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S1286 • 2026

VETERANS – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding consumer protection of veterans benefits.

VETERANS – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding consumer protection of veterans benefits.

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Last action
2026-03-26
Official status
LAW
Effective date
2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

VETERANS – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding consumer protection of veterans benefits.

VETERANS – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding consumer protection of veterans benefits.

What This Bill Does

  • VETERANS – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding consumer protection of veterans benefits.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-26 Idaho State Legislature

    Signed by Governor on 03/26/26 Session Law Chapter 145 Effective: 07/01/2026

  2. 2026-03-24 Idaho State Legislature

    Reported delivered to Governor at 3:45 p.m. on 03/23/26

  3. 2026-03-23 Idaho State Legislature

    Received from Senate; Signed by Speaker; Returned to Senate

  4. 2026-03-23 Idaho State Legislature

    Reported signed by the Speaker & ordered delivered to Governor

  5. 2026-03-20 Idaho State Legislature

    Reported enrolled; signed by President; to House for signature of Speaker

  6. 2026-03-19 Idaho State Legislature

    Read Third Time in Full – PASSED - 70-0-0 AYES – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cannon, Cayler, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dygert, Egbert, Ehardt, Ehlers, Erickson, Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, 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, Raybould, Raymond, Redman, Rubel, Sauter, Scott, Shepherd, Shirts, Skaug, Tanner(13), Tanner(14), Thompson, Vander Woude, Veile, Weber, Wheeler, Wisniewski, Mr. Speaker NAYS – None Absent – None Floor Sponsor - Hill Title apvd - to Senate

  7. 2026-03-19 Idaho State Legislature

    Returned From House Passed; referred to enrolling

  8. 2026-03-18 Idaho State Legislature

    Read second time; Filed for Third Reading

  9. 2026-03-17 Idaho State Legislature

    Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading

  10. 2026-03-09 Idaho State Legislature

    Received from the Senate, Filed for First Reading

  11. 2026-03-09 Idaho State Legislature

    Read First Time, Referred to Commerce & Human Resources

  12. 2026-03-06 Idaho State Legislature

    Read third time in full – PASSED - 31-0-4 AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Bjerke(Bjerke), Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Carlson, Cook, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hart, Keyser, Keyser(Galloway), Kohl, Lakey, Lenney, Lent, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Ricks, Ruchti, Semmelroth, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Wintrow, Zito, Zuiderveld NAYS – None Absent and excused – Den Hartog, Foreman, Rabe, Woodward Floor Sponsor - Nichols Title apvd - to House

  13. 2026-03-03 Idaho State Legislature

    Read second time; filed for Third Reading

  14. 2026-03-02 Idaho State Legislature

    Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading

  15. 2026-02-16 Idaho State Legislature

    Reported Printed; referred to State Affairs

  16. 2026-02-13 Idaho State Legislature

    Introduced; read first time; referred to JR for Printing

Official Summary Text

VETERANS – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding consumer protection of veterans benefits.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
LEGISLATURE
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IDAHO
Sixty-eighth
Legislature
Second
Regular
Session
-
2026
IN
THE
SENATE
SENATE
BILL
NO.
1286
BY
COMMERCE
AND
HUMAN
RESOURCES
COMMITTEE
AN
ACT
1
RELATING
TO
CONSUMER
PROTECTION
OF
VETERANS
BENEFITS;
AMENDING
CHAPTER
6,
2
TITLE
48,
IDAHO
CODE,
BY
THE
ADDITION
OF
A
NEW
SECTION
48
-
603H,
IDAHO
3
CODE,
TO
ESTABLISH
PROVISIONS
REGARDING
VETERANS
BENEFITS
CONSUMER
4
PROTECTIONS;
AND
DECLARING
AN
EMERGENCY
AND
PROVIDING
AN
EFFECTIVE
5
DATE.
6
Be
It
Enacted
by
the
Legislature
of
the
State
of
Idaho:
7
SECTION
1.
That
Chapter
6,
Title
48,
Idaho
Code,
be,
and
the
same
is
8
hereby
amended
by
the
addition
thereto
of
a
NEW
SECTION
,
to
be
known
and
des
-
9
ignated
as
Section
48
-
603H,
Idaho
Code,
and
to
read
as
follows:
10
48
-
603H.
VETERANS
BENEFITS
CONSUMER
PROTECTIONS.
(1)
As
used
in
this
1
1
section:
12
(a)
"Compensation"
means
a
payment
of
any
money,
thing
of
value,
or
fi
-
13
nancial
benefit.
14
(b)
"Veterans
benefits
matter"
means
the
preparation,
presentation,
or
15
prosecution
of,
or
advertising
or
consulting
for,
any
claim
affecting
16
any
person
who
has
filed
or
expressed
an
intent
to
file
a
claim
for
any
17
benefit,
program,
service,
commodity,
function,
or
status
to
which
en
-
18
titlement
is
determined
under
the
laws
and
regulations
administered
by
19
the
United
States
department
of
veterans
affairs,
the
United
States
de
-
20
partment
of
war,
or
the
Idaho
division
of
veterans
services
pertaining
21
to
veterans,
veterans'
dependents
or
survivors,
or
any
other
individ
-
22
ual
eligible
for
such
benefit,
program,
service,
commodity,
function,
23
or
status.
24
(2)(a)
Except
as
permitted
under
federal
law,
no
individual
shall
re
-
25
ceive
compensation
for
a
veterans
benefits
matter
before
the
United
26
States
department
of
veterans
affairs,
the
United
States
department
of
27
war,
or
the
Idaho
division
of
veterans
services.
28
(b)
No
person
shall
receive
compensation
for
referring
any
individ
-
29
ual
to
another
person
for
a
veterans
benefits
matter
before
the
United
30
States
department
of
veterans
affairs,
the
United
States
department
of
31
war,
or
the
Idaho
division
of
veterans
services.
32
(3)
Persons
not
accredited
by
the
United
States
department
of
veterans
33
affairs
and
not
acting
as
agents
or
attorneys
but
seeking
to
receive
compen
-
34
sation
for
any
veterans
benefits
matter
shall
enter
into
a
written
fee
agree
-
35
ment
signed
by
both
parties.
Such
agreement
shall
provide
that
compensation
36
is
contingent
on
an
increase
in
benefits
awarded,
and
if
successful,
compen
-
37
sation
shall
not
exceed
five
(5)
times
the
amount
of
the
monthly
increase
in
38
benefits
awarded
based
on
the
claim.
No
initial
or
nonrefundable
fee
may
be
39
charged
by
a
person
handling
a
veterans
benefits
matter.
40
(4)
Any
person
receiving
compensation
for
a
veterans
benefit
matter
41
pursuant
to
subsection
(3)
of
this
section
shall
provide
the
following
writ
-
42

2
ten
disclosure
clearly
and
conspicuously
before
the
consumer
signs
the
fee
1
agreement:
2
This
business
is
not
sponsored
by
or
affiliated
with
the
United
3
States
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs,
the
Idaho
Division
of
4
Veterans
Services,
or
any
federally
chartered
veterans
service
5
organization.
Other
organizations,
including
but
not
limited
to
6
the
Idaho
Division
of
Veterans
Services,
local
veterans
service
7
organizations,
and
federally
chartered
veterans
service
organiza
-
8
tions,
may
be
able
to
provide
you
with
this
service
free
of
charge.
9
Products
or
services
offered
by
this
business
are
not
necessarily
10
endorsed
by
any
of
these
organizations.
You
may
qualify
for
other
1
1
veterans
benefits
beyond
the
benefits
for
which
you
are
receiving
12
services
here.
13
(5)
Any
person
receiving
compensation
for
a
veterans
benefits
matter
14
under
a
fee
agreement
pursuant
to
subsection
(3)
of
this
section:
15
(a)
May
not
utilize
international
call
centers
or
data
centers
for
pro
-
16
cessing
veterans'
personal
information;
17
(b)
May
not
use
a
veteran's
personal
log
-
in,
username,
or
password
in
-
18
formation
to
access
a
veteran's
medical,
financial,
or
government
bene
-
19
fits
information;
20
(c)
Shall
ensure
that
any
individual
who
has
access
to
a
veteran's
medi
-
21
cal
or
financial
information
undergoes
a
background
check
prior
to
hav
-
22
ing
access
to
such
information.
The
background
check
must
be
conducted
23
by
a
reputable
source
and
include
identity
verification
and
a
criminal
24
records
check;
and
25
(d)
May
not
receive
any
compensation
for
any
services
rendered
in
con
-
26
nection
with
any
claim
filed
within
the
one
(1)
year
presumptive
period
27
of
active
-
duty
release,
unless
the
veteran
acknowledges
in
writing
that
28
the
veteran
is
within
this
period
and
choosing
to
deny
available
free
29
services.
30
(6)
Nothing
in
this
section
shall
be
construed
as
applying
to,
limit
-
31
ing,
or
expanding
the
requirements
imposed
on
agents,
attorneys,
or
other
32
representatives
accredited
and
regulated
by
the
United
States
department
of
33
veterans
affairs.
34
SECTION
2.
An
emergency
existing
therefor,
which
emergency
is
hereby
35
declared
to
exist,
this
act
shall
be
in
full
force
and
effect
on
and
after
36
July
1,
2026.
37