Contact us: idahoreports@idahoptv.org

This week on Idaho Reports...

Lawmakers are looking to wrap up their work and head home, but there are still major questions yet to be resolved. Will the rush to the exits leave unintended consequences?

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee advanced a bill this week regarding the Idaho Child Care Program, or ICCP. The proposal does three major things: Changes eligibility for families, including adding work or school requirements for parents and creating higher bars for income and assets; creates fraud prevention mechanisms, including mandated financial audits for nonprofit daycare centers and giving the attorney general authority to pursue fraud prosecutions; and moves the parameters for the program from state rules to statute. 

Bill co-sponsor Rep. Jordan Redman told Idaho Reports the changes are necessary to ensure fraud prevention and strengthen the integrity of the Idaho Child Care Program.

However, Christine Tiddens, executive director for Idaho Voices for Children, told the committee the legislation could have unintended consequences, including getting rid of an eligibility exemption for foster families.

The House passed a bill that would make changes to the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance, the state’s virtual education provider, in an attempt to eliminate duplicative programing and narrow the scope of IDLA’s services. The proposal would cut IDLA's budget in half.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield recently raised concerns about cuts, saying, “Idaho’s own state-created provider—the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance—was reduced by 52%, while other virtual programs saw cuts of just 1.8%... If fairness is the goal, we need to make sure our actions reflect that—especially when it comes to a program that was created to meet the needs of Idaho families.”

After a hastily arranged and disjointed meeting on Thursday, Idaho Education News reports, the Senate Education Committee put the bill on hold until Friday in an attempt to give committee members time to read the bill and consider some possible amendments.

This week, Toni Lawson of the Idaho Hospital Association discusses Idaho's short timeline to spend $1 billion in Rural Health Transformation funding. Plus, Sen. Doug Okuniewicz, R-Hayden, and Senate Assistant Minority Leader James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, share their thoughts on the waning days of the legislative session.

Looking to Leave | March 27, 2026

• SPECIAL EDUCATION: Superintendent Debbie Critchfield’s goal never changed. She wanted to create a state fund to reimburse school districts for the enormous and unavoidable budget pressure that comes with serving a single high-needs student. But to get it done, Critchfield changed her strategy. [🔗 Idaho Education News]

• AI EDUCATION: Idaho is launching a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership aimed at expanding artificial intelligence education in K-12 schools, state leaders announced Thursday. The Idaho Department of Education initiative brings together partners including Idaho National Laboratory, Microsoft and Micron. Officials say the effort positions Idaho as a national leader in AI literacy. [🔗 CBS2 Idaho News]

• CAMPAIGN SPENDING: The Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC reported a $400,000 contribution from Citizens Alliance Political Action Committee Inc., a super PAC based in Fairfax, Va. That’s on top of a $50,000 donation it made to the Idaho PAC last month, for a total of $450,000 this year.  [🔗 Idaho Education News]

• DATA CENTERS: A bill designed to protect water for Idaho’s farmers and other existing water users as new data centers would encourage developers to use closed-loop systems to cool equipment instead of using evaporative or hybrid cooling systems that consume much more water. [🔗 Idaho Capital Sun]

• PRISONS FULL: The Idaho Department of Corrections reports it is operating at over 100% of capacity and has transferred some 120 incarcerated individuals to a prison in Arizona, and plan to transfer several more out of state. [🔗 CBS2 Idaho News]

• ADJOURNMENT: Sen. Scott Grow and Rep. Josh Tanner, co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, discussed the scenarios for the legislative endgame Thursday morning at the Idaho State Capitol. [🔗 Idaho Capital Sun]

Your support for public media means more now than ever. The generous support of our viewers like you makes it possible for Idaho Public Television to tell Idaho’s stories.

Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television is made possible through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, the Friends of Idaho Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.