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Senate votes to end Empowering Parents grant program after debate over use and scope
Summary
The Idaho Senate on March 27 passed Senate Bill 11-42 to repeal the Empowering Parents grant program, a state-funded program that provided grants up to $1,000 per student and was criticized on the floor for increasingly being spent on electronics rather than on direct academic services.
BOISE — The Idaho Senate voted 32–3 on March 27 to repeal the state’s Empowering Parents grant program with passage of Senate Bill 11-42, a measure sponsored by Sen. Sarah Blaylock.
Blaylock opened debate by tracing the program’s origins to pandemic-era federal relief (Strong Families Strong Students) and described its transition in 2022 to a state-funded program that provides up to $1,000 per student and a $3,000 household cap. She said the program was originally intended to help families during COVID-19 school closures but that, in recent years, it had become a permanent $30 million ongoing appropriation.
On the floor Blaylock…
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