The 2018 legislative session is winding down with lawmakers finishing up all remaining business on the calendar.
There was a possibility that was going to happen Thursday afternoon but lawmakers were still conducting business in both the House and Senate. It now looks like adjournment will not happen until next week.
The Senate passed the final budget for the year, for the state superintendent of public instruction, and the House passed the Senate’s amended version of an anti-trespassing bill in the House. Most of what remains are appropriation bills.
KTVB spoke with leadership in both the House and Senate about their biggest accomplishments and what they would have liked to see turn out differently.
In a bipartisan effort, lawmakers passed major reform for Idaho’s foster care system.
Sponsored by Sen. Abby Lee and Rep. Christy Perry, Senate Bill 1341 is designed to keep siblings together and establish a citizen review panel to provide more oversight within the foster care system.
Assistant Minority Leader Senator Cherie Buckner-Webb says it’s one of the most important policies to come out of this legislative session.
“They are our greatest assets, we want to take care of our children,” said Buckner-Webb.
Lawmakers also passed a bill that would restore basic dental care for Medicaid patients, after it was stripped away during the recession.
“We were able to reinstate preventative dental care for Idahoans,” said Rep. Mat Erpelding.
Erpelding added that perhaps one of the Legislature’s biggest blunders was passing the sweeping tax plan, arguing that it cut some large middle-class families short and that it did not leave any money for health care.
Republicans applauded the $129 million in tax relief.
“I think we did find an answer to tax reduction, you saw the biggest reduction in Idaho history,” said House Majority Leader Mike Moyle.
Sen. Pro-Tem Brent Hill added that he would have liked to see House Bill 464 pass, which addresses that states health care coverage gap, something that many Democrats echoed.