2026 Legislative Session wrap-up
The 2026 session of the Idaho Legislature has ended and there were a couple of bills that The Idaho Foodbank was following due to their impact on the work we do and food insecurity.
After significant public opposition from various community organizations, church groups, and food banks and other nonprofits in Idaho, the Idaho Legislature did not advance House Bill 764 out of Committee. This bill would have created criminal liability for organizations that ‘knowingly’ provide certain types of services and/or aid to undocumented immigrants.
The language used in the bill around ‘knowing’ the client’s immigration status was extremely vague and could be interpreted as holding charitable organizations accountable for simply serving someone who is suspected of not having legal status. Some specific examples of activities that could be interpreted as illegal under this bill include providing food assistance at a food pantry, providing overnight emergency shelter, or transporting a child to an afterschool program. We appreciated so many members of our partner network engaging with legislators to share information about how this bill would have negatively impacted charitable organizations. You can read news coverage of the Committee Hearing in the Idaho Press.
House Bill 730 was a bill related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that was passed in the Idaho Legislature after some changes were made to the original version of the bill. It was then signed into law by the Governor. This bill increases the amount and frequency of data checks and income verification requirements that the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare has to do for someone to receive SNAP. Idaho already has a robust verification system for SNAP beneficiaries. The Idaho Legislature also passed additional funding for the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare to implement the new requirements in this bill. We are concerned that this bill will lead to an increase in Idaho’s low SNAP Error Rate, which has new significance under the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). The SNAP Error Rate is a measure of both overpayments and underpayments in a state’s SNAP Program. You can learn more about the OBBB and SNAP Error Rates here.
We will continue to monitor implementation impacts of House Bill 730 on SNAP in Idaho, which is an important program for serving Idahoans who are food insecure.