Committee advances repeal of Empowering Parents grant after hours of mixed testimony

Senate Bill 1142, a measure to repeal the Empowering Parents grant program and return the estimated $30 million annual appropriation to the general fund, was approved by the Senate Education Committee on a recorded voice vote with one member noted as opposed.

Sponsor Senator Camille Blaylock laid out the program’s history and rationale for repeal. She said the program began as the federally funded Strong Families, Strong Students program in 2020 and later became a state-funded Empowering Parents program in 2022 with an ongoing appropriation of roughly $30 million. "The emergency that justified this program is over," Blaylock said, arguing the program risks becoming a permanent entitlement. She cited data she said showed families spent more than 60% of grants on electronics in fiscal year 2024 and that the share rose to almost 80% in 2025, while less than 5% went to tutoring or direct academic services.

Witnesses gave sharply divergent accounts of the program’s value and who it serves. Vendors and parents testified that the grant enables low-income and rural families to access curriculum, lessons and life-saving services. Shelby Murdock, a music educator and approved vendor, said her business has served more than 3,000 Idaho students through the marketplace and that nearly all of those families were low income. Amanda Wayne, a homeschooling parent and Red Cross water-safety instructor, told the committee the grant funds helped families pay for swimming lessons and other community-based instruction in areas with high childhood drowning rates.

Other witnesses warned of fiscal trade-offs if the grant is repealed. Eleanor Cheehee of United Women in Faith and Barbara Schreiber (a member of the Empowering Parents advisory panel) urged the committee to preserve the grant, saying it disproportionately served lower-income families and home-school households. Schreiber noted the program historically served many families with adjusted gross incomes under $75,000 and that the $1,000-per-student cap allows the program to reach up to roughly 30,000 students. Opponents argued that newly enacted tax-credit legislation (House Bill 93) steers funds toward private-school tuition and that repealing the grant could shift resources away from low-income families.

Vendors described local economic impacts. Dustin Stevens of Boise Computer Depot said Empowering Parents helped his firm develop a custom desktop brand, expand staff and manufacture products in Idaho. Testimony also included examples of parents using the funding for extracurriculars such as martial arts, music, and CTE activities.

Committee members probed how repealed funds would be reallocated. Senator Semeroth asked whether the bill directs money back to K–12 discretionary funds; Blaylock said the repeal would deposit the money into the general fund and that, on the record, she would like to see it invested back in public schools, though the bill text does not specify that allocation.

After public testimony the committee moved and seconded to send Senate Bill 1142 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. A voice vote carried the motion; the transcript records one "Nay" and an inquiry whether that senator wished to be recorded. The bill will go next to the full Senate.