Committee advances bill moving foster licensing rules into statute and removes separate gun-locking requirement

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1034 to the full Senate with a due-pass recommendation after a floor of committee discussion.

Sen. Brandon Shippey, sponsor of SB1034 (District 9), said the bill relocates requirements that were previously in administrative rules (identified in testimony as sections 230, 232 and 233 of the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act) into statute, and removes a specific requirement that foster-care providers lock firearms and ammunition in two separate locations. Shippey said the remaining standards are basic habitability items — running water, sink, toilet — and that the statute would reflect long-standing expectations foster parents have followed. Shippey said he and other foster parents found the previous locking requirement to be an undue burden and a deterrent to recruitment; he told the committee he had received messages from people who withdrew from licensing because of the weapons-storage rule.

Shippey, who identified himself as a foster parent, said the department plans to develop an educational video on gun safety and storage as part of orientation for foster-home licensing. He said education and trust between providers and the department, rather than the prior rule, would better reduce risk. He told the committee he supports locked storage when children present behavioral risks but objected to a statutory prescription that required separate storage locations.

Sen. Cindy Wintrow pressed for safety measures, citing data she said came from the National Violent Death Reporting System and emphasizing that safe storage is the most effective way to prevent unintentional firearm injury or death among children. Wintrow said she would vote against the bill on the committee because she wanted a clear safe-storage requirement; she described the elevated risk to boys and that most unintentional fatal firearm injuries to children occur in homes or apartments.

Other senators questioned whether education would be captured in statute or administrative rule; Shippey said required training already exists elsewhere in code and the department would add material in administrative rule or orientation. A substitute motion by Sen. Puntro to send the bill to the fourteenth order for possible amendments failed for lack of a second. Sen. Harris moved to send SB1034 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; Sen. Blaylock seconded. The committee called for the vote; the committee chair recorded the ayes and the nays. Senator Wintrow stated she would be a no vote during floor action; the transcript records her objection in committee. The committee advance carries SB1034 to the Senate floor for further consideration.

During debate senators discussed practical alternatives such as fingerprint safes and whether the bill's language would still place firearms within the existing requirement that hazardous materials not be accessible to children. Senator Berkey noted that the bill does not dictate precise storage methods and that line 34's reference to hazardous materials could encompass firearms as items not accessible to children. The sponsor and multiple senators referenced balancing foster-parent rights and public-safety obligations.

No public testimony was recorded in opposition or support during the committee hearing.