'Complete and total support': President Trump weighs in on this Idaho bill proposal

Ian Max Stevenson, The Idaho Statesman on Feb 17, 2025

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President Donald Trump took to social media over the weekend to endorse a bill in the Idaho Legislature, putting pressure on state lawmakers to send $50 million to students who do not attend public schools.

“Congratulations to Governor Brad Little, and Idaho legislators, who are fighting to bring school choice to their beautiful state,” Trump posted on Truth Social, which he owns. “$50 million dollars to empower parents to provide the very best education for their child – GREAT news for Idaho families. This bill, which has my complete and total support, MUST PASS!”

Trump’s post appeared to back House Bill 93, which would set aside $50 million for students who do not attend public schools, in $5,000 grants handed out as refundable tax credits. Special-needs students could receive up to $7,500.

The proposal amounts to an effort to bring school vouchers — also referred to as school choice — to Idaho, which a number of other U.S. states have implemented in recent years. Many Republican lawmakers have pushed for the programs to give students more education options. But other members of the party as well as the Idaho Legislature’s Democratic caucus, the teachers union and many school district superintendents have opposed them, arguing they will siphon money from public schools and give it to families who can already afford — and in many cases are already attending — private schools.

House Bill 93, sponsored by Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, and Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, is one of at least four bills that would reallocate public school funding, and so far has been the most successful. It passed in the House by a vote of 42-28 and awaits a vote in the Senate.

Den Hartog posted on X on Monday that the bill will be taken up by the Senate this week.

Another proposal, Senate Bill 1025, sponsored by Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, failed on the Senate floor. Other ideas — like House Bill 164, which would allow students not in public school to use up to 80% of the state’s per-student funding, or Senate Bill 1017, which would allow parents to request reimbursement for education enhancement activities — have yet to receive public hearings.

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