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Senate Health and Welfare Committee: votes on reappointment, rule changes, resolution and drug-scheduling bill
Summary
The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved minutes, advanced a gubernatorial reappointment, approved and corrected administrative-rule actions, sent a concurrent resolution on adoption-related federal grants to print, and gave House Bill 29 a due-pass recommendation to update the state controlled substances schedules.
The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee on an audio-recorded meeting approved several procedural items and advanced multiple measures to the next legislative stages.
The committee approved the minutes from Jan. 30, 2025; voted to send the gubernatorial reappointment of Brett Rabinheimer to the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired to the Senate floor with a recommendation for confirmation; approved a pending administrative docket; voted to reject a specified subsection of the National Society of Genetic Counselors’ Code of Ethics as incorporated by reference in an IDAPA rule; introduced and sent concurrent resolution RS 32271 to print; and recommended a due pass for House Bill 29, which updates Idaho’s controlled substances schedules.
The record shows those outcomes were handled mostly by voice votes. Several items required corrected motions to match the published rule citations. For one administrative-rule action, the committee moved twice to correct the docket reference and then voted to reject the specified subsection of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Code of Ethics that had been incorporated by reference in an IDAPA rule.
On RS 32271, a concurrent resolution presented by Senator Julie Van Orden, the committee voted to send the resolution to print. The resolution expresses legislative willingness to receive federal funds for ‘‘adoption education, adoption awareness, and the improvement and expansion of birth mother support and care’’ if federal grant language changes to allow Idaho agencies to accept such funds. Terry Markcroft, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Unplanned Good, described national partner groups and priorities supporting the resolution.
House Bill 29, presented by Nikki Chopsky, health professions bureau chief, sought annual updates to Idaho’s controlled-substances schedules. The bill would add multiple synthetic fentanyls, synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic benzodiazepines and synthetic stimulants (so-called ‘‘bath salts’’) to Schedule I; add 23 man-made testosterone derivatives to Schedule III as additional anabolic steroids; and add zuranolone (brand name Zuranone/Zurzuve noted in testimony) to Schedule IV. The committee moved House Bill 29 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation.
Administrative actions recorded during the meeting included: approval of pending docket number 24-2401-2401 and a motion to reject section 2, subsection 3 of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Code of Ethics as incorporated by reference in IDAPA 24.24.01.002. The committee corrected the docket citation on the record before repeating the motion to ensure the published rule number matched the committee action.
Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes (Jan. 30, 2025): approved by voice vote after motion by Senator Keiser. - Gubernatorial reappointment — Brett Rabinheimer, Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired: motion to send to Senate floor with recommendation for confirmation (moved by Senator Wintrow; seconded by Senator Bierke). Outcome: approved by voice vote. - Administrative docket pending docket 24-2401-2401: motion to approve (moved by Senator Bierke; seconded by Senator Blaylock). Outcome: approved by voice vote. - Motion to reject a subsection of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Code of Ethics (incorporated by reference in IDAPA rule): corrected motion to reject section 2, subsection 3 of the Code of Ethics as incorporated in IDAPA 24.24.01.002 (moved by Senator Blaylock; seconded by Senator Keiser). Outcome: motion passed by voice vote; dissent recorded on the floor. - RS 32271 (concurrent resolution supporting receiving federal funds for adoption education and birth-mother support if federal grant language permits): motion to introduce and send to print (moved by Senator Harris). Outcome: sent to print by voice vote; a recorded ‘no’ was noted in the roll call. - House Bill 29 (updates to Idaho controlled substances schedules): motion to send to the floor with a due-pass recommendation (moved by Senator Wintrow; seconded by Senator Blaylock). Outcome: due pass recommended by voice vote.
The committee adjourned with a note that its next meeting will be on Monday at 3 p.m. to prepare for floor action. Several votes were voice votes with limited roll-call recording; committee members raised questions on specifics of grant language, the scope of the incorporated code of ethics citation, and the reasons behind the annual scheduling bill.
