If You Don’t Know What’s Happening in Your State, That Might Be a Clue.

2/25/2026

There are so many bills moving through the Idaho State Legislature right now that it’s honestly hard to keep up. To date, there have been a total of 465 legislative bills and resolutions introduced this session. In just 7 weeks.

With a budget crisis, astronomical housing costs, and chronically low educational funding, you might expect the bulk of those bills to focus on the immense challenges we face.

You would be wrong.

Far too many of them target marginalized communities: LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, low-income families, those with limited access to healthcare, and communities supported by diversity initiatives. The Capitol is filled with proposals that chip away at who belongs… and who doesn’t.

This week, during a committee hearing on one of these bills, testimony crossed into overt racial mockery. The laughter that followed said as much as the words. If you weren’t in the room, and you tend not to watch the local news, you likely never heard about it.

That’s part of the point.

For many people in my circles, this is daily life. Tracking hearings. Texting bill numbers. Coordinating testimony. Carving out time during workdays to sit in committee rooms, often knowing full well how the vote will go.

Here’s what I notice: the people paying the closest attention are often the ones most directly harmed. The trans person. The immigrant parent. The teacher worried about what they’re no longer allowed to say.

They are watching because they have to.

Meanwhile, many others have no idea what’s happening. No sense of the sheer volume of bills written to make life harder for people whose lives are already hard.

It’s not because they’re bad people. It’s not because they’re cruel. Perhaps they're busy. Perhaps they're stretched thin. Or... maybe it’s because they can afford not to know. Or because they assume someone else can handle it.

And that’s a form of privilege.

Privilege is not always wealth. It isn’t always loud, visible power. Sometimes it’s simply the ability to remain blissfully unaware of policies that will not immediately affect you... the freedom to not pay attention.

If legislation threatens your healthcare, you learn bill numbers quickly. If it questions your marriage, your identity, or your family, you pay attention. And when your safety at school or at work is on the line, disengagement isn’t really an option.

But if the laws will not disrupt your body, your family, your safety, or your access to basic amenities, you can scroll past it. You can miss it. You can leave the work to others.

That distance is a cushion.

And I say this gently, because as a cisgender, white, Christian man, I carry significant privilege too. There are policies I don’t feel in my bones the way others do. There are rooms I can walk into without bracing myself first. I can usually show up at a committee hearing and leave afterward without my fundamental rights on the line. I can use the restroom that matches my gender identity without fear of arrest or attack.

The question isn’t whether we have privilege. The question is what we do with it.

If you have the emotional bandwidth to spare right now, consider lending it. You don’t have to become a full-time activist. You don’t have to testify every week. You don’t have to memorize every bill. But you can read one summary. You can send one email. You can call one legislator. You can show up once—even if the outcome feels predetermined.

You can pay attention. Justice movements have never been sustained by the people most harmed alone. When only the marginalized fight for their own dignity, the system absorbs their resistance. It outnumbers them. It exhausts them.

But when those who are not immediately threatened choose to care anyway… that’s when something shifts.

Silence is not always agreement. But disengagement has consequences. And sometimes, silence ends up functioning as complicity.

If you don’t know what’s happening in your state right now, that might mean you’re insulated from the harm.

That insulation can be used as shelter, or it can be used as strength.

This isn’t about guilt, it’s about solidarity. It’s about recognizing that justice work shouldn’t fall solely on those already carrying the heaviest weight.

So pay attention. Ask questions. Risk a little discomfort. Use your steadiness to support someone whose ground is shaking.

We don’t all have the same capacity. Some are exhausted. Some are grieving. Some are barely holding on. That’s real. Honor your limits.

But if you have room, lean in.

Because the people most affected are already paying attention.

They shouldn’t have to do it alone.

Here’s a small sampling of what’s currently moving through the legislature:

Anti-LGBTQIA+ Bills:

HJM017 – Formally asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
HB739 – requires educators, healthcare providers, and other professionals to notify parents if a student requests different names, pronouns, or access to facilities aligned with their gender identity.
HB557 – Prohibits cities and counties from enacting local anti-discrimination ordinances, targeting municipal protections that include sexual orientation and gender identity.
HB607 – one of two “bathroom bills,” restricting access to multi-occupancy restrooms in public buildings based on sex assigned at birth.
HB752 (formerly HB606) – a companion bathroom bill that adds enforcement mechanisms and penalties.
HB516 – Prohibits instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity in K-12 schools, including sex education and relevant historical content.
HB561 – Restricts which flags may be displayed on government property, limiting the ability to fly Pride and other inclusion-related flags. Because the City of Boise recently approved the Pride flag as an officially-endorsed city flag, this bill would also prohibit any city flag approved after 2023.

Anti-Immigrant Bills:

HB764 (formerly HB693) – Creates criminal liability for organizations that provide assistance or services to undocumented immigrants; essentially an “anti-harboring bill.”
HB656 – Requires public education institutions to collect and report data on students’ immigration status and nationality.
HB592 – Requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to collect and report patients’ immigration status.
HB659 – Expands existing law to increase cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities (ICE).
HB700 – Prohibits the employment of undocumented immigrants.
HB704 – Mandates employer participation in the federal E-Verify system to restrict employment of undocumented immigrants.
SB1247 – The Senate’s version of mandatory E-Verify requirements.
SB1318 – Requires an audit of refugee resettlement programs in Idaho.
HB660 – Requires all law enforcement agencies to verify immigration status upon arrest, and to publish regular reports categorizing crime data by immigration status.
HB730 – Adds additional verification and compliance requirements for non-citizens applying for SNAP benefits.

Other Bills:

HB489 – Creates a new crime for wearing a mask or face covering while committing a crime; civil liberties groups warn it may disproportionately impact constitutionally protected protest activity.
SB1236 – Repeals the Idaho Women’s Commission.
SB1237 – Eliminates voting by affidavit, effectively requiring photo ID with no exception.
SB1336 – Establishes strict parameters for K-12 Civics instruction, emphasizing patriotism while limiting critical examination of historical injustices.

For the full text, legislative impacts, and committee schedules for any of these bills, visit the Idaho Legislature website. Please note: specific bill numbers occasionally change as they work their way through the legislative process. All bill numbers are accurate as of 2/25/2026.