The length of Idaho's legislative sessions has never been set in stone because there are no legal or constitutional requirements to do so. Often a session ends sometime in March and April, but can technically last as long as it needs to — in 2021 lawmakers were in session for 311 days from Jan. 11 to Nov. 17.
This year, legislators set a lofty goal of ending the session by its 75th day — March 22. However, it's April, and one handful of bills were introduced last week and another handful are on the calendar for a second and third reading in the state's House of Representatives, meaning the end still isn't here.
Despite this, more than 200 bills — out of almost 1,000 pieces of legislation introduced this year — have been signed into law by Gov. Brad Little. These new laws include added provisions in sex education curriculum, prohibitions on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statements at higher education institutions, and new regulations on artificial intelligence.
Two bills that were signed into law this session make changes to what's required and prohibited in the state's sexual education curriculum.
House Bill 666 prevents any individual or organization that provides abortions from dispensing materials or instruction relating to sex education curricula. The House passed the bill March 8, and the Senate approved it March 20.
Senate Bill 1308 requires any educational institution that teaches about contraception or sexually transmitted infections to provide information that explains current adoption practices and where to find resources. It also adds to the current law that places sexual education decisions solely in the hands of local school boards — recommending that instruction relating to adoption resources and practices be included if a school board introduces this type of curriculum.
The law received bipartisan support with a 30-4 vote in the Senate on March 5, and a 64-2 vote in the House on March 14.
Both laws go into effect on July 1, 2024.
Idaho's Republican supermajority continued to fight against policies around diversity this session with the passage of Senate Bill 1274. The law, which passed along party lines, bans public universities in the state from asking for a "diversity statement as part of an admissions process, employment application process, hiring process, contract renewal process or promotion process, or as a condition of participation in any administrative or decision-making function."
The law defines a diversity statement as any written or oral statements discussing someone's identity and their view on these identities. It also prevents any applicant or candidate from being asked to "confess one's race-based privilege" or "sex-based privilege."
After signing the bill into law, Little took to X to post: "It's official — Idaho has banned 'diversity statements' ACROSS STATE GOVERNMENT!"
The law — which goes into effect on July 1 — does not prevent anyone from making these statements on their own.
Like many other legislatures, the Idaho Legislature has added language to current laws that will impact the use of artificial intelligence (also known as synthetic media) in the state.
House Bill 664, known as the Freedom From AI-Rigged Elections Act, mainly protects political candidates from the creation of deceptive synthetic media materials. This could be an altered recording from an actual speech or a recording from an event that hasn't actually occurred.
Candidates who have been deceptively represented in a form of synthetic media now have a way to legally prevent it from being published again. These candidates can also seek damages in court against whoever produced the content.
It will also require any synthetic media to be thoroughly disclosed. If the media is a video, the disclosure must be on screen for the entire duration. Disclosures for audio must be read at the beginning and end of the message, and if it's longer than two minutes, it must be read throughout the recording.
HB 664 passed through the House and Senate with bipartisan support, with only Republicans voting against it. The law went into effect immediately after Little signed it on March 25.
Another measure, House Bill 575, took aim at AI abuses, creating penalties for people who disseminate sexually explicit synthetic material without consent of the person portrayed in the media. The bill makes it a misdemeanor to disclose explicit synthetic media if it's meant to "annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, offend, humiliate or degrade an identifiable person." Repeat offenders could be charged with a felony and face up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
The measure passed through the House almost unanimously — four representatives were absent — and through the Senate unanimously. Like almost every other law passed this session, HB 575 becomes effective by July 1. ♦
