Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Committee Procedural Votes topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate Health and Welfare committee sends several RSs to print, including psychology supervision changes and a tire‑cleanup pilot
Summary
The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send multiple request statutes (RSs) to print, advancing proposals on prescribing psychologists, abandoned tire cleanup, foster‑care timelines, assisted‑living regulation updates and one narrowing of medical‑records fees for Social Security disability applicants.
The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send several request statutes (RSs) to print after brief sponsor presentations and limited questions from committee members.
Committee action matters because each RS is the first formal step that allows a bill to be drafted for later committee hearings and potential floor action; the measures the committee moved forward affect professional licensing, environmental cleanup, child custody timelines, long‑term care regulations and access to medical records for Social Security applicants.
Senators approved the following introductions and procedural motions:
- RS32220 (Sen. Mark Harris): The RS would change how prescribing psychologists are supervised, moving from a supervision model requiring a supervisor or supervision agreement with an Idaho or adjoining‑state physician to a collaborative agreement model, and would eliminate the permanent advisory panel tied to the Psychologist Act. Senator Mark Harris said the bill “basically improves and streamlines practice of psychology in the state of Idaho” and noted Idaho has had only eight prescribing psychologists since the prescribing authorization passed about eight years ago. Senator Shippey moved to send RS32220 to print; Senator Buerke seconded. The committee voice vote was recorded as “aye.”
- RS3214 (Sen. Mark Harris): The RS would create a three‑year pilot program with a three‑year sunset to incentivize recyclers to clean up about 20 abandoned tire piles across the state, provide partial reimbursement for transporting, processing and recycling tires, and fund the Department of Environmental Quality to administer the program. Senator Harris said the proposal includes “a fee of 50¢ per tire.” Senator Wintrow moved to send RS3214 to print; Senator Bierke seconded. The committee voice vote was “aye.” During the vote one senator asked to be recorded as voting yes.
- RS32351 (Sen. Cody Galloway): The RS would amend timelines in the Child Protective Act to shorten review hearings from six months to two months, change custody timelines from “15 of 22 months” to “12 of 22 months,” and add language allowing judges to consider the bond a foster child has formed with a substitute caretaker. Galloway said he worked with foster families, the Department of Health and Welfare and the Ada County courthouse on the draft. Senator Keiser moved to send RS32351 to print; Senator Seiferfeld seconded. The committee voice vote was “aye.”
- RS32348 (Sen. Camille Blaylock): The RS would update regulations for Idaho residential care and assisted‑living facilities, revising provisions on admissions, licensing, staffing, inspections, medication management and resident agreements to remove what the sponsor described as “outdated and unnecessary regulations.” Senator Harris moved to introduce RS32348 to print; Senator Keiser seconded. The committee voice vote was “aye.”
- RS31947C1 (Sen. Doug Ricks): A narrowed version of prior legislation, the RS would provide one free copy of medical records specifically for Social Security disability applicants, to address delays and costs associated with collecting records for disability claims. Senator Ricks said the change ‘‘essentially provides 1 free copy of the records.’’ Senator Wintrow moved to send RS31947C1 to print; Senator Blaylock seconded. The committee voice vote was “aye.”
None of the RSs received extended debate or public testimony at this meeting; each motion to send to print is procedural and does not itself enact policy. Committee members asked clarifying questions about prior informational hearings, existing disposal fees for tires and stakeholder outreach on foster‑care changes. Where senators asked for a recorded vote, that was noted, but the transcript records the committee’s decisions as voice votes without a roll‑call tally by name.
The committee also accepted a student presentation later in the meeting (see separate article), then adjourned with a reminder of an upcoming meeting on the committee calendar.
Votes at a glance: all motions to send the RSs listed above were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote (ayes recorded); no formal oppositions were recorded in the transcript.
