Idaho Senate approves supplemental budgets, tax exemptions and public-safety measures in March 6 session

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho State Senate passed a slate of supplemental appropriations and policy bills on Thursday, March 6, 2025, approving funding changes for veterans services and the Department of Finance, lowering a fee for senior driver’s licenses, refining specialty license-plate rules and enacting a range of House bills on education, taxation, public assistance and administrative housekeeping.

The measures were considered during the Senate’s third reading calendar and final votes were taken across multiple bills. Several bills drew discussion on funding details, implementation and impacts on specific populations before the roll-call votes that sent the measures back to the House or onward as applicable.

Why it matters: The package includes targeted funding changes and statutory clarifications that affect veterans services operations, consumer protections tied to finance oversight, fees and exemptions that affect seniors and small sellers, and adjustments to state agency references that streamline administration. Some bills also raised policy questions — notably a proposal to make residents who refuse evacuation orders accept legal and financial responsibility for rescue operations.

The Senate approved a supplemental appropriation for the Division of Veteran Services (Senate Bill 11-37). “There are five line items in this budget,” said Senator Woodward during floor debate, describing a transfer of $1.2 million from operating expenditures to personnel to establish an in-house nursing pool and other items including IT maintenance, capital outlay at the Post Falls Veterans Home and equipment for the Boise Veterans Cemetery. Woodward also said the enhancement portion totaled $709,000 and that the division’s combined fiscal-year total would be $65,470,400.

Senate Bill 11-38, a supplemental for the Department of Finance, drew discussion about cybercrime and the agency’s staffing. Woodward said the bill provides an enhancement of $5,765,800 from dedicated funds, five additional full-time positions and IT replacement items; he described that as a 6.8% increase from the maintenance budget and cited a legislative services report finding 1,752 reported Idaho cybercrime victims in 2023 with losses above $38 million.

Senate Bill 10-02 (as amended) changes the fee structure for certain driver’s licenses for people 63 and older. Sponsor Senator Shippey said the bill lowers a four-year license fee to $30 for seniors so that a senior renewing every four years would pay $60 over eight years. Shippey said the Idaho Transportation Department was consulted on cost breakdowns and that the processing portion of the fee is substantially less than the full renewal amount; he said the department would provide an updated fiscal note.

Senate Bill 11-05 (as amended) makes technical fixes to a previously passed specialty “Gadsden” license-plate law and creates a volunteer-run firearms safety education grant administered by an Idaho firearms safety education committee. Sponsor Senator Nichols said the amendment excludes vehicles over 26,000 pounds for now after the Transportation Department said implementation would be costly.

On the House side, the Senate approved a broad maintenance appropriation for the State Board of Education and related entities (House Bill 341). Senator Woodward told colleagues the bill’s total is $1,134,996,400, with breakdowns including $736,260,100 for colleges and universities and $67,539,900 for community colleges; he described the package as primarily maintenance-level funding that includes personnel benefits and statewide cost allocations.

Other House bills passed included: - House Bill 104 (local government/building codes): establishes a single statewide definition for agricultural buildings aligned with the International Building Code, clarifying what is and is not an agricultural structure, sponsor Senator Shippey said. - House Bill 144 (sales-tax exemption for small sellers): creates an exemption for sellers with less than $5,000 in annual sales; sponsor Senator Den Hartog said the Tax Commission had issued roughly 10,000 permits for such sellers in the last available tax year and that exempting them would reduce state revenue by about $1.2 million. - House Bill 165 (unclaimed property): clarifies dates and procedures for when property is presumed abandoned; sponsor Senator Toews said the bill responds to inconsistent interpretations of “promptly.” - House Bill 62 (information exchange for public assistance fraud): allows the Department of Health and Welfare and the Tax Commission to share income records to speed fraud investigations; sponsor Senator Keiser said stakeholders are prepared to implement the change and that there is no fiscal impact. - House Bill 202 (Health and Welfare housekeeping): removes obsolete transition language tied to previously split agencies, redirects certain regulatory references from the Department of Health and Welfare to the Department of Environmental Quality where appropriate, and narrows state-level prescriptive pool rules in favor of local health departments, sponsor Senator Van Orden said. - House Bill 48 (enhanced concealed weapons course instruction): clarifies that retired law enforcement officers who hold the required Idaho POST certificate may serve as instructors; sponsor Senator Carlson said counties have been inconsistent about accepting retired-officer signatures and the statute clarifies that status. - House Bill 97 (disaster preparedness — voluntary noncompliance): creates a statutory section stating people may refuse evacuation orders but “shall accept all of the risks and liability” of that choice. Sponsor Senator Taves said the bill balances personal liberty with responsibility; opponents, including a former first responder, argued it could put rescuers at greater risk. - House Bill 133: moves longstanding public-health rules into statute without substantive changes, sponsor Senator Lenny said.

Votes at a glance (final passage votes recorded in the Senate floor journal, March 6, 2025): - Senate Bill 11-37 (Division of Veteran Services supplemental): Passed — 27 yes, 7 no, 1 absent. - Senate Bill 11-38 (Department of Finance supplemental): Passed — 22 yes, 13 no. - Senate Bill 10-02 as amended (driver’s-license fee for seniors): Passed — 33 yes, 2 no. - Senate Bill 11-05 as amended (specialty plate/firearms safety): Passed — 29 yes, 6 no. - House Bill 341 (State Board of Education maintenance): Passed — unanimous recorded (35 yes, 0 no in the roll using that calendar vote). - House Bill 104 (agriculture buildings definition): Passed — 35 yes, 0 no. - House Bill 144 (small-seller sales-tax exemption): Passed — 35 yes, 0 no. - House Bill 165 (unclaimed property): Passed — 35 yes, 0 no. - House Bill 62 (public-assistance information exchange): Passed — 35 yes, 0 no. - House Bill 202 (Health & Welfare housekeeping): Passed — 34 yes, 1 no. - House Bill 48 (enhanced concealed-weapons instruction): Passed — 35 yes, 0 no. - House Bill 97 (disaster preparedness, voluntary noncompliance): Passed — 34 yes, 4 no. - House Bill 133 (rules-to-statute housekeeping): Passed — 35 yes, 0 no.

What’s next: Passed bills will be transmitted to the House or returned to the House as required by legislative procedure; supplemental appropriations and appropriations-related bills may next move into conference or final enrollment steps. Several senators asked for updated fiscal notes or future agency follow-up on implementation details (for example, the Transportation Department’s fiscal note on the driver’s-license fee amendment and the Department of Transportation implementation timeline for specialty-plate vehicle classes). The Senate adjourned and scheduled the next floor session for 10 a.m. Friday, March 7, 2025.