Another bill would require public school classrooms to provide a moment of silence for students for a minimum of 60 seconds to ‘reflect, meditate, pray’
IDAHO – In an effort to help Idahoans follow major bills, resolutions and memorials through the legislative process, the Idaho Capital Sun will produce a “legislative notebook” at the end of each week to gather information in one place that concerns major happenings in the Legislature and other news relating to state government.
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Here is our quick rundown of the major happenings during the sixth week of the Idaho Legislature’s 2026 session.
Legislation of interest during the sixth week of the 2026 session
House Bill 516: Sponsored by Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, the bill would prohibit public schools from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity at any age. The legislation omits, “or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards” from current Idaho law that says a “public school shall be required to adopt procedures and policies that prohibit classroom instruction by public school personnel on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through grade 12.” The bill passed the Idaho House 59-10 on Tuesday. It now heads to the Senate Education Committee for further consideration.
House Bill 623: Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, the bill would require public school classrooms to provide a moment of silence for students for a minimum of 60 seconds, at or near the beginning of each school day, “to reflect, meditate, pray, or engage in any other silent activity,” according to the bill’s statement of purpose. “It is the student’s choice, so long as they do not interfere with another student’s moment of silence.” The House Education Committee voted 10-4 in favor of sending the bill to the full House floor for further consideration in the coming days or weeks of the session.
House Bill 681: Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, the bill would remove the statute of limitations on several serious felony offenses, including aggravated lewd conduct with a child and the production of sexually exploitative material. “By removing the time bar for these specific offenses, this legislation ensures that perpetrators of aggravated child sex crimes and those involved in the production of exploitative materials can be held accountable regardless of when the crime was committed or when the evidence is discovered,” the bill’s statement of purpose says. The bill was introduced Monday, clearing the way for it to be considered by the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee in the coming days or weeks of the session.
House Bill 724: Sponsored by Rep. Josh Wheeler, R-Ammon, the bill establishes new provisions in Idaho law related to the safety of children placed in foster care under the supervision of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. “The bill affirms that children in foster care have rights to a safe and healthy placement environment, protection from abuse, timely medical assessments following abuse disclosures, access to basic necessities, court consideration of safety when determining visitation, and reasonable consideration of safety during placement transitions,” the bill’s statement of purpose says. “The legislation also requires the Department to provide written notice of these rights to foster children and to post such notices in licensed foster homes.” The bill was introduced Wednesday, clearing the way for it to be considered by the House Health and Welfare Committee in the coming days or weeks of the session.
Senate Bill 1247: Sponsored by Sen. Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, the bill would require all public entities, at the state and local level, to use E-Verify when hiring new employees. E-Verify is a federal program used to check if an employee is authorized to work in the United States. Private employers that contract with state and local governments would also need to use the tool if that business employs 150 or more people and is valued at least at $100,000. The Idaho Senate voted 27-7 on Thursday to pass the bill. It now heads to the Idaho House for further consideration.
Senate Joint Memorial 111: Sponsored by Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, the memorial introduced Monday urges Idaho’s congressional delegation to protect public lands and warns that “selling or transferring these lands would not only jeopardize access and tradition, but also place unsustainable and unpredictable financial burdens on states, local governments and Idaho taxpayers.” The memorial is now on the full Senate’s full reading calendar in the 10th order of business.
What to expect next week at the Idaho Legislature
Idaho House of Representatives
House State Affairs Committee
8 a.m. Monday: The committee is scheduled to hold an introductory hearing on a new bill relating to “Obergefell, marriage.” Because the bill is just being introduced, it is not a public record and therefore isn’t available to view. However, the Obergefell v. Hodges case was a 2015 landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriage.
The committee is also scheduled to hold a public hearing on House Joint Resolution 10. Sponsored by Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, the resolution proposes to amend the state’s constitution and change how the state can manage state endowment and public lands. The amendment “replaces the ‘maximum long-term financial return’ mandate with expanded land management practices that prioritize ongoing revenue generation, including but not limited to timber sales, mining, and grazing, followed by public access for recreation, hunting, fishing, and trapping,” according to the bill’s statement of purpose. “The amendment continues to allow the sale or exchange of these lands while reducing pressure on the state to sell them solely because of their high value.”
House Judiciary and Rules Committee
1:30 p.m. Monday: The committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on House Bill 615. Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, and Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene, the bill would clarify in Idaho Code that a disturbing the peace misdemeanor charge applies to people “who maliciously and willfully disturb any assemblage of people gathered for religious worship.”
Idaho Senate
Senate State Affairs Committee
8 a.m. Monday: The committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 1300. Sponsored by Sen. Doug Okuniewicz, R-Hayden, the bill would add the directors for the Idaho Departments of Transportation, Idaho Fish and Game, and Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation as state positions that would be subject to Idaho Senate confirmation and gubernatorial appointment.
It is also scheduled to hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 1301. Sponsored by Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, the bill would increase the number of remote retail locations a brewery can have from one to two. The bill would also allow one retail location at the licensed main production brewery.
Senate Education Committee
3 p.m. Monday: The committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 1317. Sponsored by Sen. Van Burtenshaw, R-Terreton, the bill would allow “two or more school districts or charter schools can use (or) share services that are cost-prohibitive or impractical for a single district or charter to deliver independently,” according to the bill’s statement of purpose. “Regional Service Centers provide targeted support to school districts and charter schools, particularly small and rural ones, with a focus on hard-to-fill special education positions such as speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and school psychologists, and other non-instructional positions, such as business managers.”
Quote of the week
“Some people are just better at it than others, but everyone has days where they feel not mentally healthy. And all it really takes is one day where you feel really, really bad, and that’s the difference between being alive and being dead the next day.” – Meridian High School student Jace Woods, on why he is working to bring awareness to a 2024 state law that hinders workers at the suicide hotline from being able to help Idahoans under the age of 18
Social media post of the week
The legislature’s budget process can be arcane and hard to follow, even for veteran stakeholders. Idaho Reports will update this bill tracker dashboard daily for the rest of the session. #idleg
— Idaho Reports (@idahoreports.org) February 20, 2026 at 7:05 AM
How to follow the Idaho Legislature and Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s work during the session
Here are a few tools we use to track the Legislature’s business and how to let your voice be heard in the issues that matter most to you.
How to find your legislators: To determine which legislative district you live in, and to find contact information for your legislators within that district, go to the Legislative Services Office’s website and put in your home address and ZIP code. Once you’ve entered that information, the three legislators – two House members and one senator – who represent your district will appear, and you can click on their headshots to find their email address and phone number.
How to find committee agendas: Go to the Idaho Legislature’s website, legislature.idaho.gov, and click on the “all available Senate committee agendas” link and the “all available House committee agendas” link on the right side of the website.
How to watch the legislative action in committees and on the House and Senate floors: Idaho Public Television works in conjunction with the Legislative Services Office and the Idaho Department of Administration through a program called “Idaho in Session” to provide live streaming for all legislative committees and for the House and Senate floors. To watch the action, go to https://www.idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/Legislature/ and select the stream you’d like to watch.
How to testify remotely at public hearings before a committee: To sign up to testify remotely for a specific committee, navigate to that committee’s webpage, and click on the “testimony registration (remote and in person)” tab at the top.
How to find state budget documents: Go to Legislative Services Office Budget and Policy Analysis Division’s website https://legislature.idaho.gov/lso/bpa/budgetinformation/.
How to track which bills have made it to Gov. Little’s desk and any action he took on them (including vetoes): Go to the governor’s website https://gov.idaho.gov/legislative-sessions/2026-session/. You can scroll down to the bottom of the site and enter your email address to get alerts sent straight to your inbox when the page has been updated.
Idaho Capital Sun reporters Clark Corbin, Laura Guido and Kyle Pfannenstiel contributed reporting to this story.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
