The big picture: The Idaho Legislature kicked off on Monday, and House and Senate leadership assigned legislators to powerful committees: the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, House Education, Senate Education, and House and Senate State Affairs.
Why it matters: Committees are where the day-to-day work of the Legislature happens. All legislators can put forth bills, but committee chairs have the power to make those bills come alive by allowing them to be presented before a committee. Once that happens, committees choose whether to advance bills or not.
This year’s big shakeups:
• House Education Committee: House Ed just got a lot more interesting, with the committee now evenly split between pro- and anti-public education legislators.
- Rep. Dale Hawkins (R-Fernwood) is the new chair of House Ed. He has a long track record of being anti-public education; last session, he introduced a bill to end compulsory education in Idaho.
- Rep. Clay Handy (R-Burley), the new vice chair, is a vocal proponent of public education and voted against House Bill 93, which created the state’s private school voucher system.
- Here’s a full list of committee members. Rep. Michael Veile (R-Soda Springs). Veile was appointed by the governor to fill the seat vacated by Kevin Andrus.
• House State Affairs: The House State Affairs committees could play a role in any union-busting legislation that comes through. The House committee has a few new faces: Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls), who was appointed to finish the term of Wendy Horman, who took a job in the Trump Administration; Reps. Monica Church (D-Boise), and Anne Henderson Haws (D-Boise) take the place of Tod Achilles and Brooke Green.
• Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC): JFAC is the most powerful committee at the Statehouse because it sets budgets. And this year, Idaho has a budget problem.
- Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Moyle (R-Star) appointed Rep. Josh Tanner (R-Eagle) to take Rep. Wendy Horman’s (R-Idaho Falls) spot on JFAC.
- Tanner immediately went on the offensive, making the very rare move of issuing his own press release tearing down the governor’s budget, saying it “relies on one-time gimmicks, spends more than the state takes in on an ongoing basis, and leaves Idaho with the lowest ending fund balances in nearly a decade.” In other words: Tanner and Moyle will be looking for steep budget cuts.
- Tanner is known to IEA members for his heavy handedness when it comes to education matters. During the 2025 session, he introduced Senate Bill 1210, which bans schools and other entities from requiring medical interventions. In practical terms, that means schools can no longer require vaccines of any kind for children. He also voted for HB 93, which created the state’s new private school voucher system.
- Here’s a full list of JFAC members.
The looming problem: The state has a budget shortfall — but determining how much of a budget shortfall the state is encountering has been an issue. On Monday, estimates predicted a $40 million shortfall for 2026. However, the joint Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee, which tries to forecast economic projections, on Wednesday decided that their prediction will include $137 million more in projected revenue than what the governor included in his budget proposal.
What to watch: The Legislature took it easy this week and held very few meetings. Next week, however, watch the war of words unfold as hardline conservatives battle more moderate lawmakers for deep budget cuts every step of the way.
