After 82 days, the 2026 Idaho Legislative Session has come to a close.
While the total number of days is down from previous years, lawmakers crammed in even more legislative proposals than before.
While the real numbers are actually a smidge larger, the most recent progress report updated on March 27 shows 1,018 pieces of legislation prepared over the past three months. That’s a record over the last six years, with 2025 coming in second with 954 bills and resolutions.
With that in mind, we wanted to highlight some of the most important bills to be signed into law and what’s still outstanding on Gov. Brad Little’s desk.
Let’s start with bills that have passed.
The Budget
This isn’t a single bill, but state lawmakers spent even more time this year than they typically do on the budget.
That’s because Idaho began facing a strong downturn in revenue shortly after last year’s legislative session ended with a $450 million tax cut package.
Gov. Brad Little slashed spending by 3% last summer to keep the budget relatively in-line.
Ultimately, top Republicans on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee pushed through an extra 1% cut for the current fiscal year and reductions totaling 5% for next fiscal year.
Medicaid, K-12 education, state police and prisons escaped the additional cutbacks, but that means other agencies, like Idaho’s public colleges and universities, took a larger hit proportionately.
While not strictly a budgetary bill, lawmakers also conformed to much of the federal tax changes included in the One Big Beautiful Bill. That punched out $155 million in revenue this fiscal year and another $175 million ongoing.
In all, the FY27 budget totals $5.6 billion – a little less than the current year budget, even.
Short-term Rentals
The great debate over short-term rentals, like Airbnb and VRBO, rose from the chambers of city councils and county commissions to the Idaho Capitol this year.
Dismayed by how widely regulations varied from city to city, state lawmakers set a ceiling on how strict local governments could be.
In short, not very.
The House version of the bill won out, only allowing cities and counties to require short-term rental owners to have smoke alarms in all sleeping areas, have fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors on each floor and have that information on a handout for guests.
Places restricting the total number of rental properties, requirements to register with the city or to build additional parking will not be allowed.
Transgender bathrooms
Beginning July 1, transgender people will no longer be able to use public bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
Only a few exceptions are outlined in the bill.
Those include custodial staff cleaning a restroom, if someone of the opposite sex needs to provide medical assistance, or “when the person is in dire need of urinating or defecating and such facility is the only facility reasonably available at the time of the person's use.”
A first conviction under the law would be a misdemeanor, while a second conviction within five years would be a felony.
Multiple protesters have been arrested in the days following Gov. Brad Little’s signing of the bill.
Opaque University Presidential Searches
One of the first bills of this year’s session came about after a failed, first-round search for Boise State University’s new president.
The Idaho State Board of Education said laws meant to bring transparency to the process were too burdensome and limited the number of applicants.
Prior to Senate Bill 1225’s passage, the SBOE had to name its top-three finalists for the position as they came to campus for final interviews.
Officials said that unfairly burdened candidates who weren’t chosen by potentially creating friction with their current employer.
Now, the state board will only have to reveal the name of the finalist 10 days before a final decision is made.
WHAT’S STILL PENDING?
A Potentially Big Blow to Teachers Unions
Don’t let the title fool you. House Bill 516 would impose strict new rules on how teachers unions operate in Idaho. The bill was hijacked and gutted to add the new language, so look at the amendment or engrossment tabs in that link.
Essentially, teachers unions would no longer be able to use taxpayer money for their operations. Right now, public school districts collect union dues through their payroll system and unions can hold meetings before or after school in their buildings.
This bill would ban those practices – not to mention teachers could no longer use their paid vacation days to advocate on legislative issues affecting the classroom.
Gov. Little has several more days before he’s obligated to act on the proposal.
Medicaid Expansion Work Requirements
As states gear up to implement these work requirements nationwide, they have to make a choice: they can require people prove they’ve worked between one and three months prior to applying for health coverage.
Idaho Republicans want the maximum lookback period.
They said it’s more likely that person would be committed to bettering themselves and eventually getting health insurance another way.
Meanwhile, opponents of the bill worry it’ll cause an administrative migraine for a department that’s already burdened with bureaucratic projects and potentially deny people coverage.
Little’s deadline to act is April 8 at 10:38 a.m.
Partisan ACHD Elections
After hitting some roadblocks the last few years, a bill reshaping how Ada County Highway District commissioners are elected is near the finish line.
While candidates would still need to live in one of the five districts, voters countywide would get to choose each commissioner.
As House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) pointed out in her debate, that means a candidate could receive zero votes from their own district and still be elected thanks to voters living elsewhere in Ada County.
The positions would also be partisan, meaning candidates could have to face a primary election, along with having a Democratic, Republican, Constitution or Libertarian party designation next to their name.
The governor’s deadline for this bill is April 8 at 5 p.m.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
