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2024 Idaho legislative session
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| 2024 Idaho legislative session |
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| General information |
| Scheduled session start: Jan. 8, 2024 Scheduled session end: April 10, 2024 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Scott Bedke (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 5, 2024 Last Election: November 8, 2022 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2024 legislative sessions |
In 2024, the Idaho State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 8 and adjourn on April 10.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2022 elections. Republicans won a 28-7 majority in the Senate and a 59-11 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2024 session, Idaho was one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2024
Idaho State Senate
- Senate president: Scott Bedke (R)
- Majority leader: Kelly Anthon (R)
- Minority leader: Melissa Wintrow (D)
Idaho House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Mike Moyle (R)
- Majority leader: Megan C. Blanksma (R)
- Minority leader: Ilana Rubel (D)
Partisan control in 2024
- See also: State government trifectas
Idaho was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2024 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 20 state legislatures where Republicans 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 2024 legislative session.
Idaho State Senate
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 7 | |
| Republican Party | 28 | |
| Total | 35 | |
Idaho House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 11 | |
| Republican Party | 59 | |
| Total | 70 | |
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 2024 legislative session, there were 30 standing committees in Idaho's state government, including five joint legislative committees, 10 state Senate committees, and 15 state House committees.
Joint legislative committees
- Change in Employee Compensation Committee
- Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee
- Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee
- Joint Legislative Oversight Committee
- Joint Millennium Fund Committee
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
Legislation
Enacted legislation
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2024 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 in 2024. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Election administration legislation
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job. Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments, translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language, and, because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan.
The table below lists 2024 election-related legislation in Idaho. The following information is included for each bill:
- Bill number
- Official name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, simply click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.
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 |
Historical Senate control
Republicans won control of the Idaho State Senate in 1992. In 2022, they won a 28-7 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the Idaho Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2022. 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: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Republicans | 23 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
Historical House control
Republicans won control of the Idaho House of Representatives in 1960. In 2022, they won a 59-11 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the Idaho House following every general election from 1992 to 2022. 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: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 20 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
| Republicans | 50 | 57 | 59 | 58 | 61 | 54 | 57 | 51 | 52 | 57 | 57 | 56 | 59 | 56 | 58 | 59 |
See also
| Elections | Idaho State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
