Senate committee advances bill moving foster-home licensing rules into statute, removes separate-location firearm-lock requirement

Boise — The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1034 to the Senate floor with a “do pass” recommendation after considering proposed changes to foster-home licensing requirements, including removal of a prior requirement that firearms and ammunition be locked in separate locations.

The bill, presented by Senator Brandon Shippey, senator for District 9, would eliminate sections cited from the Administrative Procedures Act that previously governed foster care licensing and move those requirements into statute. Shippey said the change also removes a rule the sponsor and some foster parents viewed as a recruitment barrier and a potential infringement on firearm access for household adults.

"These were rules that we had already approved. We're just moving this section over into statute," Shippey said. "What we decided to do is completely remove the requirement that had previously been in there to require that foster care providers lock up guns and ammunition ... in…