Kevin Richert

The 81-day legislative session wrapped up last week, eight days shorter than last year’s session.

Shorter sessions are typical in election years, but 2026 wasn’t any less hectic.

It started and ended with fiery debates over budget cuts to address a revenue deficit after last year’s tax cuts. While K-12 was largely spared, colleges and universities face the brunt of the cuts.

Gov. Brad Little has more than a week to act on an anti-teachers’ union bill that raced through the Legislature in three days.

Lawmakers sent the heavily rewritten House Bill 516 to Little’s desk Thursday, the 81st and final day of the 2026 session. Because the Legislature has adjourned for the year, Little has additional time to mull over HB 516.

A late-session bill to address school sexual abuse investigations sailed through the Senate.

Without debate, the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 1412 — a response to the spate of tort claims filed against the Boise School District, involving former special education assistant Gavin Snow.

A bill to criminalize violations of Idaho’s bathroom law is headed to the Senate.

The House-passed bill would make it a misdemeanor to use a bathroom “that is designated for use by the (user’s) opposite biological sex.”

For much of the session, legislators have been haggling over how to have a say over the way Idaho spends $930 million in rural health grants.

A new bill emerged Tuesday morning.

Introduced unanimously in the House Health and Welfare Committee, this bill follows a similar version from the Senate and would create a legislative committee to oversee Idaho’s federal Rural Healthcare Transformation grants. The money could have far-reaching implications — and could factor into Idaho’s medical education debate.

A bill that would recognize professional experience outside the classroom on the career ladder is heading to the full House. 

Currently, career-technical educators must receive four years of proficient evaluations before they can move up the career ladder, the state’s salary funding model. The bill would allow CTE instructors and professional support staff to move up the ladder with years of experience outside of schools.

After an hour of debate — a wide-ranging airing of fiscal issues — the House Friday easily passed an immediate spending cut.

The 2026 Idaho Rescissions Act, Senate Bill 1331, cuts this year’s general fund spending by $131.3 million. Most of the cuts were already in place; Gov. Brad Little cut 3% from most agency budgets last summer. But the bill also includes an additional $15.3 million in cuts, beyond Little’s recommendations.

Betty Grandy may only be nine years old, but she worked the room like a seasoned lobbyist Wednesday morning and secured a unanimous “yes” from state senators on her bill to designate hunting as the official state sport.

Gov. Brad Little said he’s concerned about the proposed budget cuts coursing through the Statehouse — but also said he has limited options at his disposal.

“They’re the legislative branch,” Little told reporters Tuesday morning. “They get to set the budget.”

The Legislature’s budget committee Friday endorsed $46.3 million of additional spending cuts for the next two years, which could come largely from higher education budgets.

Several big budgets are exempt from the sweeping proposals — including K-12, which accounts for nearly half of all state spending. But with K-12, Medicaid, prisons and Idaho State Police off the table, a disproportionate share of the cuts could fall to the public colleges and universities.