The Idaho legislative session is almost complete

The Legislative session is beginning to wind down but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot still happening. We have seen several new bills introduced and budget bills are still being discussed on the House and Senate floors. The session has moved fast and furious, as Legislators attempt to get back to their district to campaign for the May primary elections.

The Legislature is still working on the Health and Welfare budgets, including cuts to Medicaid programs, as well as introducing new guidelines and changes to Medicaid expansion. The latest legislation in a position to move forward is House Bill 913. This legislation would implement work requirements for Medicaid expansion by December 2026, however it replaces HB850 and HB912, which would repeal Medicaid expansion or disenroll a large number of the expansion population, respectively.

The budget fights that have been ongoing all session have caused our Cardiac Emergency Response Plan legislation to stall, as costs are currently unknown, and with budget cuts effecting school districts across the state, our efforts to implement CERPs without funding have caused significant discomfort for Legislators. While we tried for weeks to negotiate with leadership and the committee chair, we may run out of time before the legislature adjourns to get a hearing on our bill.

While we have had limited success during this session on our policy priorities we have not given up and if necessary we will be back in 2027.