Idaho Rep. Jacyn Gallagher, R-Weiser, on the House floor at the State Capitol building on Jan. 23, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)
Idaho lawmakers on Tuesday sent a bill for amendments that attempts to curtail the power of regional public health districts in the state after some pursued COVID-19 related restrictions during the pandemic.
The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday voted to send House Bill 392 to the amending order, which allows wide amendments to bills.
The bill — sponsored by Rep. Jacyn Gallagher, R-Weiser, and Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa — would modify laws that outline the powers of Idaho’s public health district boards, replacing language that allows boards to do “all” things necessary to protect public health. That law would, under the bill, allow “necessary and reasonable things” for public health. The bill would also strike language about the board’s duties for “preventive health.”
Gallagher told the committee that, under the wider duty of public health districts in Idaho law now, boards could restrict the ability to buy sugar or flour for health concerns.