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Department-backed RS 31820 aims to clean up outdated Health and Welfare code references; committee introduces measure
Summary
The Department of Health and Welfare backed RS 31820, a bill to remove outdated statutory references to the department and reassign or eliminate functions that no longer fit within its responsibilities, legislative staff said.
Jared Larson, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Chief at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, presented RS 31820 as a housekeeping and recodification measure that removes outdated references to the Department of Health and Welfare and reallocates functions to the appropriate agencies.
Larson told the committee about several categories of changes: references left over after the 1990s and 2000s reorganizations that transferred functions to the Department of Juvenile Corrections and the Department of Environmental Quality; antiquated references to the State Board of Health (now State Board of Health and Welfare); obsolete sign-off requirements the department still holds in agriculture code sections; and an unused 1950s provision giving the Board of Health and Welfare hearings duties for a corrections compact. He described the package as a "stop doing list" identifying functions the department no longer performs.
Larson also summarized changes affecting public pool regulation (removing the department from direct regulation and leaving authority with district health boards under existing memoranda of understanding) and provisions that move the state's integrated criminal justice and behavioral health data system from criminal procedure code (Title 19) into state affairs because it spans jurisdictions. He said the department co‑chairs the Data Oversight Council with the Idaho Supreme Court and that only two FTE were added at the State Controller’s Office when the system was implemented in 2020.
Representative McCain moved to introduce RS 31820. Representative Rasor asked follow‑up questions about whether the listed Data Oversight Council designees were current employees and about where savings might appear if the department is relieved of certain duties. Larson replied that the pool regulation change was where the department might see the biggest time savings and that only two FTE had been added for the data office; he characterized much of the bill as removal of "dead text." The committee introduced the RS by voice vote; no opposition was recorded.
Larson said further details and line‑by‑line review would be provided at a printed bill hearing.
