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2019 Idaho legislative session
| Idaho State Legislature | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type: | State legislature |
| Term limits: | None |
| Session start: | January 7, 2019 |
| Session end: | April 11, 2019 |
| Website: | Official Legislature Page |
| Leadership | |
| Senate President: | Janice McGeachin (R) |
| House Speaker: | Scott Bedke (R) |
| Majority Leader: | Senate: Chuck Winder (R) House: Mike Moyle (R) |
| Minority Leader: | Senate: Michelle Stennett (D) House: Mathew Erpelding (D) |
| Structure | |
| Members: | 35 (Senate), 70 (House) |
| Length of term: | 2 years (Senate), 2 years (House) |
| Authority: | Art IV, Idaho Constitution |
| Salary: | $17,017/year + per diem |
| Elections | |
| Last election: | November 6, 2018 Senate House |
| Next election: | November 3, 2020 Senate House |
| Redistricting: | Idaho Redistricting Commission has control |
Idaho convened its legislative session on January 7, 2019, and legislators remained in session until April 11, 2019. Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority this legislative session, just as they did in 2018. Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 28-7 majority in the Senate and a 56-14 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta.
Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.
Partisan control in 2019
- See also: State government trifectas
Idaho was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
Idaho was also one of 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Idaho State Legislature in the 2019 legislative session.
Idaho State Senate
| Party | As of January 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 7 | |
| Republican Party | 28 | |
| Total | 35 | |
From 1992 to 2018, the Idaho State Senate was dominated by the Republican Party, which was part of the historical norm from 1900 to 2018. The table below shows the partisan history of the Idaho State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Idaho State Senate election results: 1992-2018
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Republicans | 23 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 |
The Idaho State Senate was mostly in Republican hands from 1900 to 2018. Democrats would occasionally gain control of the chamber, but it was usually not for more than a few election cycles. Most of their years in control occurred during the years associated with the Great Depression and World War II. The last year a Democratic majority was elected was in 1958. Republicans took control in 1960 and held it through the 2018 elections (although the chamber was split 21-21 following the 1990 election).
Starting in 1994, Republicans began to win large majorities in the chamber. They controlled 30 of the 35 seats by 1996 and still were able to increase their advantage to 32-3 by the 2000 elections. However, Democrats won seven seats in the 2002 elections, and, following that, the chamber stayed at a 28-7 draw following most elections from 2000 to 2018. They did increase their majority to 29 seats in 2012 and 2016 though. These were the only two years that deviated from the 28-7 split from 2002 to 2018.
Idaho House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 14 | |
| Republican Party | 56 | |
| Total | 70 | |
From 1992 to 2018, the Idaho House of Representatives was controlled by the Republican Party, the same as it had been since 1960. The table below shows the partisan history of the Idaho House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Idaho House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 20 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 14 |
| Republicans | 50 | 57 | 59 | 58 | 61 | 54 | 57 | 51 | 52 | 57 | 57 | 56 | 59 | 56 |
The Idaho House of Representatives was mostly in Republican hands from 1900 to 2018. It only flipped to Democratic control four times. Two of the flips to Democratic control occurred in years associated with the Great Depression and World War II. In 1960, Republicans won back control of the House after losing it in 1958 and did not lose their majority through the 2018 elections.
From 1992 to 2018, Republicans expanded their advantage over Democrats. From 1992 to 2000, they made steady gains and secured 61 seats following the 2000 election. Democrats made up some ground in 2002 when they picked up seven seats, but they then lost three of those seats in the 2004 elections. In 2006, Democrats picked up 19 seats, which was the most they had held since the 1992 elections. However, Republicans took back many of the seats in the elections from 2010 to 2018, holding a 56-14 majority at the end of the period. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.
Leadership in 2019
Idaho State Senate
- Senate president: Janice McGeachin (R)
- Majority leader: Chuck Winder (R)
- Minority leader: Michelle Stennett (D)
Idaho House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Scott Bedke (R)
- Majority leader: Mike Moyle (R)
- Minority leader: Mathew Erpelding (D)
Regular session
The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria yet in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 27 standing committees in Idaho's state government, including three joint legislative committees, 10 state Senate committees, and 14 state House committees.
Joint legislative committees
Senate committees
- Finance Committee
- Judiciary and Rules Committee
- Local Government and Taxation Committee
- Resources and Environment Committee
- Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee
- Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Health and Welfare Committee
- Senate State Affairs Committee
- Transportation Committee
House committees
- Appropriations Committee
- Business Committee
- Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee
- Ethics Committee
- House Agricultural Affairs Committee
- House Commerce and Human Resources Committee
- House Education Committee
- House Health and Welfare Committee
- House State Affairs Committee
- Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee
- Local Government Committee
- Resources and Conservation Committee
- Revenue and Taxation Committee
- Transportation and Defense Committee
- Ways and Means Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the Idaho Constitution can be amended:
Article XX of the Idaho Constitution establishes two ways in which the constitution can be amended, either via legislatively referred constitutional amendments or constitutional conventions. Idaho does not feature the power of citizen initiative for initiated constitutional amendments.
Legislature
A two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required during one legislative session for the Idaho State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 47 votes in the Idaho House of Representatives and 24 votes in the Idaho State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Convention
According to Article XX of the Idaho Constitution, a constitutional convention can be called if two-thirds of the members of each house of the Idaho State Legislature vote to place before the people a question as to whether the people want to call a convention. If a majority of all the voters voting at the election vote for a convention, the legislature must arrange to have a convention.
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Idaho.
Idaho Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty one years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
See also
| Elections | Idaho State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
|---|---|---|---|
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External links
Footnotes
