Senate State Affairs advances wildfire, education and water measures and moves temporary-rules bill for amendment

The Idaho Senate State Affairs committee met and advanced several legislative items to print or further consideration, including a wildfire standard-of-care routing slip, a draft education code change addressing diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI) penalties, and a concurrent resolution supporting the 2024 Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer mitigation plan.

Chair Jim Guthrie opened the meeting, confirmed a quorum and led the committee through routine approvals and motions. The committee voted to send the governor's reappointment of Joe McNeal to the Idaho Commission on Human Rights to the Senate floor with a recommendation of confirmation.

Senator Jim Woodward, who identified himself as a state senator from Legislative District 1 and a long-serving board member of Northern Lights Electric Rural Cooperative, asked the panel to print RS32299 C2, a proposed Wildfire Standard of Care Act. Woodward said the proposal is modeled on Utah law and "clarifies when a utility is liable for wildfire related damages and when they are not," adding that "the wildfire may be the most significant threat to those goals" of safe, reliable and affordable power. The committee voted to send RS32299 C2 to print.

The committee also printed RS32447, introduced by Senator Dan Foreman, which would add a new code section to allow counties and cities to request state assistance — including funding from a constitutional defense fund, private counsel reimbursement or Attorney General intervention — in legal actions challenging the constitutionality of state statutes. Foreman cited ongoing lawsuits related to House Bill 710 (the Children’s School and Library Protection Act) as the impetus for the change.

On education policy, Senator Jim Guthrie presented RS32413 as an additional option for the committee to consider on DEI matters. Guthrie described possible enforcement tools in the draft — including a budgetary penalty equal to up to 5% of a program’s budget and a stair-step fine structure described in the presentation — and asked that the draft be printed for further consideration.

Senator Julie Van Orton presented RS32333C1, a concurrent resolution recognizing the 2024 stipulated mitigation plan addressing conflicts between surface-water and groundwater users on the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. Van Orton said the resolution supports increasing the aquifer recharge goal from a previously referenced 250,000 acre-feet to a 350,000 acre-feet annual average and establishes a four-year plan that emphasizes individual recharge responsibility. Senator Shippey asked whether individuals who complied could still be curtailed because of broader district actions; Van Orton replied the new agreement seeks to treat responsibility more individually.

Finally, the committee took up Senate Bill 1076 on temporary administrative rules, heard a full presentation from Russ Hendricks of the Idaho Farm Bureau and voted to send the bill to the 14th order for possible amendments after noting requested clarifications from the governor’s office and the Department of Financial Management rules coordinator.

Most motions in the hearing were approved by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tallies. The committee adjourned with no further business scheduled at the meeting.