A bill requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship just passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is advancing to the Senate.

Last Thursday, the House passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act. The legislation requires voters to provide proof of citizenship, including REAL ID driver’s licenses, to participate in elections. Standard driver’s licenses would no longer be accepted.

Last week, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane spoke on election security at the federal House Election Subcommittee in Washington. Before the hearing, McGrane told Boise State Public Radio what he planned to discuss.

“A really hot topic is just citizenship validation. In order for us to be able to do that, we can’t just do it as Idaho alone. We need our partners in the other states, as well as the federal government, to be able to do that,” McGrane said.

This includes implementation of the state’s 2024 Only Citizens Can Vote Act executive order, which requires all Idaho voters’ citizenship status to be reviewed each election cycle.

The order was followed by a constitutional amendment Idaho voters approved in fall that explicitly says only U.S. citizens can vote, even though existing laws already ban noncitizens from casting ballots.

At the hearing, McGrane said all 1.1 million Idaho voter registrations were audited by the state this last election. He said it the state is “easily determining citizenship for the overwhelming majority, but then really dialing it in to a case by case basis to narrow it down to 34 individuals who were non-citizens on Idaho’s voter rolls.”

That’s about .003% of the voting population in last year’s election.

Idaho checks the voter registry to purge inactive voters every two years.

The committee asked McGrane why Idaho recently banned student IDs for voter identification. He said it didn’t change voter turnout, and that Idaho is looking into requiring REAL ID Star Cards for voting.

“We have the real ID taking effect. We all see this when we travel. All of us experience it. This is something that we can do.”

Idaho’s REAL ID Star Card program takes effect on May 7.

A 2024 study by the University of Maryland finds roughly 21 million registered voters don’t have easy access to proof of citizenship. That’s 9% of the country’s voting population.

BOISE, Idaho — “On 14 today of April hour of 3:12 this bill becomes law,” said Governor Brad Little

Senate Bill 1206 invests about $14 million for state childcare to help families alleviate the costs of childcare services.

“This bill is the latest in our effort to support families and ensure they have quality, affordable childcare options. Addressing childcare access has long been a priority of mine.”

This money will expand home-based centers, community childcare programs, after-school care, and early learning initiatives, along with professional development for childcare providers.

“The model that we’ll be using as a department is working with the providers, working with our business community and really looking for sustainable solutions that will increase supply throughout our state,” said Alex Adams, director of the Idaho Health and Welfare Department.

The bill signing took place at Beginning Years Childcare Center, where Lindsay Shaffer is the director.

She started her career as a teacher before becoming director and has seen firsthand the need for more childcare options.

Shaffer said, “quality childcare is expensive, and it’s been out of reach for a lot of families, so this is really going to help centers and early learning centers instead of just having to stay home.”

That’s the hope with SB 1206, more learning centers for families. Gov. Little says the problem is driven by supply and demand, and with this bill, around 6,000 slots will open for families in need of childcare services.

“Improving childcare access for Idaho families will continue to be a high priority because it’s important to parents, it’s important to businesses, and it’s important to employers.”

Now that SB 1206 has been signed, it will go into effect this July.