Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 480 barring behavioral-health funds for DEI and transgender programming
On April 4, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 480, the fiscal-year 2025-2026 appropriation for the Department of Health and Welfare's Division of Behavioral Health. Section 5 of the law bars the division from using appropriated funds for training or programming that advances "diversity, equity, and inclusion; critical race theory; or transgender ideology," or that distributes or restricts funding based on race or gender. The restriction took effect July 1, 2025.
Actors
On April 4, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 480 into law as Session Law Chapter 303, the fiscal-year 2025-2026 appropriation for the Department of Health and Welfare's Division of Behavioral Health. Section 5 of the bill, titled "Program Restrictions Regarding Race or Gender," directs the division to ensure that no appropriated funds are used "for training or programming that advances diversity, equity, and inclusion; critical race theory; or transgender ideology; or for other programs that distribute or restrict funding based on composable criteria of race or gender."
The appropriation passed the Idaho House 53-14 and the Senate 25-10 in early April 2025. The bill's funding restriction took effect July 1, 2025, while other sections of the appropriation took effect on signing. The measure was carried by the legislature's appropriations committee and enacted by the 68th Idaho Legislature.
By conditioning a state behavioral-health division's spending on the exclusion of programming tied to "transgender ideology" and race- or gender-based criteria, House Bill 480 uses the appropriations power to single out identity for disfavored treatment in the delivery of public health services. It is one of several 2025 Idaho enactments restricting diversity programming and transgender-related activity in state institutions.
Why we recorded this
Civil rights protect people from having government resources conditioned on their identity. Idaho's House Bill 480 appropriation bars a state behavioral-health division from spending any funds on programming tied to "transgender ideology" or diversity, equity, and inclusion. By writing an identity-based funding exclusion into a health agency's budget, the law uses the appropriations power to disadvantage transgender people and others in the provision of public services, which is why it belongs in this archive.
Sources
- House Bill 480 (2025) — official bill record — Idaho State Legislature primary accessed July 12, 2026
- House Bill 480 (2025) — enrolled appropriation text — Idaho State Legislature primary accessed July 12, 2026
- ID H0480 — bill detail — BillTrack50 secondary accessed July 12, 2026
See also
- Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 345 barring Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care for transgender residents
- Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 270 expanding the indecent-exposure law in a change advocates say targets transgender people
- Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 352 banning K-12 classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity
- Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 239, requiring parental opt-in permission before schools may teach any content on sexual orientation or gender identity
- Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 264, restricting prison, shelter, and public-college facilities to one biological sex to bar transgender people
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