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Senate committee advances bill moving foster-care licensing rules into statute and removes separate firearm-lock requirement
Summary
Senate Bill 1034, carried by Senator Brandon Shippey, would codify existing foster-home licensing rules into statute and remove a provision that required firearms and ammunition be locked in separate locations; the committee approved sending the bill to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation by voice vote, with at least one recorded no.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1034 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after a debate over safe storage requirements for firearms in foster homes.
Senator Brandon Shippey, sponsor of SB 1034, told the committee the bill moves rules from the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act (sections referenced in committee testimony) into statute and removes a previous requirement that firearms and ammunition be locked in two separate locations. Shippey said the underlying rules “are exactly the same” except for that firearms provision and argued the two-location requirement discouraged potential foster parents. “Essentially disarms you,” he said of the prior requirement, arguing it was an undue burden and a barrier to recruitment.
Shippey said the Department of Health and Welfare supports replacing the two-location lock requirement with an educational approach: the department plans an orientation video and training that would cover gun-safety basics for foster parents. He said training should emphasize differences between biological children and foster children and suggested foster parents should “create barriers” appropriate to each placement, with special caution for older placements with behavioral issues.
Senator Maryanne Wintrow raised child-safety concerns and cited data from the National Violent Death Reporting System to argue safe storage is the most effective way to prevent unintentional firearm deaths among children. Wintrow said the state has custody of foster children and asked that safe storage be treated similarly to other hazardous materials that must be made inaccessible to children. She said the committee should be explicit about safe storage standards rather than rely only on voluntary training; she announced she would vote no on the committee recommendation.
Other committee members questioned whether the rule that required separate locking locations was reasonable or enforceable. Several senators suggested that the statutory language and any training emphasize that hazardous items—including firearms—must not be accessible to children, and one senator recommended encouraging modern quick-access safes such as fingerprint-lock devices as a best practice.
Procedural actions in committee: Senator Harris moved to send SB 1034 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; Senator Blaylock seconded the motion. A substitute motion to send the bill to the fourteenth order for possible amendments was made but died for lack of a second. The committee completed a voice vote and advanced the bill; the transcript records a recorded objection by Senator Wintrow but does not list a numeric vote tally in the record.
Sponsor and staff told senators the remainder of the foster-home licensing requirements remain unchanged in the bill and cover basic housing standards (toilet, sink, hot water) and other safety measures. The sponsor said the department will include firearm safety information in licensing orientation rather than the former two-location locking mandate.
The committee will transmit SB 1034 to the Senate floor under the committee’s due-pass recommendation.
Votes at a glance: SB 1034 — motion to send to Senate floor with due-pass recommendation; moved by Senator Harris, seconded by Senator Blaylock; outcome: committee advanced the bill by voice vote (numeric tally not specified in the transcript).
