Committee advances bill to merge two administrator boards, sponsor says consolidation will save money over time

Representative Dore Healy of District 15 (West Boise and part of Meridian) presented House Bill 28, which would merge the Board of Nursing Home Administrators and the Residential Care Facility Administrators.

Healy told committee members the consolidation mirrors national trends and is intended to reduce duplication and improve efficiency. He said the two boards had been performing similar functions and that combining them should reduce costs over time.

Healy acknowledged short-term costs related to moving to the Chinden campus and said both boards are currently operating in the red; the fiscal note attached to the bill was described in committee as showing no impact on the general fund. Healy said the expectation is that combining boards and reducing board size will produce savings over the long run, and he cited projections that fiscal improvements could be seen by 2029.

Representative Wheeler moved that the committee send House Bill 28 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. Representative McCann asked for clarification about the fiscal note and whether combining the boards would indeed help move them out of a deficit; Healy confirmed that the boards are currently in the red and that consolidation is expected to improve finances over time. Representative Burgoyne asked how long the “long run” might be; Healy cited estimates and repeated the 2029 projection.

The committee approved the motion by voice vote and recorded no public testimony on the bill during the meeting.