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Senate committee advances bill to move foster‑care rules into statute and remove firearm lock requirement
Summary
Senator Brandon Shippey, R‑District 9, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that Senate Bill 1034 moves foster‑home licensing language into statute and removes a rule requiring firearms and ammunition be locked in separate locations.
Senator Brandon Shippey (R., District 9) introduced Senate Bill 1034 to the Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee, saying the bill moves provisions from administrative rule into statute for foster‑home licensing and removes a requirement that firearms and ammunition be locked in separate locations in foster homes.
"These were rules that we had already approved. We're just moving this section over into statute," Shippey said. He said the firearm requirement could be a barrier to recruiting foster parents and described the remaining foster‑home provisions as "basic things" such as toilets, sinks and hot water. He said the department intends to produce an educational video on gun safety for foster‑home orientation and that education is a better approach than a lock‑two‑locations mandate.
Senator Wintrow opposed removing the requirement, citing national data on unintentional firearm deaths among children and urging safe storage. "The best way to prevent a death ... is to lock it up," Wintrow said, and said she would vote no in committee. Several other senators discussed safe storage and training options, including fingerprint‑access safes and making firearms inaccessible to children under the general hazardous‑materials and child‑access provisions in the licensing language.
Senator Harris moved and Senator Blaylock seconded to send SB 1034 to the Senate floor with a due‑pass recommendation. The committee held a voice vote; the chair announced the motion carried. Senator Wintrow stated on the record she would vote no in committee. A substitute motion offered by another senator to send the bill to the fourteenth order for possible amendments failed for lack of a second.
Sponsor Shippey said the statutory language otherwise preserves existing licensing standards and that the department supports the approach. He said licensed foster parents would remain responsible for day‑to‑day safety decisions and that education could help providers adapt storage practices to different placements and ages of children.
The committee took no amendments and advanced the bill to the Senate floor with a due‑pass recommendation.
