New Idaho bill targets funding of teachers unions

BOISE — A bill that would restrict the funding of teachers unions has been advanced to the Idaho House.

On Monday, the House State Affairs Committee voted 12-3 to send HB 98 to the full House. Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, sponsored the bill, which would ban taxpayer funds from going toward teachers unions or affiliated entities, and financially penalize school districts up to $2,500 for allowing teachers to pay union dues through automatic payroll deductions.

The legislation follows Boyle’s HB 602, which failed in the House in the 2024 session.

Boyle said the bill is intended to cut down on what she called “under the table” dealings between school districts and unions.

Quinn Perri, political director of the state teachers union, the Idaho Education Association, disagreed with the comment and the bill’s intent.

“This legislation has nothing to do with saving taxpayer funds,” Perri said in testimony. “Instead, it attacks educators' rights and workplaces, will lead to more teachers leaving the profession, and hurts students.”

Perri argued union collaboration with school districts fosters student success and better working environments for teachers, saying that the IEA receives no taxpayer funds for its operations.

IEA Executive Director Paul Stark echoed these statements, claiming that the bill specifically and unfairly targets the organization.

“Let’s not make any mistake, this is the Idaho Education Association bill,” Stark said. “It is a dangerous precedent to have bills that single out and target one Idaho business, and that’s what this does. We don’t see any other businesses affected in this bill. We don’t see any other unions affected by this bill.”

Stark went on to challenge the bill’s constitutionality based on “viewpoint discrimination,” a First Amendment term for when speech is treated differently by the government because of a viewpoint it expresses.

In an overwhelmingly oppositional testimony block, representatives from several organizations and unions spoke their objection to the bill, including the Professional Firefighters of Idaho, Idaho State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, Idaho Association of School Administrators, Idaho Falls Education Association, and others.

Supporters included several conservative think tanks from out of state and in Idaho, including the national Freedom Foundation that helped create the bill, the Mountain States Policy Center and the Heritage Foundation. Both the Mountain States Policy Center and Heritage Foundation.

HB 98 places restrictions on initiatives unions can support, as well as how they can promote themselves. Several pages of the bill’s text detail prohibited activities, including supporting or opposing political candidates or legislation, hosting press conferences and distributing communication.

“We’re just adding these things to make it perfectly clear that the activities cannot be allowed using taxpayer money,” Boyle said. “We’re making clear what a teachers’ union activity actually is.”

Boyle went on to describe other acts the bill would ban, including paying union dues via payroll deduction, providing employee contact information to teachers unions, talking to other employees about the union or contributing public funds.

Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, asked about the realistic enforcement of the bill and its taxpayer emphasis.

“Is there any estimate on the incremental cost to click one more box for a teacher on where their payroll deductions would go?” Achilles asked. “I’m trying to understand how you would calculate the savings by not clicking one more box on the payroll software.”

Boyle replied that it had less to do with cost-saving, and more to do with the funding of unions.

“It is the issue that that goes to a union,” Boyle said. “You are spending that time of the taxpayers to click the box to go to a union. It might seem like nothing, but to taxpayers, it's a lot.”

Achilles voiced concerns about out-of-state lobbyists’ involvement in Idaho affairs, specifically calling out the Freedom Foundation’s expressed mission of rooting out all public sector unions, as well as donor base.

“Really, this bill in front of us is coming from an out-of-state dark money organization, the Freedom Foundation, with some interesting assists from other organizations,” Achilles said, “which is too bad because if we have an Idaho problem it would be nice to solve it with Idahoans … let’s be clear, this is not just about teachers. We’re starting with teachers, but it's about much more than that.”

The two Democratic committee members voted against the bill, along with Rep. Shawn Dygert, R-Melba.

HB 98 now heads to the full House for consideration.