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Senate committee advances bill moving foster-home rules into statute, removes separate-firearm-location requirement
Summary
Senate Bill 1034, which moves parts of foster-care licensing rules into statute and removes a previous requirement that firearms and ammunition be stored in separate locations, received a due-pass recommendation from the Senate Health and Welfare Committee after debate over child safe storage and parental rights.
The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1034 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after a hearing and discussion on safe storage requirements for firearms in foster homes.
Sen. Brandon Shippey, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the measure eliminates sections 230, 232 and 233 from the Idaho Administrative Procedure Act and moves the necessary licensing provisions for foster homes into statute. He said the intent is not to create new requirements but to codify existing rules and remove a specific rule that required firearms and ammunition be locked in two separate locations.
“The department helped me with kind of the technical side of this, and they're very supportive of the idea of what we're trying to accomplish,” Shippey said. He argued the separate-location requirement could “essentially disarm you” as a caregiver and said the department plans to create an educational video for foster parents about gun safety as part of orientation.
Several committee members raised child-safety concerns. Sen. Maryanne Wintrow said research shows safe storage reduces unintentional firearm deaths among children and announced she would vote no on the committee recommendation. “If we want to prevent accidental injuries and intentional injuries with firearms on kids, this is the number one way to do it. Safe storage,” Wintrow said.
Other senators urged caution about prescribing specific storage methods in statute. One member noted language in the licensing requirements that requires hazardous materials to be inaccessible to children and suggested that firearms could reasonably fall under that existing provision.
Sen. Harris moved and Sen. Blaylock seconded a motion to send SB 1034 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. The committee approved the motion by voice vote; the chair called for ayes and nays. The record in committee included an expressed no vote by Sen. Wintrow; the committee did not record a roll-call tally during the meeting.
Sponsor testimony said the statutory language otherwise keeps the same standards foster families have followed and that the department would incorporate firearm-safety education into orientation and training rather than the prior separate-locking requirement.
The bill’s text as discussed would remove the prior rule language requiring weapons and ammunition be locked in separate places and relies on statutory sanitation and safety provisions that require hazardous materials be inaccessible to children. The sponsor said he supports advising foster parents to use secure, quick-access safes (for example, biometric locks) but objected to imposing specific storage technologies by law.
The committee advanced SB 1034 to the Senate floor for further consideration.
