This week, the Idaho Legislature is holding its organizational session in the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, with the leadership of the Idaho Senate and important legislative committees on the line.
After a general election, the organizing session takes place every two years. Legislators are sworn in during the organizational session, and the leadership delegations for the Idaho Senate and House of Representatives are chosen by Republicans and Democrats. The committee chairs will next be chosen by Republican leadership members, who will also assign lawmakers to committees.
A large portion of the process takes place behind closed doors, away from reporters and the general public. However, the choices taken will have a significant impact on the next legislative session in 2025, which starts on January 6. Committee chairs and members of the Republican leadership teams, who hold a 90-15 supermajority in the Idaho Legislature, have the authority and sway to decide which legislation advance and which do not.
Senate Republicans will be closely watched this year as they occupy two extremely rare vacancies on the GOP’s four-member leadership team. Former Senate Assistant Majority Leader Abby Lee, R-Fruitland, retired from the Idaho Legislature this summer, while veteran Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, lost the May Republican primary.
On Wednesday night, there will be leadership elections for the Senate Democrats, House Republicans, and House Democrats. Additionally, House Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, decided not run for reelection this year, leaving the Democrats without a leader to fill.
Both the Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee and the House Education Committee will have new leadership.
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The top GOP leadership position will be filled by the Idaho Senate.
When the lieutenant governor is not present, the Senate president pro tem, who is the highest ranking member of the Idaho Senate, leads the body. The lieutenant governor is the governor’s second-in-line successor, followed by the Senate president pro tem. When the governor and lieutenant governor are both unable to perform their duties, such as when they are both out of state, the Senate president pro tem steps in as acting governor.
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Eagle senator Scott Grow, a Republican, has declared openly that he is running for Senate president pro tem. Grow stated in an interview with the Idaho Capital Sun on November 22 that if elected Senate president pro tem, he will relinquish his role as co-chair of the influential Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC. The JFAC is a strong group that determines all state department and agency budgets.
“I am proud of the changes JFAC has made, such as separating maintenance of operations budgets from new spending requests,” said Grow, a retired certified public accountant starting his fifth term in the Idaho Senate. In order to increase accountability in the budgeting process, Grow intends to keep pushing for the adoption of performance-based budgeting procedures, in which agencies would incorporate performance goals with new funding requests.
Grow would be better positioned to uphold and defend the JFAC budget modifications if he were elected Senate president pro tem.
If elected president pro tem, Grow would also bring about changes in the Idaho Senate. In order to create a list of four or five key issues for the next session that all Republicans can agree upon, he said he would work to get the Idaho Senate’s Republicans together before the session began. Grow would work to bring Republicans together behind a single plan before the session began, as opposed to proposing and discussing several legislation on a school choice idea.
If we truly are a strong, cohesive Senate caucus, we should get together, talk about our options, and try to come up with a single bill that everyone can support. That way, we can move forward as a group and present it to the rest of the Senate, which will put us in a better position to achieve our goals, Grow said.
Reaching out to other possible contenders for the Idaho Senate’s top spot proved fruitless.
Last week, attempts to get in touch with Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, failed.
Anthon, the top-ranking surviving member of the GOP leadership team in the Idaho Senate after Winder’s loss, is a logical choice to run for president pro tem given his
Last week, attempts to get in touch with Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, similarly failed. Among the more seasoned senators from Idaho is Den Hartog. Both Anthon and Den Hartog were voted to their sixth terms on November 5. Two years ago, Den Hartogran lost to Winder in his unsuccessful bid for Senate president pro tem.
On Wednesday evening, caucus dinners and the leadership elections will be held in private. Results might be revealed on Wednesday evening; if not, the leadership teams will be revealed during Thursday’s organizational meeting.
Winder discussed the importance of the organizational session and wished returning lawmakers success during the Legislative Council meeting of the Idaho Legislature on November 7.
Winder addressed the Legislative Council, “As you look at organizing the next legislative session, you have some challenging times and some fun times ahead of you.”
18 new lawmakers from Idaho will attend orientation.
The new legislator orientation program for the 18 newly elected first-time lawmakers from the 2024 general election will off festivities Monday afternoon before the leadership elections. Legislative procedure, public records laws, lobbying, ethics, and the drafting and passage of legislation are among the topics that new lawmakers will study. Tuesday is the last day of the new legislator orientation program, which concludes on Wednesday in time for supper and leadership elections.
Gov. Brad Little’s annual State of the State address kicks off the 2025 legislative session on January 6.
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