Legislature Week 6: Boyle Unveils Another Anti-Union Bill

The big news: Rep. Judy Boyle (R-Midvale) introduced another anti-union bill in the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday morning.  

• The new bill is different than House Bill 601, which Boyle introduced earlier this month. HB 601 would redefine how unions are defined in Idaho, creating a new “government unions” chapter in Idaho code. The bill assumes that union activity is inherently political.   

• HB 601 has been stalled in the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee for weeks.  

• Apparently in response to the lack of momentum, Boyle introduced her new bill — which targets the Idaho Education Association while ensnaring other public sector unions —  in the House Ways and Means Committee. Ways and Means is often a committee of last resort, usually used to push through legislation at the end of a session.  

• Boyle’s new legislation may appear before the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee.  

• As with HB 601, the new legislation is expected to end payroll deduction for union dues, restrict how school districts can share employee contact info with unions, prohibit employers from distributing union communications, and ban paid release time for union activity unless release time is specifically mentioned in a collective bargaining agreement. If release time is allowed under a district-union contract, that time must be tracked by employee and by day. The district would have to invoice the union for the union employee’s time and receive reimbursement within 30 days. 

• It’s unclear when Boyle’s new legislation will be introduced into the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee, or if the committee will also take up HB 601.  

What IEA is saying: “The Freedom Foundation has been shopping some version of this legislation to committee after committee for years,” said IEA Political Director Chris Parri. “We have beat it every single time — and with IEA members’ help, we can do it again. It’s time to make calls and emails to the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee and tell them to stop this bill in its tracks.”  

Immigration bills: Earlier this month, hardline lawmakers held a press conference with Theo Wold of the Heritage Foundation (formerly Idaho solicitor general), announcing that lawmakers would soon roll out a suite of anti-immigration bills co-crafted by Wold.  

• At the press conference, Rep. Brian Lenney (R-Nampa), positioned the draft bills as protection against “demographic replacement,” which is the far-right conspiracy theory that elites are replacing white Americans with immigrants from other countries. “When we’re talking about immigration, it’s a human rights issue,” he said. “… This is about demographic replacement, and they’re doing that via refugee resettlement programs, human trafficking and cheap slave labor.” 

• This week, lawmakers heard one of those bills, House Bill 656, which will require school districts to collect and report the immigration status and language group of every enrolled student to “better inform the state department of education and the Idaho legislature regarding the costs to educate these students.” 

• The bill has met headwinds and is expected to be reintroduced Monday with revisions. A new bill number will be assigned to replace HB 656.  

High-needs special education fund: Senate Bill 1288, which would create a $5 million high-needs special education fund, passed out of the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.  

• Lawmakers have struggled to pass similar bills, including the creation of a $3 million high-needs fund in 2025. That bill failed by one vote.  

• This year’s version, sponsored by Sen. Camille Blaylock (R-Caldwell), pulls money from existing Idaho Department of Education budgets — the Driver Training Account and interest from the Idaho Career Readiness Students Fund — to create the fund.  

• The bill now heads to the Senate floor. 

Special education memorial: House Joint Memorial 11, which calls on the federal government to fulfill its obligation to fully fund special education, was adopted by the Senate on Tuesday (it was adopted by the House last week).  

• The federal government mandated the inclusion of special education in public schools in 1975 but has never fully funded its financial obligation to states. 

• HJM 11 is non-binding — but it’s also one of the first indications in years that Idaho lawmakers are willing to do something about special education funding.  

Other bills:  

Charter school flexibility: Rep. Douglas Pickett (R-Oakley) attempted to bring legislation before the House Education Committee that would give more funding flexibility to public charter schools. Committee members pushed back on limiting the legislation to charter schools. “I made a commitment a few months ago that I wasn’t going to treat every aspect of education differently, so I would like to see public schools be given the same opportunity,” said Rep. Clay Handy (R-Burley). The committee voted to introduce the legislation. 

Superintendent qualifications: House Bill 711 would create alternate pathways to holding a superintendent position, including “grow your own” and “executive leadership” tracks. It will soon be heard by the House Education Committee.   

AI in schools: Senate Bill 1227, which would establish provisions for using artificial intelligence in public schools, is still waiting for a hearing in the House Education Committee. It was passed by the Senate on Feb. 2.  

Gender identity and sexual orientation: Idaho is one step closer to a complete ban on instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in K-12 public schools. House Bill 516, sponsored by Rep. Dale Hawkins (R-Fernwood), passed the House 59-10 this week. It now heads to the Senate.  

Criminal allegations: House Bill 635 will require the Professional Standards Commission to report any filed complaints that contain criminal behavior to law enforcement. It passed the House 66-3 (with one absence) on Tuesday and now heads to the Senate.  

Moment of silence: Educators would need to provide a moment of silence for 60 seconds each day if House Bill 623 passes. The moment of silence would be used to “reflect, meditate, pray, or engage in any other silent activity.” Public schools would be prohibited from providing instruction regarding the nature of the moment of silence beyond the letter of the law. The bill passed out of the House Education Committee on Friday morning.   

Educator roles: House Bill 728, sponsored by Rep. Monica Church (D-Boise), would modify definitions and further define administrative, instructional, and other staff roles, as well as changing code references to funding formulas, evaluations, facilities distributions and program administration. House Education passed it out of committee Friday morning.