Timeline Post Type Description
As funding for public programs is cut and partner organizations increasingly step away from policy work, we fill the void with data-driven advocacy. We lead multiple state and federal policy initiatives, including protecting Medicaid, promoting child care safety, supporting early learning and literacy, increasing foster youth supports and preserving housing and food assistance.
We pass a record number of bills, including H0633, Medicaid postpartum coverage extension to a year; S1328, emergency youth shelter protections; S1379, a ban on placing foster children in short-term rentals; and S1380, the creation of a child welfare ombudsman.
We pass funding bills with record investments in Idaho’s youth behavioral health system, that bolster the number of health providers in the state, and that continue comprehensive Medicaid coverage for over 200,000 children.
We build a coalition of providers and parents to advocate for relief to keep child care businesses open and affordable. In the final hours of the session, legislators pass over $100 million to fund a Child Care Emergency Grant program.
We rally advocates virtually to ensure no family loses their home during the COVID-19 pandemic and secure legislative approval for $15 million in emergency rental assistance. Building on this work, we pass SB1039a in 2023, the first-ever renter protection policy in Idaho to prevent unreasonable rental fees and fines.
Idaho voters support expanding Medicaid to include Idaho’s lowest income adults at the ballot. We ensure Medicaid expansion is fully enacted and funded by the Idaho Legislature. In 2020, the program is implemented with 65,000 Idahoans gaining access to coverage.
The Marilyn Shuler Foster Care Advocacy Fund is established to improve the lives of children in foster care. We then pass the Foster Care Improvement Act, S1341, that preserves foster sibling connections, increases family supports and begins child welfare outcome tracking.
We advance our Grade Level Reading Campaign and pass H0526 and H0451, bills that fund literacy instruction for K-3 students reading below grade level.
We unite with KIDS COUNT, a network of Annie E. Casey Foundation state partners, allowing us to better utilize data and analysis to inform policy recommendations.
We form Close the Gap Idaho and begin advocating to close Idaho’s health insurance coverage gap by expanding Medicaid. The coalition quickly grows, with thousands of activists and leaders engaged statewide.