and questions from committee members.

Representative Jordan Redmond, District 3, presented HB 135 as a measure to remove nonemergency health-care benefits and some social benefits from people who are in the state without lawful presence. Redmond said emergency care and actions “necessary to protect life and public safety” would remain available, and that the bill is intended to conserve limited taxpayer resources and act as a deterrent to unlawful migration.

Multiple witnesses and committee members debated the bill’s scope and unintended consequences. Clint Hostetler, a co-sponsor, and Josh Tanner, a co-sponsor and state representative, offered fiscal and policy arguments for the bill; Tanner told the committee the bill responds in part to temporary rule changes and to perceived federal rule expansions. Nicholas Kleinworth of the Idaho Freedom Foundation urged support, saying “citizenship means something” and citing an Idaho Department of Health and Welfare figure that, he said, placed costs for health care for noncitizens at roughly $45.6 million since 2020 (Kleinworth presented this figure as the Department’s data in testimony).

Opposition testimony focused on hunger, children’s access to nutrition, and implementation challenges. Randy Ford, president and CEO of the Idaho Food Bank, said the bill would increase food insecurity and administrative burdens for charitable partners and noted that some government nutrition programs administered by partner organizations could be affected. Ford said charitable food cannot replace government-funded nutrition programs.

Committee members asked detailed questions about who would be eligible for exceptions (for example, prenatal and postnatal care and treatment for contagious diseases), recordkeeping and billing implications for hospitals, and whether children who are U.S. citizens would be able to receive benefits when their parents lack lawful presence. Representative Rubell moved a substitute motion to keep the bill in committee; that motion failed on a recorded voice/roll call. Representative Levitt moved to send the bill to the floor with a do-pass recommendation; the committee approved that motion on a roll-call vote (10 yes, 5 no).

The transcript records extensive back-and-forth on policy, fiscal estimates, and moral and practical considerations; members and witnesses differed about whether the bill would reduce costs or shift costs to hospitals, insurers and charitable organizations. The committee recorded the roll-call vote and advanced HB 135 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Standing Committees Health & Welfare March 11, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","House Bill 135, which would require proof of lawful presence for many public benefits while preserving emergency care and certain narrow exceptions, was sent to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation after extended testimony and a recorded roll-call vote of 10-5.","taxTitle","2025 Legislative Sessions, Idaho","taxId",77671,"location","Idaho","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6640899,"Committee advances bill moving substance-use treatment rules into statute",112,1512000,1624000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7&start=1512&end=1624","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7/thumbnail_1512000.jpg","/articles/6640899/Idaho/Committee-advances-bill-moving-substance-use-treatment-rules-into-statute","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6640899-c08513211ac80a02e2ec3526687364c1/orig.mp4?Expires=1777143597&Signature=UJTwjYgsX0DSlbqALzSwfSBNJQucROYbvmEIHQyvqY7HgYZ5pTMUg42cxVb2NjLvnGkYyE4towJ7918~jLY3ZPP4ad0WfPWX132eKoFFFLRpG0FfWLc2pQ~okQ15tac08QOz2vdlf9KLdLtdl1q98MPnpqAaxZ0ijjMpp~CsJckQsdeRwUNRnCVGAwgZyzr~GjiKRvF4agq1foP6yCO-LJALXCPj1mg1gWp0CRXI0mAyVKQcrhDOWYGUSpx5uwhlDvr7~3rDqb-inxCnpuId~BqXAgb3RTn4mR01g8snIoXBEVK31JxLK7jhAJvprM8cRkBrlCYKoGuAdXLFeMLo~g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1024 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.

Representative Marco Erickson, District 33, presented the bill and described it as another instance of transferring existing Department of Health and Welfare rules on substance-abuse treatment into statute. Erickson told the committee the bill preserves criteria currently in rule and that the content is not new to the committee.

No public testimony was recorded during the committee discussion in the transcript and members took a voice vote to advance the bill to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.","Senate Bill 1024, which transfers substance-abuse and treatment provisions currently in administrative rule into statute, was advanced to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6640903,"Committee advances streamlined licensing bill after debate over federal incorporation by reference",1018,455000,1473000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7&start=455&end=1473","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7/thumbnail_455000.jpg","/articles/6640903/Idaho/Committee-advances-streamlined-licensing-bill-after-debate-over-federal-incorporation-by-reference","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6640903-1c1d43cdbc4030e87e9e48a9f5c81c6b/orig.mp4?Expires=1777143597&Signature=jkiAfo94GRGeC0xJdqYZSl1ICh-0-3Hgyirg2knF7ut4lUOdsTjKKCIKrPrl66bW4GTXo~YNlnoEBVWfx4FB81K~2meUs-SueVVEhZg-5TGHJkQwnVgavLQyWKfY3BW8JpmJYZb52fCNzJ87IOmTC-HL-ANW5BDLJHhtSzYbrHhvQBN3cdlqsMSCLwK-st4MXpa3w26xjlrDUWjq7aFzBdd-XxUIGC3noLNG5JZGZarb49R5iBSunc5HatSIDPcn5gQrA0-u3vPXzBgWowXriv~DvYc9MIe~Z7qAckX7SZeye8EFHFwCACTS2P4FVifqpk2AyoF3BP7z0SCQWeO7Tg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Health and Welfare Committee sent Senate Bill 1015 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation after extended discussion over whether the bill’s incorporation by reference of federal definitions could create unintended consequences.

Representative Josh Wheeler, District 35, presented SB 1015 as a “streamlined Licensing and Inspection Act” intended to remove duplicative state licensing requirements for hospitals and medical providers that are already regulated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Wheeler said the bill would accept CMS qualifications as evidence that a provider is licensed in Idaho, eliminating redundant state rules and reducing administrative burden; he also said the change would remove roughly 123 pages of state agency rules that are duplicative of CMS requirements.

Public testimony included Brandon Durst (testifying on his own behalf) who opposed the bill because it replaces the state definition of “hospital” with the definition in the Social Security Act (section 1861, as discussed in testimony) and by reference to federal regulations. Durst said that incorporating the federal definition “opens ourselves up” to changes at the federal level and cited concerns about past uses of federal definitions in litigation and regulatory contexts. Durst urged sending the bill to the amending order so the committee could retain Idaho’s existing statutory definition.

Robert Vandermurray (identified in the transcript as representing the Idaho Health Care Association) testified in favor of moving rules into statute, saying that federal certification efforts effectively require providers to meet federal definitions and that most Idaho facilities will continue to seek Medicare certification.

Laura Studi, administrator for the Division of Licensing and Certification at the Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee that the CFR definition originally matched the state definition and that the federal definition has evolved; she said deferring to the federal definition allows the state to license and certify evolving hospital types and avoid gaps in licensing as CMS’s definitions change.

Representative Lucas Kaler offered a substitute motion to send the bill to the amending order, citing the incorporation-by-reference concern; the committee voted on the substitute motion and on the original do-pass motion. The transcript records the substitute motion did not pass; the committee ultimately voted to send SB 1015 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.","Senate Bill 1015, a measure to streamline state licensing by relying in part on federal Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) standards, was sent to the floor with a do-pass recommendation after committee debate about incorporating federal definitions by reference.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6640908,"Committee approves moving child-support license-suspension rules into statute",135,304000,439000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7&start=304&end=439","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7/thumbnail_304000.jpg","/articles/6640908/Idaho/Committee-approves-moving-child-support-license-suspension-rules-into-statute","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6640908-5aa1ff6eb9d5f9efc81c40c681b35c23/orig.mp4?Expires=1777143597&Signature=ay7XYBsCVvOohYwYn5L6otPCW~dmgKE48y51lN36ElslUkQvuKWAwp68A2O7cgjq63ctKn7l8~KE6YPaOSOEma5x4Q-Dh4dfWfNnffRV8wSZdYGTps~cZxcSFSs~DdSz9Rgii9sXDUL1z06Eaa3nVZsMVEK8nRyJU7aQX66Y25mRqn-hbaOrqMVvSUI1U1vqBtmZiyLpFA~cU2e7~kSloPtgmMWudnmmp8KojQ1XoTg8YTJtdQF6mBC3-sUI~uY8uNqHlEWEU2s6BiOtSB3U~S0gGTD8ywZeI9lzvYAhhq-f4gYkyvLU~PCzR1FvCnUUrQfygnB1mHHHwRxpUx2k7g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1051 to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation.

Representative Lucas Kaler, District 11, presented the bill as a measure to move Section 302 from IDAPA 16-03-03 concerning child-support services from administrative rule into statute. He described the section as detailing “what good cause exemptions exist” for driver’s or occupational license suspensions for nonpayment of child support and said the proposal returns longstanding administrative provisions to the legislature’s control.

Kaler said the provision had been before the Legislature previously (most recently in 2022) and is scheduled for a 0-based regulation review next session. No public testimony was recorded on the bill in the transcript and the committee voted by voice to send SB 1051 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.

Committee members noted no additional questions at the time the motion was taken.","The committee voted to send Senate Bill 1051, which moves IDAPA rules on child-support license suspensions into statute and preserves existing good-cause exemptions, to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.",{"_33":113,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":114,"_41":115,"_43":116,"_45":117,"_47":118,"_49":119,"_51":120,"_53":121,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":122,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":123,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6640913,"House committee advances bill removing firearm-storage requirement for foster parents",253,32000,285000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7&start=32&end=285","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2548786-b810cd558ac7282e918ccbcbbe1cd9f7/thumbnail_32000.jpg","/articles/6640913/Idaho/House-committee-advances-bill-removing-firearm-storage-requirement-for-foster-parents","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6640913-3c1884cafb2820a04981b9d107ba1035/orig.mp4?Expires=1777143597&Signature=ClcLirlzeTZm6Zil5aEXkzTezBBfmDf9wO83PtRiG-rDqn~csFJ5vYf5e9j-ZqtITDY3VeTqrPKWZJTIm9w0kc5j4k0xGVqND51qpx8biXhYGhOg9gTaXlKvvdKiYJG1Jl3b9HXjUtts7PjH1NP~8YI2ACo1bgX9eTmgf7jP8Nzzh1ixJDZHI5Fe~5fWr~naluJrQpBcptKurZmV7KQuymODWLl3lN5tZdPr4DbeP~abcL0vRwLbLmaApSL47khh~tsm7kuBel8p5If99-H7eEkKy~4og7vA66Bj9-QAa73ZYqDqh9GKiT2mhVsG9jwA6iOc51QPvA7dJMZEIH2V1Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1034 as amended to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation after a brief presentation and a short period of questions.

Representative Judy Boyle, District 9, presented the bill as a measure to move foster-care rules into statute and to delete “the restrictive language about firearms storage if you're a foster parent.” Boyle said the current rule, which requires foster parents to store firearms and ammunition separately under lock and key, “basically disarms the people who are foster parents” and has discouraged prospective foster parents, especially in rural areas where law enforcement response can be 20 to 30 minutes away. Boyle said the Department of Health and Welfare will provide videos for foster parents on firearm safety and storage by age instead of a lock-and-key requirement.

Representative Lucas Kaler described himself as an “avid supporter and protector of constitutional freedom,” saying the bill safeguards Second Amendment rights. Representative McCann asked who decides when a caregiver would be exempted from training; Boyle said the department would make that determination. Boyle also said she did not know the specific criteria the department would use to exempt someone from training.

Committee members voted by voice; the chair cast an affirmative vote and the motion passed. The committee record shows the bill was sent to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.

The discussion was limited to the bill’s policy change and how the department would implement training and exemption determinations; there was no formal testimony from community groups recorded in the transcript.","The House Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1034, which moves foster care firearm-storage rules into statute and removes a requirement that foster parents store firearms and ammunition separately under lock and key, to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Committee advances bill limiting some public benefits to people with lawful presence, sparking debate on child and public-health impacts

Committee advances bill moving substance-use treatment rules into statute

Committee advances streamlined licensing bill after debate over federal incorporation by reference

Committee approves moving child-support license-suspension rules into statute

House committee advances bill removing firearm-storage requirement for foster parents