BOISE — The Idaho Senate took final action on multiple bills March 27, 2025. Below are brief summaries and outcomes for measures the record shows received a final vote or were reported passed on the floor. Items that had extended debate are covered in separate articles.

Votes at a glance

- Senate Bill 11-85 (Judicial branch appropriation): Passed the Senate (29–6). Finance committee measure funding judgeships, court reporters, magistrate judges and IT enhancements tied to recent policy bills. Senate sponsor: Sen. Sarah Cook. (See fuller report.)

- Senate Bill 11-42 (Repeal of Empowering Parents program): Passed the Senate (32–3). Sponsor Sen. Sarah Blaylock said program spending had shifted toward electronics; supporters pressed repeal, opponents urged targeted fixes. (See fuller report.)

- Senate Bill 11-80 (Automated license plate readers; front‑plate mounting‑bracket exemption): Passed the Senate (25–10). The bill sets privacy, access and auditing rules for passive plate‑reader systems and exempts vehicles that lack a factory front‑plate bracket from the front‑plate requirement.

Appropriations and finance items (final Senate action)

- House Bill 3-91 (Agency replacement items: six agencies): Passed the Senate (roll call recorded). JFAC described this as replacement items for several agencies totaling approximately $654,100 in one‑time funds (about $416,500 general fund and remainder dedicated funds). Agencies listed included Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Lt. Governor's office, Idaho State Lottery, Brand Inspection Division, Commission of Pardons and Parole, Public Utilities Commission, and Idaho Public Television.

- House Bill 4-17 (Community college enrollment/workload adjustment): Passed the Senate (30–5). The bill funds enrollment workload adjustments to community colleges (EWA) with a reported total enhancement of about $1,679,800 to respond to increased student demand; North Idaho College was held harmless by committee action.

- House Bill 4-18 (Division of Career & Technical Education): Passed the Senate (31–2). The bill includes a $10,000,000 capacity-building appropriation for Idaho’s six technical colleges (split evenly), $2,000,000 in federal funds and other enhancements; the JFAC education work group removed some requested expansion items.

- House Bill 3-90 (Public Employee Retirement System enhancements): Passed the Senate. The bill funds the final year of a multiyear member-services portal project and related IT/hardware; floor sponsors described the request as about $3.5 million in total, largely from dedicated PERSI funds.

- House Bill 4-19 (Department of Parks and Recreation enhancements): Passed the Senate (22–11). Enhancement items included five FTEs for park personnel, a seasonal pay increase, operations increases, replacement items and other capital/maintenance requests; the enhancement total cited on the floor was approximately $8,135,700 (with a $49,127,000 maintenance baseline noted separately).

- House Bill 4-20 (STEM Action Center replacement items): Passed the Senate. The bill funds replacement IT hardware and computers at the STEM Action Center (about $9,900 requested on the floor).

- House Bill 4-25 (Permanent Building Fund original appropriation): Passed the Senate (25–10). The bill appropriates one-time capital and deferred-maintenance funding from the permanent building fund; the sponsor read the total as approximately $122,861,901 and described multiple line items and a near‑30% reduction from the prior year’s appropriation.

Other procedural items: Several bills were read for first reading and referred for second reading, and committee reports and registered enrollments were filed in the Senate Secretary’s office as recorded on the floor.

Why this roundup: The session included both policy votes (for example the Empowering Parents repeal) and a set of appropriations and replacement-item measures. Some appropriation measures were brief on the floor and handled as grouped “replacement items,” while other items generated extended debate and roll-call scrutiny.

Provenance (transcript spans for each final action)

Each listed item below is tied to on‑the‑record floor transcript segments; the first and last cited lines for each bill are included for audit and verification.

- SB 11-85 topicintro: excerpt beginning "In the senate, senate bill 11 85 by finance committee…" (start 873.45) — topfinish: "The vote count shows 29 in favour… Senate Bill 11 85 has passed the Senate." (start 2129.40)

- SB 11-42 topicintro: excerpt beginning "Senate Bill 11 42… which repeals the empowering parents grant program" (start 2188.23) — topfinish: "The vote count shows 32 in favor with 3 against… Senate bill 11 42 has passed the senate." (start 2971.44)

- SB 11-80 topicintro: excerpt beginning "this is a bill directed at license plates… There are 2 parts" (start 3016.48) — topfinish: "The vote count shows 25 in favor with 10 against… Senate bill 11 80 is passed the senate." (start 4081.47)

- HB 3-91 topicintro: "The senate will now have before for final consideration house bill number 3 91" (start 8857.735) — topfinish: "Roll call shows 22 I, 13 nay… House bill 3 91 has passed the senate." (start 12263.44)

- HB 4-17 topicintro: "The senate will now have before for final consideration house bill number 4 17" (start 12378.49) — topfinish: "Vote count shows 30 in favor with 5 against. House bill number 4 17 has passed the Senate." (start 12926.715)

- HB 4-18 topicintro: "In the House of Representatives, house bill 4 18…" (start 12947.63) — topfinish: "Vote count shows 31 in favor with 2 against and 2 absent. House bill number 4 18 has passed the senate." (start 15649.676)

- HB 3-90 topicintro: "In the House of Representatives, house bill 3 90… into the appropriation to the public employee retirement system" (start 14465.41) — topfinish: "The vote count shows 22 in favour with 11 against and 2 absent. House Bill number 3 90 has passed the Senate." (start 14955.936)

- HB 4-19 topicintro: "In the house of representatives, house bill 4 19… Department of Parks and Recreation" (start 14978.87) — topfinish: "The vote count shows 22 in favor with 11 against and 2 absent. House bill number 4 19 has passed the senate." (start 15374.135)

- HB 4-20 topicintro: "In the house of representatives, house bill 4 20… for replacement computers at the STEM Action Center" (start 15431.885) — topfinish: "The vote count shows 31 in favor with 2 against and 2 absent. House bill number 4 20 has passed the senate." (start 15649.676)

- HB 4-25 topicintro: "house bill 4 25… appropriation to the Department of Administration for the division of public works" (start 15724.3) — topfinish: "Vote count shows 25 in favor with 10 against, majority having voted in the affirmative. House bill number 4 25 has passed the senate." (start 16343.885)

Notes on reporting and next steps: This roundup lists the bills and final outcomes recorded in the March 27 Senate transcript. Several measures were described as "replacement items" or grouped appropriations; the Senate debated some of those items in more or less detail. Where the transcript included on‑the‑record vote counts and roll calls, those totals are recorded above; for full line‑by‑line roll-call records consult the official Senate roll-call sheets and fiscal notes available from the Legislature.