Senate Bill 1342

2016 Freedom Index Score (+1)

Analyst: Wayne Hoffman
Date: March 2, 2016
ANALYST NOTE: Senate Bill 1342 repeals an existing and unused 1960s state law that calls for the State
Board of Education to select Bible verses to be read aloud in each classroom "without comment or
interpretation." The new section of Idaho Code would permit the use of religious texts including the Bible
to be used in the classroom as a reference "to further the study of literature, comparative religion,
English and foreign languages, United States and world history, comparative government, law,
philosophy, ethics, world geography, archaeology, music, sociology" and other topics.
Point No. 1: Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of
government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?
Senate Bill 1342 makes it clear that the government will not interfere with a teacher's ability to use
religious texts as a part of various educational studies. Freeing teachers to use books, including the Bible,
is a lifting of a governmental restriction on the education community. (+1)