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Committee advances bill updating DHW references, shifting some public‑pool oversight to local health districts
Summary
House Bill 202 would update statute references that still point to the Department of Health and Welfare, replace some state rulemaking for public pools with local health‑district authority, and correct references to agencies spun off from DHW.
House Bill 202 would update Idaho law to remove outdated references to the Department of Health and Welfare and transfer several obsolete state duties to agencies created after those provisions were written, a department official told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
The committee voted to send the bill to the Senate floor with a due pass recommendation after the department described section‑by‑section changes and senators asked questions about local control and specific provisions.
Jared Larson, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Chief at the Department of Health and Welfare, said the bill corrects statutory references left over from earlier reorganizations. Larson noted the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections was created in 1995 and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality was created later; several sections of code still refer to the Department of Health and Welfare and will be updated to name the proper agency.
Larson described specific changes: removal of transition language tied to the creation of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, corrections to references in state water planning to name DEQ instead of DHW, and updates in tax code cross‑references. The bill also removes the requirement that the director of Health and Welfare nominate public members to the Board of Dentistry and eliminates several supervisory roles the department no longer performs.
One notable change Larson described would remove the Department of Health and Welfare’s statewide rulemaking role for a small set of public pools; he said local health districts already have authority under Idaho Code §39‑414 to adopt and enforce health regulations, and the bill would allow local boards to retain or adopt parts of the existing rules locally rather than have the state prescribe details such as diving‑board dimensions.
Senator Wintrow said she was comfortable with the changes as department heads had signed off on the proposed edits, though she flagged ongoing conversation about language in another bill that modifies public health district authority. Senator Lenny commented that he had long wanted to address the diving‑board rule and supported the measure.
Senator Lenny moved and Senator Burkey seconded that House Bill 202 be sent to the floor with a due pass recommendation. The committee voice vote passed; the transcript records the motion, second and a voice “aye,” but does not record a roll‑call tally.
Larson told the committee he was prepared to discuss any individual section in detail and that the department views many of the edits as housekeeping to reflect current agency responsibilities.
