IDAHO, USA — The start of a new calendar year brings new laws. Idaho will enact four new laws Jan. 1, dating back to the 2023 legislative session.
Most new laws are enacted at the beginning of the new fiscal marked on July 1; however, lawmakers can defer the legislations enactment to a later date. Likewise, some laws are enacted immediately upon garnering a governor's signature.
New laws enacted in 2024 are as follows:
HB 124: This new law removes student identification cards from the list of approved documentation to register to vote and to vote on election day at the polls.
"There's no standard for a student ID. A student ID that's made by my kids' high school is going to be different than the student ID made by UI," Idaho's former Chief of the Civil and Constitutional Defense Division Lincoln Wilson previously told KTVB in October.
The list of accepted documentation includes an Idaho drivers license, a US passport, Tribal ID card, and a concealed carry permit. The state now offers free state-issued ID cards to assist people impacted by this law change.
Youth voting advocacy group Babe Vote and the League of Women Voters of Idaho are challenging this law in an appeal to the Idaho State Supreme Court. The court heard arguments Monday and is set to revisit the appeal January 10.
HB 149: The Clean Slate Act gives low-level offenders a fresh start, according to Rep. Ilana Rubel (D-Boise).
It allows low-level offenders to petition an Idaho court to seal records surrounding one low-level, non-violent, non-sexual crime if they have not committed a crime in the subsequent five years. The bill received near unanimous support by the state legislature.
"A minor in possession of alcohol, if you’re busted with a beer at a party when you're 19, offenses like that. These are very low-risk offenses," Rep. Rubel told KTVB in March. "It will still be in law enforcement databases. Police will still be able to see it. If you reoffend, that first offense will come back to haunt you."
HB 161: This new law closes three loopholes in Idaho's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to supporters of the then-proposed legislation as written in the bill's statement of purpose (SOP).
The law aims to ensure able-bodies SNAP enrollees are in Idaho's workforce. The law implements mandatory employment and training for all able-bodies enrollees. This will introduce more than 21,000 workers into Idaho’s workforce, according to the SOP.
HB 71: The Vulnerable Child Protection Act bans minors from receiving gender transition hormones and surgeries statewide. This includes puberty blocker.
"Children in Idaho are suffering from these procedures, so called therapies," bill sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa) testified in committee.
Any doctor found to be providing these services is guilty of a felony and can face up to 10 years in prison.
"We need to recognize kids are not equipped to make these sorts of decisions at such a young age especially when the harms are so severe," Idaho Family Policy Center Blaine Conzatti told KTVB in February. "From our perspective, these drugs are just as harmful, and kids need to be just as protected from them as they are from sex reassignment."
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