Marjorie Wilson, a licensed social worker, is serving for Rep. Sue Chew, D-Boise.

Don Coberly, the retired superintendent of the Boise School District, is serving for Rep. Colin Nash, D-Boise.

While Chew and Nash are away, Wilson and Coberly are able to attend committee hearings and debate and vote on bills for them.

All seats in the Idaho Legislature expire this year and are up for election, including the seats Chew and Nash hold.

Chew previously announced plans to retire from Idaho House

Wilson has served as substitute for Chew all session as Chew undergoes chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Being immunocompromised, Chew did not feel comfortable working in-person at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Chew told the Idaho Capital Sun through the Idaho House Democrats.

Chew previously announced she plans to retire from the Idaho Legislature at the end of her current term, which expires at the end of this year. Chew is the longest serving Democrat in the Idaho House and tied for the second-longest serving legislator overall. A licensed pharmacist, Chew is serving her ninth term in the Idaho Legislature.

Wilson said she has known Chew for a long time because Wilson’s mother, Janet Wilson, has been involved with the Democratic Party for many years.

Marjorie Wilson works in the field of substance abuse, earned a master’s degree in public health and has worked with Chew on legislation. Wilson said she offered to sub for Chew because Wilson was concerned about a number of bills affecting public health.

Since filling in this year, Wilson said she is especially concerned about House Bill 406, which would impose mandatory minimum prison sentences for people convicted of fentanyl trafficking. The Idaho House voted 55-13 on Monday to pass the bill, with Wilson and Coberly voting against it.

“We’ve seen mandatory minimums are not effective at curbing substance abuse and just incarcerate people instead of offering treatment,” Wilson said in a telephone interview. “We are not really approaching substance use from the right perspective. We’re approaching it from a fear-based perspective rather than an evidence-based intervention perspective.”

Wilson told the Sun she is planning to run for Chew’s seat in this year’s election and would like to focus on public health policy if elected.

Nash to focus on his role on the Boise City Council

Nash is an attorney who is in his second term in the Idaho House and was also elected to the Boise City Council in November. Nash had previously told the Sun that he would likely focus on his role on the Boise City Council if he was elected in November. Nash was previously appointed to fill a vacancy on the Boise City Council and then went on to win election on his own in November.

Nash told the Sun last week that he expects to resign near the end of the legislative session and asked Coberly to fill in for him in the meantime because of Coberly’s experience on education issues Coberly gained leading the Boise School District.
On Jan. 15, Nash designated Coberly to serve as his substitute until March 15. Coberly has previously served as a substitute legislator for Nash and former Rep. John McCrostie, D-Garden City.

In an interview at the Idaho State Capitol, Coberly said his experience with public education policy and participation in Boise School Board meetings helped prepare him to serve as a long-term sub. Still, Coberly said the job is harder than he expected and it is demanding to prepare to make a knowledgeable, informed vote on every bill that goes before legislators.

“I’ve spent a lot of time listening, and the biggest impression on me is how hard these jobs are,” Coberly said. The legislators that are here are devoting a ton of time to try to make fair decisions and represent their constituents, and you don’t really see that until you’re sitting in committee or sitting on the floor and see how agonizing some of those decisions are for legislators.”

Coberly said during his time as a substitute legislator he is focusing on written testimony from residents of District 16 in Ada County that Nash represents.

“That’s important to me to pay attention to what his constituents are saying,” Coberly said.

Coberly told the Sun he is not interested in running for Nash’s seat in this year’s election.

What does a substitute Idaho legislator do?

Substitute legislators in Idaho – like Wilson and Coberly – are administered the oath of office and sworn in. They serve on committees and get to vote on bills, budgets and rules just like any elected legislator.

Under Idaho law, “In the event that a legislator is temporarily unable to perform the duties of his office, the legislator may designate a qualified person to succeed to the power and duties, but not the office, of the legislator until the incumbent legislator is able to resume performance of his duties or a vacancy occurs in the office.”

If a legislator leaves office or dies during their term, a legislative district committee from the legislator’s same district and political party has 15 days under state law to submit a list of three nominees for the position to the governor, who then has 15 days to appoint one of the nominees to fill the vacancy in the Idaho Legislature.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

When JFAC sets the fiscal year 2025 maintenance of current operations budgets on Monday, the committee will not include any funding for Idaho Health and Welfare’s indirect support services, Keith Bybee, budget and policy manager for the Idaho Legislative Services office, said. That would effectively zero out funding for the Idaho Department of Health administrative central hub, including the director’s office, IT support, human resources, legal services, fiscal services and more, Bybee said.

“One of the approaches that are included in this package is to not fund a key and critical division in the Health and Welfare Department and that is indirect support services, with the idea here being that it is a negotiation piece for the agency to at least formalize some sort of response to outstanding audit and uncorrected findings back to this committee,” Bybee said during Friday’s meeting. “They have the entirety of the session, effectively, to come back and come back with an effective corrective plan.”

The total indirect support services budget, at the maintenance of operations level, is $46.8 million, Bybee told the Sun.

“It’s sort of the central hub of the Department of Health and Welfare, so it would be hard for the department to function without that budget going forward, but that is the message in there,” Bybee said during Friday’s JFAC meeting.

Although the funding would not be included in the budgets JFAC sets Monday, the committee will consider approving the funding later in the legislative session if the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare corrects the findings from the audit, which JFAC ordered during the 2023 legislative session, before the legislative session adjourns for the year, JFAC co-chairs Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, told the Idaho Capital Sun.

Grow said JFAC co-chairs specifically picked the indirect support services budget as the budget to zero out because it does not include funding for any services Idahoans receive from the department.

The Department of Health and Welfare’s fiscal year 2025 budgets for public health services and Medicaid will be the last two budgets JFAC members will set this year, with the budget hearings scheduled for March 6 and March 7, respectively.

“Shutting down administrative functions most definitely will impact the department’s ability to provide services to DHW patients and beneficiaries, who are among Idaho’s most vulnerable populations, including the elderly, disabled, and disadvantaged families,” Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter said in a written statement Friday afternoon. “However, JFAC sets the rules for budgeting, and as an executive branch agency, DHW will work within the rules.”

JFAC pushes Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to correct audit findings

At issue is an audit into the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s distribution of child care grant funds that the Idaho Legislative Services Office conducted and released in August. The audit found a lack of controls in the program that led to grant recipients using “the funds for ineligible purposes and for ineligible groups,” the Sun previously reported. 

At the time the audit was released, former Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen released a statement disagreeing with all findings in the audit. Jeppesen retired in December.

On Thursday, Idaho Legislative Services audit division manager April Renfro told JFAC that the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has not submitted a corrective action plan for eight findings from the audit.

Also on Thursday, Dean Cameron, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s interim director who stepped in when Jeppesen retired, wrote a letter to JFAC members promising to revamp how the department handles grants and to provide mandatory grant administration training, the Sun previously reported.

Removing funding for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s administrative central hub is a tactic JFAC is using to make sure Cameron follows through on his promise.

Without a corrective plan to address the findings, “it calls into question our ability to appropriate funds for the agency,” Horman told reporters after Friday’s meeting.

Horman and Grow told the Sun the idea to remove the funding came together Thursday, after they received Cameron’s letter.

Cameron himself is a former state senator who previously co-chaired JFAC.

A year of changes for Idaho’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee

Friday’s budget showdown was the latest development in what has already been a year of changes for JFAC. Grow and Horman have announced a series of significant changes they are enacting to budget setting procedures this year, including shortening the public portions of meetings to about half of their traditional three-hour length.

Horman said removing the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare indirect support services funding will not affect current operations in the fiscal year 2024 budget or jeopardize services Idahoans are receiving from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

The fiscal year 2025 budget takes effect July 1, on the first day of the state’s new fiscal year.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

Although there is no time limit for the annual legislative session, legislators will spend the next 70 to 90 days setting each element of the fiscal year 2025 state budget and considering new bills and administrative rules.

This year, two forces are expected to play a role in influencing the legislative process – the 2024 elections that will touch nearly all levels of government and a series of substantial changes to how the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee sets the state budget.

Idaho legislators readying budget committee process changes

Starting next week, legislators will implement several changes to how the state sets its budgets and ultimately pays its bills.

JFAC co-chairs Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, announced several changes in October and November to how the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will conduct its meetings and set budgets during the 2024 session. On Thursday, Grow and Horman provided more details about the changes during the Idaho Press Club’s Legislative Preview event.

Those changes include:

• Shorter public budget hearings each day during the session. The two JFAC co-chairs said they anticipate replacing the traditional three-hour daily budget hearings with abridged 90 minute public hearings followed by 90-minute private working groups where legislators will work in smaller groups, behind closed doors to actually write the state budget bills. JFAC leaders say the change is designed to let them use their time more efficiently and begin writing state budget bills earlier during the legislative session so they don’t all backup during the late stages of the session.
• Implementing new legislative spending limits that come from JFAC co-chairs Grow and Horman. The spending caps will be designed to place restraints on agency budgets and gubernatorial budget requests in order to leave funding available for new legislative proposals that come up during the session. Horman and Grow told reporters Thursday they have not finalized the spending limits yet. Separating agency budgets requests into different bills so that the existing “maintenance budget” is separated from the new requests for spending that come forward each year in the form of budget line items or replacement costs.
• Launching a new budget website that is designed to increase transparency in the budget process by making more documents and resources available. The move will also allow JFAC members to go digital and access the documents from electronic devices instead of reams of budget books and paper documents.

Several legislators said the changes are designed to give the Idaho Legislature more influence in the budget setting process instead of automatically deferring to the budget recommendations that Gov. Brad Little will unveil Monday.

“We collectively as a Legislature are always battling – and that’s the normal process – we’re always battling just what the governor has proposed,” Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, said Thursday. “And I think some of these changes in the Joint (Finance-Appropriations) Committee will give the opportunity for the Legislature, which does set the state budget, to have an opportunity to put a stake in the ground and say ‘these priorities are important to us.’”

Horman agreed.

​​“Our colleagues come here with priorities as well and some of those cost money, and we want to make sure that there is room in the budget for legislative priorities as well as executive branch priorities,” Horman said Thursday.

With state revenues potentially leveling off and the influx of federal COVID-19 relief funds expiring or being spent down, Grow said JFAC can use its new spending limits to limit the growth of the state budget.

“We will work with each of our working groups to encourage them to stay within those limits so that we make sure that we don’t have these large increases we’ve had over the last couple of years with spending,” Grow said Thursday.

These new JFAC changes follow on the heels of a series of changes that were initiated last year after Rep. Mike Moyle, R-Star, was elected speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives and Horman and Grow were named as JFAC co-chairs. Last year, Moyle took away one of the Democrats’ seats on JFAC after he said the representation did not reflect the Republican supermajority in the Idaho Legislature. Legislative leaders also agreed to changes in how JFAC votes, which will carry over from 2023 into 2024. JFAC will still vote jointly, but the votes of Idaho House and Idaho Senate members serving on the committee will also be announced separately.

Moyle, the speaker of the Idaho House, said he expects several debates that started in 2023 to continue into the new 2024 session, including debates over school choice and school funding, elections, materials in public libraries, transportation funding initiatives, and Medicaid enrollment and funding. Moyle said he also expects to consider a potential new income tax cut and tweaks to the property tax bill legislators passed in 2023.

Meanwhile, Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, and House Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, said they will focus on programs to support working families in Idaho. Democrats will work defensively to protect funding for Medicaid and Little’s Idaho Launch grant program, which provides Idaho high school graduates or homeschool students with $8,000 they can use for workforce training for in-demand careers through career-technical education or two-year or four-year college programs.

“A common thread in our priorities will be to be the strong voice for working families, trying to make it more affordable to raise the next generations of kids in Idaho,” Necochea said Thursday. “We tend to look at our tax code every year. Of course our tax code in Idaho every year is getting more and more upside down with every passing year, and today a mom buying essentials like diapers and food for her kids is going to pay a higher tax rate than what corporations pay on their profits.”

On Thursday, Wintrow and Necochea also called for reinstating the maternal mortality review committee that investigates pregnancy-related deaths, lowering the two-thirds supermajority requirement necessary to approve a school bond issue and addressing the backlog of school facilities needs in the state’s aging school buildings.

Before the session began, legislative leaders set a nonbinding target to adjourn the session March 22. As a general rule during election years, legislative leaders look to adjourn the session in time for legislators to return to their home districts and campaign for re-election before the primary election, which is scheduled for May 21.

All 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature expire this year and are up for election.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

Idaho’s Legislature meets every year at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise beginning on the second Monday in January, as required by the Idaho Constitution.

During the session, 105 legislators elected from across Idaho come together to set the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year and consider new laws and administrative rules.

In 2024, all 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature expire and will be up for election, which is likely to play a role in the length of the session and drive some of the policy discussions. The legislative primary elections are May 21. As a general rule during election years, legislators look to adjourn the legislative session well before the primary election so that they can return to their home districts and run for re-election.

With the start of the legislative session less than three weeks away, here are some important dates to watch for on the government and political calendars in 2024. The State of the State address and all legislative hearings will be streamed live online for free using the Idaho in Session service.

Jan. 4 — 8:30 a.m., Gov. Brad Little and legislative leaders meet with reporters to preview the legislative session.

Jan. 4 — 9 a.m., The Idaho Legislature’s Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee meets in the Lincoln Auditorium at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Jan. 5 — 10 a.m.,  The Idaho Legislature’s Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee meets in the Lincoln Auditorium at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Jan. 5 — 10 a.m., New Idaho Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Meyer will take the public oath of office at the Idaho Supreme Court in Boise.

Jan. 8 — The 2024 Idaho legislative session convenes at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Jan. 8 — Gov. Brad Little delivers the annual State of the State address at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Jan. 8 — 8 a.m., Idaho Business for Education hosts its annual Legislative Academy, with guest speaker Beth Lewis of Save Our Schools Arizona.

Jan. 9 — 8 a.m., Joint Finance Appropriations Committee holds its first meeting of the session in Room C310 at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Jan. 10 — respectful workplace training for legislators at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Feb. 20 — target date for JFAC to begin setting the fiscal year 2025 budget.

Feb. 26-28 — JFAC sets higher education budgets.

March 2 — Idaho Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominating caucus.

March 4-6 — JFAC sets K-12 public school budgets.

March 8 — target date for JFAC to finish setting the fiscal year 2025 budget.

March 22 — target date to adjourn the 2024 legislative session.

May 1 — deadline for Idahoans for Open Primaries to submit signatures for their ballot initiative to the State of Idaho.

May 21 — Idaho primary elections for legislative, congressional and county primary elections. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time.

May 23 — 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time, Idaho Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominating caucus.

Nov. 5 — Idaho general election, featuring elections for the U.S. president, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Idaho Legislature and county offices. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., local time.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke were among the speakers during the 77th annual Associated Taxpayers of Idaho conference Wednesday in downtown Boise.

Speaking to a politically savvy, influential audience, Little and Bedke highlighted the Idaho Legislature’s efforts to cut property taxes, reduce income taxes, bolster the state’s rainy day savings accounts and spend down a record state surplus through investments in public education, state parks, roads and infrastructure projects.

“We have in recent years offered more tax relief per capita than any other state,” Little said.

Governor touts Idaho Launch program as way to meet the needs of in-demand careers

During his almost 20-minute speech, Little highlighted his Idaho Launch grant program. Idaho Launch provides Idaho high school seniors with up to $8,000 they can use for career-technical education, workforce training programs, two-year colleges or four-year colleges for in-demand careers. The Idaho Legislature expanded the Idaho Launch program during the 2023 legislative session by passing House Bill 24.

“The one limitation on the workforce that I hear is … that we have got to have more skilled workers,” Little said.

“For every single Idaho kid who walks across the podium in May and gets their (high school) diploma, there’s going to be resources for them to go on to become a welder, to become an electrician, to become a lineman, plus all the traditional jobs,” Little added.

Officials highlight Idaho past budget surpluses

During his speech, Bedke highlighted how the Idaho Legislature used the state’s record $2 billion surplus from 2022.

“So what did we do with all that money?” Bedke asked. “We invested back in Idaho. We returned money back to our taxpayers back-to-back-to-back times. We paid off every callable bond that we could. We filled up every savings account that we could. We changed the law to make the savings accounts larger to accommodate more money. We invested back into our roads and bridges and our water systems – all the vital, strategic infrastructure that the state needs going into the future. We invested back into our schools, our kids. And we’ve done that in what I think is a very responsible way.”

Neither Little nor Bedke unveiled any specific new policy proposals for the 2024 legislative session on Wednesday.

Little did say Idaho’s days of record, billion-dollar surpluses are likely in the past because of multiple rounds of tax cuts that reduce state revenue collections.

Associated Taxpayers of Idaho is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents taxpayers’ perspectives to policymakers through research and education.

First held in 1946, the conference attracts a who’s who among Idaho’s business and political leaders. For decades the conference has had a reputation for serving as the unofficial kickoff to Idaho’s annual legislative session, which begins next year on Jan. 8.

Other speakers and panelists at Wednesday’s conference included Little, Bedke, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, State Controller Brandon Woolf, Ada County Assessor Rebecca Arnold and Speaker of the Idaho House Mike Moyle, R-Star.

Little’s father, David Little, was one of the founding members of Associated Taxpayers of Idaho.

During his presentation, McGrane discussed several new data visualization reports available on the Idaho Secretary of State’s website, including a new report showing Idaho is becoming more conservative based on the party affiliation of voters moving here from other states.

Aside from elected officials, economics and tax experts also spoke during Wednesday’s daylong conference. Several presenters said they were studying mixed economic signals and were unsure whether to expect a mild recession, a significant recession or continued economic growth without any kind of recession in the short-term future.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

The report, published late Friday afternoon on the Division of Financial Management’s website, showed state revenues have come in $38.8 million below the predictions year-to-date. The report covered the state’s three largest revenue sources – the individual income tax, corporate income tax and sales tax. The report did not include miscellaneous revenues, which are still being calculated as a work in progress, Division of Financial Management Administrator Alex Adams said.

“Individual income taxes are stronger than expected while both corporate income taxes and sales taxes are weaker than expected,” state budget officials wrote in the report.

“These three (revenue sources) are pushing the general fund to a 3.3% deficit compared to our prediction,” the report continued.

State revenues also lagged behind predictions at this point a year ago, so it is too early to tell how things will ultimately end up when the fiscal year ends June 30. State officials have previously told the Idaho Capital Sun that April is the most important budget month of the year because of Tax Day and the deadline to file tax returns.

Normally, state officials release a monthly budget monitor report that details the state’s revenue receipts and offers comparisons against forecasted revenue projections and previous years’ revenue collections.

The budget monitor report allows Idaho legislators to track revenue that the state budget is built around and gives the public insight into the state’s economy and budget.

But due to data entry errors and difficulties that some state agencies and employees had transitioning to Luma, the state had not been able to publish a budget monitor report for the 2024 fiscal year until Friday.

During a normal year, the first monthly Budget Monitor report would have been released in the middle of August and covered the month of July.

Idaho’s state government runs on a fiscal year calendar that begins July 1 and ends June 30 each year.

Idaho officials say state should be able to release monthly budget reports come November

To produce the new report the state released Friday, officials with the State Controller’s Office worked with officials from the Idaho State Tax Commission, Legislative Services Office and Division of Financial Management. One of the challenges was officials had to manually input the historic revenue data for the report.

With the work the agencies put in to generate the most recent report, the state should be on track to resume the monthly release of budget monitor reports in November, Chief Deputy State Controller Joshua Whitworth said in a telephone interview Friday.

“Going forward, I believe we are at that monthly cadence with them again,” Whitworth said. “All of this work was to help them run on that consistent cadence.”

The state’s goal is for the next budget monitor report to come out in November and cover revenue activity from October, Whitworth said.

Because of a commitment to accuracy, Whitworth said the Idaho State Tax Commission did not want to release the revenue report before it had verified everything.

Whitworth said the raw revenue data was always in the Luma system, but one of the challenges with the transition to Luma has been representing the data the right way and generating the reports the way they had before.

“I give (the state) tax (commission) a lot of credit; they are very adamant about accuracy,” Whitworth said.

What does Idaho’s Luma system do?

The Luma system is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning system that standardizes all of the state’s budget, procurement, payroll, human capital management and financial management systems for all 86 state agencies. As part of the transition, state employees have had to learn the new system and learn new business processes changes, Whitworth said.

The rollout of training for the new system has varied among different state agencies, which has added to the difficulty of the transition and meant that some state employees are learning the system on the job as reports and projects are due.

Whitworth demonstrated aspects of the Luma system to the Idaho Capital Sun last month and showed that the state was able to verify revenues on an unofficial basis and confirm the revenues had been received.

The revenue report wasn’t the only challenge with the transition to Luma. In a Spet. 13 email to legislators, Legislative Services Office budget and policy manager Keith Bybee wrote that the changes have affected all of state government, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

For instance, the Idaho Commission on the Arts website features a note at the top of its homepage explaining that the state is transitioning to a new enterprise system to modernize and standardize financial, operational and human capital management for all state agencies.

“Over the next several months, payments, reports, communications and other business processes may be temporarily interrupted or delayed,” the note states. “We appreciate your patience as we navigate this transition.”

Employee training continues for new Luma financial system

As of last month, about 100 state employees per pay period were experiencing payroll issues or delays under Luma. Whitworth said about 100 state employees per week also experienced payroll issues under the old system that Luma replaced.

The rollout of Luma training has also continued to vary from agency to agency, Whitworth said.

“There is still a large learning curve agencies are dealing with, and we are not in the clear yet,” Whitworth said Friday.

“Over the next two months, our office is dedicated to specialized training in areas where agencies are struggling,” Whitworth added. “In the reporting area, we need to do a lot more training and support for agencies.”

The delay in releasing the budget monitor reports made some legislators uneasy. The state is now nearly four months into the fiscal year and preparations for the 2024 legislative session and budget-setting are already underway.

In an interview with the Idaho Capital Sun last month, Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, said it was disconcerting to be this far into the new fiscal year and not have the official revenue reports available. Horman is the co-chair of the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which is scheduled to hold a series of meetings in early November to gear up for the 2024 legislative session.

Despite the early setback with the revenue report transition, Horman said the Luma will benefit the state in the long run by increasing transparency and security and standardizing business systems from one state agency to the next.

What is Idaho’s Luma system?

Luma replaces the state’s old employee information system and the statewide accounting and reporting system, which were acquired in 1987 and 1988. The state’s old systems had reached the end of their lifespan, were vulnerable to security threats, could not be updated and were inconsistent, Whitworth said. The new cloud-based system features security enhancements and protects the state from emergencies such as floods, earthquakes, fires or other disasters that could cause a physical data center to fail or go offline, state officials said.

Because all 86 state agencies and roughly 17,000 state employees are tied into Luma, it is designed to be more efficient and standardized and provide greater transparency in state government, Whitworth said. For instance, when it comes to state expenditures, the new Luma system electronically links transactions from contracts to the purchase orders to expenditures. The system is designed to give more public insight into the total number and value of state contracts across the different agencies, and it allows state employees to manage their time cards and apply for any job in the state under one system.

The state has been gearing up for the Luma transition since at least 2018, when the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 493, which provided a funding source for the Luma project. The fiscal note attached to House Bill 493 estimated the cost to modernize the state’s business information infrastructure to be $102 million spread over five years.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

The savings will be calculated for each individual taxpayer and appear on their property tax notice, which counties send to homeowners by the fourth Monday in November.

That number will change because levy rates will have gone up or down in many of the state’s 1,000 plus taxing districts. But Dornfest’s estimated percentage is similar to estimated cuts of 10% to 20% that legislators and Gov. Brad Little shared as they promoted House Bill 292, the property tax the Idaho Legislature passed earlier this year.

“There is real money there,” Dornfest said in an interview Wednesday. “I think that is what people need to know – yes, it can be done and we are not dragging our feet. We are making every possible effort, and we are going to get there.”

Between now and November, city and county officials are crunching numbers preparing a series of reports necessary to calculate reductions that eligible homeowners will see.

State tax experts don’t know the savings Idaho homeowners will see in November because local taxing district budgets were still being submitted to counties last week. Once counties receive the local budgets, counties will then set levy rates needed to fund those budgets and then submit that information to the state.

Here’s what homeowners can expect when it comes to the largest share of the property tax cut reduction package, the homeowner’ s tax relief program.

To be eligible for the homeowner’s property tax reduction, homeowners must have received the homeowner’s exemption by the second Monday in July each year. Rental properties, second homes and vacation homes are not eligible. Homeowners who receive the homeowner’s exemption by the deadline don’t have to do anything else or submit any additional paperwork to receive the property tax cuts. The property tax reduction for each eligible homeowner will appear as a credit on their property tax notice, which will reduce the amount of taxes they owe. The combined property tax savings will be calculated for each taxpayer and labeled on their bill as “tax relief appropriated by the Legislature,” according to House Bill 292. The state will pay the counties, which will distribute the money to local taxing districts such as cities, sewer districts, fire districts or library districts. Certain property taxes, including bonds, school district levies, plant facility levies and any voter-approved temporary levies are not included in House Bill 292’s definition of eligible property taxes.

“The money does not go to the taxpayer directly, what happens is we pay the counties,” Dornfest said. “Then they distribute that, not to the taxpayers but to the taxing districts.”

Dornest estimated there is $192 million in state funding available for the homeowner’s tax relief program. There is an additional $24.5 million in additional tax relief for all property taxpayers. On top of that, Dornfest estimated there could be $106 million in tax reductions for school district facilities. Dornfest said the estimate for school district facilities could change based on the result of local school district elections held across the state in late August.

County and state officials worked together to prepare for tax cuts in Idaho

Ada County Treasurer Elizabeth Mahn said county officials have spent months working with tax commission experts and other officials to prepare to implement the new tax cuts. While Mahn said it is too early to tell how big the reductions will be for each homeowner, she said homeowners will see cuts.

“Everyone is working hard, and there will be savings there in 2023,” Mahn said in an interview. “The homeowner doesn’t have to do anything.”

“From what I can tell, the Tax Commission has been very receptive to our feedback; they have been working very closely with the counties,” Mahn added.

The state of Idaho has 44 counties, more than 1,000 taxing districts and an estimated 480,000 or so homeowners who will be eligible for the tax cuts. All of that data has to be accounted for, and the Tax Commission cannot move forward with calculating the tax reductions until each of the local tax levies and that data is submitted to the state. After the Tax Commission reviews the property tax levy totals and the funding available for the homeowner’s tax relief, the commission will develop a factor to calculate the savings each taxpayer will receive.

The state will then send the money to counties in two chunks, with the first half sent out by Dec. 20 and the second half sent out by June 20, according to House Bill 292.

Idaho beginning to send funding to school districts

As part of the property tax law, the state is beginning to send out funding to school districts for the school facilities component of the law.

In a news release issued Thursday, Little said the state is sending an estimated $106 million to school districts through the law.

“Idaho already has the third lowest property taxes in the country, and we took steps this year to lower them further,” Little said in a written statement. “Idaho has delivered more tax relief per capita than any other state, and we’re proud to turn money back to the hardworking people of our state while making critical investments in schools and infrastructure to keep up with growth.”

The money for school facilities is distributed based on average daily attendance, which means the state’s two largest districts – West Ada and Boise – are receiving the largest chunks of funding. According to the state’s downloadable spreadsheet, the West Ada School District is receiving $14.5 million, while Boise is due to get $8.4 million.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

The Idaho Legislature adjourned for the year April 6 but has the new power to call itself back into session upon a written petition signed by at least 60% of the members of the Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate, thanks to Idaho voters passing Senate Joint Resolution 102 in November.

Herndon said he began circulating a petition Sunday to call the Idaho Legislature back in for a special session “for the purpose of considering legislation that pertains to Idaho’s presidential primary election.”

A day later, Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, began circulating a different petition to call the Idaho Legislature back in session to consider a single draft bill that would create a presidential primary election in May, Herndon said.

If one of the petitions receives support from at least 60% of both of the Idaho Legislature’s two chambers, a special session would begin no later than 15 days after House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, and Winder receive the petition.

“I would come to a session and bring a bill reinstating the March presidential primary election we just got rid of in House Bill 138, which is what the Republican Party wants,” Herndon said in a telephone interview. “(Winder) would put in place a May primary which won’t fix the problem for Idaho voters in 2024.”

Efforts to reach Winder and Moyle were unsuccessful Tuesday morning.

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said she supports a special session to restore a primary election.

“I encourage Idahoans to put pressure on their local officials to ensure this gets resolved and we get a primary back,” Rubel said in a telephone interview. “This is unacceptable. The people of Idaho have been stripped of easy access to voting in a primary election that only happens once every four years.”

Rubel called the elimination of the presidential primary a grave, unforced error by the Idaho Legislature.

What happened to Idaho’s presidential primary election?

The Idaho Legislature seemingly unintentionally eliminated the presidential primary election altogether with House Bill 138, which Gov. Brad Little signed into law March 30.

The bill’s sponsors said the bill was intended to save the state $2.7 million every four years by moving the presidential primary election back from March to the May election date when the rest of the state’s primary elections take place. But the bill actually just eliminated the presidential primary election and didn’t move it to May. State officials and legislators identified the problem after the Idaho House passed House Bill 138, and they introduced a so-called “trailer bill” in Senate Bill 1186, which was designed to fix the problem by moving the presidential primary election to May.

But the trailer bill died in the House State Affairs Committee March 30 after Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon came out in opposition to it, and the bill didn’t get out of committee. The Idaho Legislature then adjourned for the year April 6 without addressing the presidential primary election issue.

The Idaho Republican Party responded to the lack of a presidential primary election by voting in June to create a presidential nominating caucus that will be held on the first Saturday in March — unless the Idaho Legislature reconvenes in special session before Oct. 1 to restore the March primary election.

Some members of the Republican Party worry a caucus will divide the party and result in significantly lower voter turnout because of the caucus’s requirements to attend in-person at a set date and time for a caucus that could last several hours.

But Republicans don’t all agree on the solution. Herndon and Moon support the March date for a presidential primary election, like the state has held since 2012. They say that earlier date gives Idaho more influence in the GOP presidential nominating process. They worry moving the primary election back to May will give Idaho voters less influence and may result in the primary being moved back so late that a Republican has already clinched the nomination before Idaho Republicans can vote.

On the other hand, most of the Idaho Legislature voted to pass House Bill 138, which legislators thought was moving the primary back to May and saving the state money by consolidating elections. That has been a major goal of Republican legislators including Moyle and House State Affairs Committee Chairman Brent Crane, R-Nampa. Crane told the Sun last month he doesn’t like the caucus personally and supports a May primary and opposes a March primary.

Herndon, the Republican senator who is circulating one of the petitions for a special session, voted against House Bill 138.

What is the difference between the two special session proposals?

Herndon’s petition is written more generally to call for “considering legislation that pertains to Idaho’s presidential primary election.” Herndon said that allows Idaho legislators to consider and debate more than one bill or solution.

Winder’s petition would limit the session to considering a single draft bill to create a May presidential primary election, according to copies of the petition the State Freedom Caucus Network shared Tuesday along with other documents and a press release announcing Herndon’s petition.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Moon said she opposes a May presidential primary election. Moon said the Idaho Republican Party would still conduct a caucus in March if the Idaho Legislature passes a May primary election, which she said would make the later primary election duplicative and a waste of money.

Moon does support restoring the earlier March primary election, which would supersede the GOP caucus.

“The Idaho GOP’s position remains resolute: the only conceivable scenario in which a presidential primary could take place is through the repeal of House Bill 138, thereby reinstating the presidential primary to March of 2024,” Moon said in the statement. “This perspective is firmly embedded in the will of our party members as expressed through the (Idaho Republican Party’s State Central Committee’s) decision-making process. Any other outcome will result in an unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer resources…”

Will the Idaho Legislature call a special session before Oct. 1?

Herndon said he has received some support for his petition over the past two days but is unsure if he will be able to reach the 60% threshold for each legislative chamber.

“I’d say it is too early to tell, but I am a little doubtful,” Herndon said.

Herndon, who is also a member of the Idaho Republican Party State Central Committee, said he would not sign Winder’s petition and is reluctant overall to return for a special session. Herdon noted that as a general estimate it costs $30,000 a day to conduct a special session, and he said legislators could have fixed the problem before adjourning for the year in April.

“I don’t see a strong desire in the Legislature at this moment to come back for a special session for this,” Herndon said. “It’s possible, but maybe not probable.”

Herndon said he is pursuing the special session and has a draft bill to restore the March primary election because it will allow more Republican voters to participate and retain Idaho’s influence by voting early in March.

“The thing that I believe is the Idaho Republican Party has a strong desire to see that Idaho’s Republican voters matter when it comes to choosing a nominee for president and I want to see that happen,” Herndon said.

Rubel said the issue of whether a primary election is held in May or March is secondary to the overall importance of restoring a primary election in some form or fashion. However, Rubel does support limiting the special session to a single draft bill.

“I think it would be pandemonium if we go back in without a concrete idea of what it is we’re voting on in,” Rubel said. “I don’t think it would be productive if we just went in with a general notion of arguing about primaries.”

The Idaho Legislature meets every year in a regular session that begins on the second Monday in January. Regular legislative sessions generally run for about 80 days, although there is no time limit.

Before Idaho voters approved Senate Joint Resolution 102, which amended the Idaho Constitution, only Idaho’s governor had the authority to call a special session of the Idaho Legislature.

Efforts to reach Little on Tuesday were unsuccessful. In April, Little said he did not anticipate calling a special session on the presidential primary issue. At the time, Little encouraged legislators to put forward one bill and have general agreement on it prior to a special session beginning.

Since 2000, there have been five special sessions of the Idaho Legislature — in 2000, 2006, 2015, 2020 and 2022.

Special sessions of the Idaho Legislature are officially called extraordinary sessions.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

Gov. Brad Little; House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star; Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian; and Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, announced the surplus during a press conference at a family friend’s home Wednesday in Nampa.

“Common kitchen table economics,” Little said during the press conference. “We don’t spend what we don’t have. We rein in government spending and the impacts of our investments are starting to show up. Our rainy day funds are very robust.”

The $99.1 million surplus will be combined with $205 million in funding already earmarked for property tax reductions through House Bill 292 to total about $300 million in property tax reductions, Little said.

Idaho homeowners will see their property tax credit when they receive their property tax bill this November, Little said.

The amount of property tax reductions Idahoans will receive will vary based on the county and taxing districts their home is located in and the home’s assessed valuation.

Idaho runs on a fiscal year calendar that runs from July 1 to June 30, meaning the 2023 fiscal year just ended and the 2024 fiscal year just started.

Why does Idaho have a budget surplus?

Idaho legislators planned to end the 2023 fiscal year with a balance of about $416 million. That money came through and is being carried forward into the new fiscal year 2024 budget.

The $99.1 million surplus is money that came in above that forecasted ending balance.

Idaho has a surplus because state revenues came in $80.1 million ahead of projections for the year and because state agencies spent $19 million less than budgeted, said Alex Adams, administrator of the Idaho Division of Financial Management.

During the 2023 session, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 292, the property tax reduction bill that called for transferring state budget surpluses into property tax reductions.

The new $99.1 million surplus will be broken down in three ways, Adams said.

$50 million will go directly to the homeowner’s property tax relief fund.
$24.5 million will go to school districts facilities, which are paid for with property tax dollars.
$24.5 million will be distributed to counties based on the proportion of property tax each county levies to offset property taxes.

During the press conference Moyle said the amount Idahoans pay for property taxes will be shaped by local budgets, which are being set during city, county, school district and taxing district budget hearings this summer.

The value of the home also affects each homeowner’s property tax bill.

“The state of Idaho collects no property taxes, and the state of Idaho spends no property taxes. That’s all done at the local level,” Moyle said.

Didn’t Idaho’s governor veto the property tax bill?

In March, Little vetoed the property tax bill, but the Idaho Legislature had the votes to override the veto and pass the bill into law anyway. When he vetoed House Bill 292, Little said he had concerns that the bill jeopardized funding for transportation projects and hurt school districts by removing the March election date they use for bond and levy elections.

In response, the Idaho Legislature advanced a “trailer bill” to address the Little’s concerns over transportation funding bonds, but it did not change plans to eliminate the school election date.

Little said the trailer bill improved the property tax bill, and he put out a statement March 29 championing the property tax bill as “property tax relief done right.”

Overall, House Bill 292 does several things, including:

Sets up the homeowner’s property tax relief account to create a credit that reduces the property tax bill for owner-occupied homes that receive the homestead property tax exemption. Rental properties, second homes and vacation homes do not qualify.
Sends a portion of state funding to school districts to pay down their bonds and levies. That portion of the money will be divided up based on a school district’s average daily attendance. If the district has paid off its bonds and levies, the district can save the money for future school construction needs.
Eliminates the March election date that school districts used for bond and levy elections.
Increases the income limit for participating in the circuit breaker program from $31,900 to $37,000 per household. It also increases the cap on a home’s valuation from $300,000 or 15% of the county median to $400,000 or 20% of the county median.

The 2023 property tax package was the third major tax cut legislators and Little approved in the past couple years.

During the 2022 session, the Idaho Legislature passed a $600 million income tax cut.

During the 2022 special session, the Idaho Legislature passed a $1 billion package that included a tax rebate, an income tax rate reduction and education funding increases.

“We are always going to try to reduce the tax burden for Idahoans every year, regardless of what the numbers look like,” Monks said at Tuesday’s press conference.

Before this year’s surplus, the state of Idaho posted back-to-back years of record budget surpluses. At the end of the 2021 fiscal year, the state posted an $890 million budget surplus. At the end of the 2022 fiscal year, Idaho posted a $1.4 billion surplus.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

The initiative would also change Idaho general elections by creating a new instant runoff — also known as ranked choice — voting system. 

The new coalition, called Idahoans for Open Primaries, represents a collaboration between the Idaho Task Force of Veterans for Political Innovation, North Idaho Women, Represent US Idaho, the Hope Coalition and Reclaim Idaho. Members of the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition filed the initiative Tuesday morning at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise. 

Supporters of the open primary initiative oppose the Idaho Republican Party’s closed primary election, which is only open to Idaho voters who file paperwork affiliating with the Idaho Republican Party. 

“This is a simple, common-sense reform that will give us better elections and better leadership,” former Republican Speaker of the Idaho House Bruce Newcomb said in a written statement provided to the Idaho Capital Sun. Newcomb was one of the first 20 people to sign the open primary initiative petition. 

In 2011, the Idaho Legislature passed a law, House Bill 351, closing Idaho’s primary elections. Even though the law closed primary elections, it also gave the leaders of political parties the ability to choose to keep their primaries open, and the Idaho Democratic Party opened its primary elections to all registered voters. 

Karole Honas, a longtime eastern Idaho television anchor who retired in 2020 after 30 years with Local News 8, is supporting the signature gathering drive and serving as a spokesperson for the effort. 

Honas, who is a Bingham County voter, said the closed primary law backs voters in a corner. Bingham County is a conservative community and agriculture hotspot that has consistently elected Republicans for decades. The closed primary is the election that essentially decides who will represent Bingham County voters and their neighbors in government. 

As a journalist, Honas wanted to remain neutral and independent. But the closed primary forced her to choose between remaining neutral and affiliating with a political party in order to vote in the primary. Honas said several of her friends and neighbors felt the same pressure; they wanted to remain independent for one reason or another but did not want to miss out on crucial primary elections that shape the future of their communities. 

“In Bingham County, if I wanted to vote, I had to vote in the Republican primary because that was the only game in town,” Honas told the Idaho Capital Sun in a telephone interview. “It didn’t feel right.” 

Honas believes opening up the primary will force candidates to consider the perspectives of a broader group of voters in order to win an election. She also said the change will bring independents into the primary process. Under the proposed initiative, the top four voter-getters would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. 

“I think it will bring more voters to the table, and I like the idea of the top four going on to the general election,” Honas said. “I think there is a good chance we will get better leaders.”

Hyrum Erickson, a Republican precinct committeeman from Rexburg, has committed to collecting signatures for the open primary initiative, according to a press release issued by Idahoans for Open Primaries leaders.

Precinct committee positions in Idaho are elected by party from each voting precinct in the state. The precinct committeemen help the party with voter registration and get out the vote efforts, are involved with party leadership at the county level and help elect candidates. (Precinct committeemen and precinct committeeman are the terms used in Idaho law to describe the positions, but the positions can be held by anybody, not just men.) 

“Our current primary system incentivizes candidates to demonize people who disagree with them rather than focus on solving problems,” Erickson said in a written statement.

The new open primary initiative is designed to fundamentally change elections in Idaho.

If it qualifies for the ballot and is approved by a majority of voters, the open primary initiative would do away with the closed primary system. In its place, the initiative would create a “top four” primary election where all candidates run against each other in the same primary election, and the top four vote-getters would advance to the general election in November. 

Procedures for the general election would also change to include a new instant runoff process, which is also commonly referred to as ranked choice voting. 

Here’s how that would work:

During the general election, Idaho voters would vote for their first choice of candidate. Voters would also have the ability to rank the other candidates in order of preference. If no candidate won more than 50% of the first-choice votes, a process of elimination based on voters’ ballot rankings would begin. The candidate who finished last would be eliminated, and their share of the votes would instead go to the candidate whom the voter had ranked second-choice on the ballot. The process would repeat until one candidate received more than 50% of the votes. That candidate would be declared the winner. 

The new open primary initiative in Idaho is similar to a successful Alaska ballot initiative that Alaska voters approved during the 2020 election. 

If the ballot initiative passes, Idaho would join Maine and Alaska as the third state to offer instant runoff or ranked choice voting. 

A supermajority in the Idaho Legislature already passed a law, House Bill 179, during the 2023 legislative session that prohibits ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting in local, statewide and federal elections. 

If the ballot initiative is approved, it would repeal House Bill 179. That could set off a showdown with the Republican-controlled Idaho Legislature in the courts or in the Idaho Statehouse. 

Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition members submitted the first 20 signatures and the full text of the proposed ballot initiative to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday morning.

Next, officials from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office and Idaho Attorney General’s Office will review the initiative, and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office may recommend revisions or alterations, which Idahoans For Open Primaries organizers can either accept or reject.

Once the review process is complete and the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office presents official ballot titles for the initiative, members of Idahoans for Open Primaries can begin gathering signatures for the initiative. Organizers backing the open primary initiative said they expect that to happen in June, and are beginning to plan signature gathering kickoff events in every region of the state for this summer. 

A ballot initiative is a form of direct democracy where the people propose a new law independently from the Idaho Legislature. In a 2021 ruling, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the initiative and referendum process are “fundamental rights, reserved to the people of Idaho.”

Before an initiative can appear on the ballot for the voters of Idaho to decide on, it first must qualify for the election. In order to qualify, organizers of a ballot initiative must gather the signatures of at least 6% of registered voters statewide, and the signatures of at least 6% of voters in at least 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts. 

That means Idahoans for Open Primaries organizers will need to gather signatures from at least 62,895 voters statewide by May 1, 2024, and will need to meet the 6% requirement in at least 18 legislative districts, in order to qualify for the November 2024 election, which is also the presidential election. 

If the open primary ballot initiative receives enough signatures to qualify for the November 2024 election, it would take a simple majority — more than 50% — of voters to approve a change to Idaho’s law. 

Organizers with Reclaim Idaho will help with the signature gathering effort. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has mobilized more than 1,000 volunteers across the state to gather signatures and push for approval of two recent Idaho ballot initiatives: the successful 2018 Medicaid expansion, which 60.6% of Idaho voters approved, and the Quality Education Act in 2022, which Reclaim Idaho pulled from the ballot after the Idaho Legislature took action that would have repealed and replaced the Quality Education Act. Some political observers and Democratic legislators have credited that campaign by Reclaim Idaho with pushing the Idaho Legislature to increase education funding by an amount nearly identical to what was proposed for the ballot initiative.

The open primary ballot initiative is designed to repeal the 2023 law that bans instant runoff or ranked choice voting. But, the Idaho Legislature could turn around and pass another law that immediately repeals the open primary initiative — going against the will of voters. 

It’s almost certain some Republican lawmakers will try to push back.

The 2023 law prohibiting ranked choice voting or instant runoff elections passed nearly along party lines (56-12 in the Idaho House and 28-7 in the Idaho Senate). Only three Republicans — Reps. Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello, Rick Cheatum, R-Pocatello, and Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome — joined the Democrats in opposing the law. 

When he presented House Bill 179 to the Idaho Legislature’s House State Affairs Committee on March 2, Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, said his bill was designed to prevent bringing ranked choice voting into Idaho and to preserve the existing system in Idaho.

“This is a voting system that is being spread around the country I would say a little like a virus,” Hawkins told legislators. “It’s destabilizing people’s normal voting abilities and it’s, according to the people in some of these states, very harmful. But everywhere it goes, it seems to do a little bit of confusion to the voter,” Hawkins said. 

“I still think that our system of election here in Idaho is one vote, one man and I am seeking to preserve that,” Hawkins added. 

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.