H 642 Idaho House · 68th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session (2026)

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM – Amends and repeals existing law to establish public safety officer catastrophic injury or death in the line of duty benefits.

H 642 adjusts Idaho's public safety officer retirement benefits to ensure consistency between catastrophic injury and death benefits. It increases the lump-sum death benefit for surviving spouses or dependent children to $500,000 (matching the existing catastrophic injury benefit) and adds an annual pension of $75,000 for surviving spouses. The bill specifically affects surviving spouses and dependent children of police officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty due to catastrophic injuries. Benefits will be funded solely through public safety officers' pension contributions, with no tax on the payments. The legislation repeals outdated death benefit provisions and defines "catastrophic injury" through specific medical criteria.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Feb 12, 2026 Signed Mar 24, 2026
Floor votes · Senate Mar 16, 2026 · House Feb 24, 2026

How they voted

350
Passed
Total votes 35
Mar 16, 2026
D Democratic5
5 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican30
30 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
17
Key actions
7
Committee
3
Mar 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President; returned to House
upper
Mar 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
Received from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
upper
Mar 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
lower
Mar 16, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time in full – PASSED - 35-0-0AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Bjerke(Bjerke), Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Carlson, Cook, Den Hartog, Foreman, Galloway, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hart, Keyser, Kohl, Lakey, Lenney, Lent, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Ricks, Ruchti, Semmelroth, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Wintrow, Woller(Rabe), Woodward, Zito, ZuiderveldNAYS – NoneAbsent and excused – NoneFloor Sponsor - LakeyTitle apvd - to House
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time; referred to: Commerce & Human Resources
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read Third Time in Full – PASSED - 68-0-2AYES – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cannon, Cayler, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dygert, Egbert, Ehardt, Ehlers, Erickson, Fuhriman, Furniss, Gannon, Garner, Green, Hall(Stone), Handy, Harris, Hawkins, Haws, Healey, Hill, Holtzclaw, Hostetler, Leavitt, Manwaring, Marmon, Mathias, McCann, Mendive, Mickelsen, Miller, Mitchell, Monks, Nelsen, Palmer, Petzke, Pickett, Pohanka, Price, Rasor, Ra
lower
Feb 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Committee
Reported Printed and Referred to Commerce & Human Resources
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.