Members of the Idaho House of Representatives, including Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Rep. Dori Healey, R-Boise, listen to action on the House floor on March 10, 2025, at the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
The Idaho House passed House Bill 135 on Monday to prevent unauthorized immigrants in Idaho from accessing publicly-funded assistance.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, said the goal of the bill is to prioritize people who are living in the U.S. with proper authorization to access welfare benefits. Redman introduced a similar bill last year, but that bill died in the committee process.
To receive public assistance in Idaho, state agencies are largely required to verify the lawful presence of adults applying for the benefits. However, exceptions exist for certain services, including emergency health care, immunization assistance, programs like soup kitchens and crisis counseling, prenatal and postnatal care, and food assistance for dependent children.
But House Bill 135 would remove some of those exceptions and require agencies to verify someone’s immigration status for access to health assistance for immunizations, prenatal and postnatal care, food assistance for dependent children, and services from short-term shelters such as soup kitchens and crisis counseling.
Republicans and Democrats shared concerns with the bill, however, the House passed it in a 46-22 vote.
“This bill has a laser focus on taking away care from babies, pregnant women and hungry children,” Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said in opposition to the bill.
Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, also opposed the bill, saying she would not support it because it would deny children access to food.
“So if I’m volunteering in a soup kitchen, and a young mother and three little young kids come in and they’re hungry, and they look at us, and we say, where are your papers? Do you have documentation that you are a U.S. citizen? And if they can’t, you say, ‘I’m sorry, we’re going to deny you any hot meal today,’” she said.
McCann said as a Christian woman, she would not turn them away and would feed them.
Proponents of the bill, such as Rep. David Leavitt, R- Twin Falls, said it would be a disservice to those who are living in the U.S. with proper authorization to allow unauthorized immigrants access to these services.
“I would just like to remind everybody that the U.S. government is not a charitable organization, and tax dollars are not charitable donations,” Rep. Lucas Cayler, R-Caldwell, also said.
The bill is now headed to the Senate side where it must have a committee hearing and pass the Senate floor before reaching the governor’s desk. Only then can the governor choose to sign it, let it become law without his signature or veto it.
If it clears the Legislature, the bill would take effect on July 1.
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