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Committee advances bill addressing business medical-intervention rules after governor negotiations
Summary
Senate Bill 12-10, a revision of previously vetoed legislation, was sent to the fourteenth order after the sponsor and the governor's office negotiated changes that removed daycare-specific language and added statutory cross-references to Idaho parental-rights and public-health provisions.
Senator Dan Foreman presented Senate Bill 12-10 on April 2 and asked the Senate State Affairs Committee to send the measure to the fourteenth order for possible amendment after negotiated changes with the governor's office.
Foreman said SB 12-10 is a revised version of a prior bill (Senate Bill 1023) that the governor vetoed. He told the committee his negotiations with the governor's staff produced two main substantive edits: removal of a provision that had explicitly excepted daycare facilities from the bill's definitions, and rewriting a paragraph in 73-503(4) to reference a set of Idaho statutes (including the Idaho Parental Rights Act and provisions on immunization, vaccine opt-outs, and school exclusion authority). Foreman said the governor's office initially requested the daycare language and later agreed to strike it after review.
Several members of the public testified on the bill. Attorney Brian Festa, representing himself and identifying his nonprofit affiliation, supported striking the daycare exemption and urged clearer statutory protection so private childcare centers cannot refuse admission based on a family's vaccination status; Festa referenced the district-court case Ashley Tipton v. New Horizons Daycare in Meridian as context for his concern. David Pender, testifying as a private citizen, urged the committee to advance the bill in its revised form, saying it reflected voter intent. Leslie Manoukian, representing the Health Freedom Defense Fund and speaking as an individual, said she supported removing the daycare language but urged that the public be given time to review the latest draft and raised concerns about additional unspecified insertions.
Senator Shippey asked whether the sponsor intended to strike the daycare exemption; Foreman confirmed he did and said the governor's office had suggested the earlier language because they considered daycares covered under other Idaho statutes. Foreman told the committee the bill now cites specific Idaho Code sections to clarify scope.
Senator Adams moved to send SB 12-10 to the fourteenth order for possible amendment; the motion was seconded by Senator Den Hartog and carried. Two senators were recorded in the transcript as voting no; the motion nevertheless passed and the bill will return to the Senate for consideration and possible floor amendments.
Public testimony and committee discussion focused on parental rights, the scope of employer or private-business authority to require medical interventions, how daycare facilities are treated under Idaho law, and lingering questions about the bill's precise language that will be addressed on the floor or in the amendment process.
