Legislation creating vouchers through the state’s popular Empowering Parents grant program was retracted from consideration by its sponsors this week after it became clear the bill had no path forward for approval in the Idaho House.
The bill would have expanded the popular Empowering Parents grant program created by lawmakers in 2022 to allow grants of public tax dollars to pay of private school tuition — despite assurances from the program’s lawmaker architects it would never be used as a backdoor for vouchers.
Introduced by Sen. Lori Den Hartog (R-Meridian) and co-sponsored by Rep. Wendy Horman (R-Idaho Falls) and Sen. Chuck Winder (R-Boise), the legislation was previously approved by the Idaho Senate in a narrow 19-15 vote.