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Senate committee advances $2 DMV donation to fund vision care for low-income residents, punts routing language for amendment
Summary
The Senate Transportation Committee voted to send Senate Bill 10 71 to the fourteenth order for possible amendment. The bill would add a voluntary $2 checkoff on driver's license applications to fund Envision Sight, a nonprofit that provides eye exams and eyeglasses to low-income Idahoans who fail vision screenings.
The Senate Transportation Committee voted Thursday to send Senate Bill 10 71 to the committee’s fourteenth order of business for possible amendment after members raised questions about how donated funds would be administered.
Senator Phil Hart of Legislative District 2 introduced the bill, saying it would add a voluntary $2 donation checkoff on driver's license applications to create a fund to pay for eye exams or eyeglasses for low-income people who fail the DMV vision test. "Those people who check the box, those funds would be set aside to pay for low income people who fail a vision test while getting their driver's license and need some sort of eye care services in order to correct whatever their vision problem is so that they can qualify for driver's license," Hart said.
Jay Lugo, executive director of the nonprofit Envision Sight, testified in support. He described Envision Sight as a 501(c)(3) serving much of Idaho from Boise to the Utah border and said the organization helps qualifying applicants "acquire an eye exam and a pair of eyeglasses at no charge to them based on an application and qualifying at a 50% of federal poverty level." Lugo said Envision Sight would either provide services directly or coordinate with affiliates across the state.
Committee members noted an existing $2 driver-license checkoff for organ, tissue and eye donation that is administered through the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD). The committee chair (unnamed in the transcript) said the current draft would send funds directly to the nonprofit and that routing the money through ITD or another agency first "struck me as perhaps being not the best way of doing it." The chair asked that the bill be sent to the fourteenth order to allow time for further research and possible language to make ITD an intermediary.
Senator Keiser moved to send the bill to the fourteenth order of business for a possible amendment; Senator Semelroth seconded. The committee approved the motion by voice vote.
Votes at a glance
- Approval of minutes, Jan. 30, 2025: Moved by Senator Keiser; seconded by Senator Semelroth; outcome: approved by voice vote. (Recorded during same meeting.) - Approval of minutes, Feb. 6, 2025: Moved by Senator Galloway; seconded by Senator Hart; outcome: approved by voice vote. (Recorded during same meeting.) - Senate Bill 10 71 (vision-care donation checkoff): Moved by Senator Keiser to send to the fourteenth order for possible amendment; seconded by Senator Semelroth; outcome: motion approved by voice vote.
Next steps: Because the measure was sent to the fourteenth order, committee staff and members will have an opportunity to draft and consider amendments — including possible changes to the bill’s funding flow through ITD — before a committee-level vote on the bill’s merits.
