House Joint Resolution 1 was introduced early on in the 2016 session and quickly became a top priority to defeat. The joint resolution was a back-door attempt to create a school voucher system in Idaho that makes it easier to funnel taxpayer dollars out of public schools and into private or religious schools. While HJR 1 was shielded as an attempt to support school choice for Idaho families, it would have violated the Idaho Constitution by compelling Idaho taxpayers to financially support religious schools despite the state’s constitutional prohibition that public funds should not be used for religious purposes. Ultimately, the bill was not given a public hearing due to the legal concerns we raised. While it did not move forward this session, we expect the bill will return in the future for us to once again defeat.

Sponsors

Rep. Ron Nate

Status

Introduced

Session

2016

Bill number

HJR 1

Position

Oppose