Capitol Notes Week Four

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This week at the Statehouse pushes for fiscal clarity and structural changes to Idaho’s education landscape are taking over the conversation, as well as the votes. From fast-tracked tax conformity to a major proposed makeover for virtual education programs, the Statehouse is actively debating how we best fund—and protect—our public schools. We saw bills such as HJR 7 – which repeals Article 9 Section 5 of the Idaho Constitution – sneak out of committee, as well as a Joint Memorial calling on Congress to fully fund special education.

The Budget Situation & Conformity

H559 Internal Revenue Code Conformity & The "Idaho Budget Rescission Act"

The big story this week is the rapid movement of H559, the annual tax conformity bill. Introduced by Rep. Jeff Ehlers, the bill aims to align Idaho’s tax code with federal changes—often referred to as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act".

The Issues: Unlike Governor Little’s proposal to implement federal changes for the 2026 tax year, H519 proposes retroactive application to January 1, 2025. The Idaho Tax Commission has warned that this retroactive nature puts significant strain on their systems and staff during the current filing season and impacts Idaho’s already waning revenues for this FY.

The Impact: This retroactive approach is expected to cost the state roughly $155 million, creating immediate pressure on an already tight budget. Perhaps to manage this drop, leadership has introduced the Idaho Budget Rescission Act, requiring state agencies to identify 1-2% in additional cuts for fiscal year 2026.

The Good News: Thanks to the firm stance of Superintendent Debbie Critchfield—who refused to participate in the "exercise" of finding additional cuts—K-12 schools remain exempt from these additional mid-year holdbacks. Across all scenarios, the K-12 cut remains limited to the $22.3 million in support unit reductions identified before the session began.

Legislative Update:

HB 588: Virtual Education & Charter Schools

Introduced by a bipartisan group, H588 proposes significant oversight for virtual education. Key provisions include:

Transparency: Third-party service providers must provide written disclosures of costs and services.
Direct-Order Systems: Stricter guidelines for "supplemental learning funds" to ensure they are used for eligible educational expenses rather than direct payments to parents.
Local Accountability: School boards or charter authorizers must approve all service provider contracts, and curricula must meet state content standards.

HJR 7: Blaine Amendment Repeal

The House State Affairs Committee passed HJR 7 with a narrow 8-6 vote. This resolution seeks to put the repeal of the "Blaine Amendment" (Section 5, Article IX) on the ballot. ISBA opposes this bill.

HJM 11 Special Education Funding

This resolution calls on the federal government to honor its 1975 commitment to fund 40% of special education costs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Federal funding in Idaho currently only covers about 12%. The vote was unanimous in the House Education Committee with a do-pass recommendation.

Additional Legislation to Watch

HB 595 Cardiac Emergency Response

This bill would require Idaho public schools to adopt and implement cardiac emergency response plans. The goal is to ensure campuses are prepared with clear protocols and equipment for sudden cardiac arrest incidents among students, staff, and visitors. ISBA recognizes the value in having life saving AEDs (Automatic External Defibrillators) readily available on school campuses. That being said, we are concerned that the bill includes many specifics about what equipment, training, and procedures the school cardiac emergency response plans must include, but does not include any funding to implement the plans.

HB 599 Digital Curriculum Funding Reform

This proposal seeks to shift the state's approach to digital curriculum funding. Rather than the current "first-come, first-served" model, which can disadvantage smaller or rural districts, H599 would move to a need-based allocation system to ensure resources reach the students who require them most.

HB 574 Medical Mandates Preemption

This legislation repeals Idaho’s school immunization schedule adopted in 2025 and replaces it with broad restrictions on schools, local governments, and childcare providers requiring any “medical intervention.” The bill defines medical intervention very broadly, potentially extending beyond vaccines to include treatments, medications, and other health-related actions. It would prohibit schools from limiting access based on medical requirements, make participation in the state immunization registry optional, and prevent schools from requesting medical or immunization records from staff or families. These changes could limit schools’ ability to respond to disease outbreaks and may create challenges with compliance related to leave policies, disability accommodations, medical absence verification, and special education processes. A recent poll shows 71% of Idahoans support maintaining current school immunization standards.

ISBA Bill Tracker

As bills get published this year, we will share information about them weekly through our Capitol Notes Legislative Newsletter and the ISBA Bill Tracker. You can also click here to visit our Advocacy webpage, where you can find old Capitol Notes, the online bill tracker, advocacy documents, and more.

Capitol Notes Video Update: Protecting Rural Access

The Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA) gave a powerful presentation this week detailing how their programs serve as a lifeline for rural districts. IDLA Superintendent Jeff Simmons and superintendent of the Cambridge School District, Anthony Butler, highlighted how IDLA allows students to recover failed or missed credits, take electives suited to their strengths, and pursue concurrent associate degrees that would otherwise be unavailable in small communities. Check the Senate Education Committee Agenda page, February 4th, to download the whole presentation and questions from the Senate Education Committee.

Idaho Reports Discussion with ISBA’s Quinn Perry

While Governor Little initially shielded K-12 from 3% holdbacks, the conversation has shifted. Last week, JFAC co-chairs directed all government sectors—including public education—to prepare plans for additional 1% and 2% cuts.

In this week's episode of Idaho Reports, Logan Finney sits down with our own Quinn Perry, Deputy Director of the ISBA. They discuss what these "on the ground" holdbacks would actually mean for your local school boards and students. Despite the pressure, we continue to advocate for the funding stability our districts were promised.