Ready or not Idaho’s 2025 Legislative Session starts on Jan. 6. Many important policies will be considered, ranging from education choice to tax reform. There will also likely be a surprise or two. It is of paramount importance for Idahoans to have the ability to be actively involved and heard by their elected officials during this lawmaking process. Unfortunately, it is currently more difficult than it should be for this to occur.
While the Idaho Legislature commendably provides the opportunity for remote testimony, it is needlessly difficult to sign up for committee notifications. I know this from firsthand experience.
Without a master listserv signup for committee updates, those wanting these important legislative notifications are required to go committee by committee. You also can’t sign up consecutively. There’s a required “waiting” period between each signup. This is the warning you receive if trying to sign up rapidly: “You need to wait for some time before subscribing again.”
This waiting period meant it took me a full week to complete the signup process for all the committees. This is incredibly inefficient and is not the case in neighboring states.
Most state legislatures use a master email listserv. They also don’t require you to resubscribe after every session. Here is an example of how easy it is to use the master signup process for the Washington legislature. Montana uses the same easy process. Wyoming also uses a master email listserv.
Not only is it difficult to sign up for committee updates in Idaho, but the notices are not sent with enough time for citizens to be able to make plans to participate in their governance. Far too often committee updates are sent the night before a hearing instead of the standard best practice of three to five days in advance.
To help maximize public involvement in their governance, Idaho lawmakers should amend their rules to require at least three days notice of the bills to be heard at public hearings. Providing advance notice of bills scheduled for public hearings is a standard practice among states. This will help provide busy citizens with the time needed to adjust schedules if they wish to provide comments on pending legislation.
This type of common-sense transparency reform has tremendous public support. Our recent Idaho Poll found 92% support for requiring three-day notice for legislative public hearings.
Here are examples of legislative rules requiring advance notice of bills scheduled for public hearings.
- Washington five-day notice: “1) At least five days’ notice shall be given of all public hearings held by any committee other than the rules committee. Such notice shall contain the date, time and place of such hearing together with the title and number of each bill, or identification of the subject matter, to be considered at such hearing. By a majority vote of the committee members present at any committee meeting such notice may be dispensed with. The reason for such action shall be set forth in a written statement preserved in the records of the meeting. 2) No committee may hold a public hearing during a regular or extraordinary session on a proposal identified as a draft unless the draft has been made available to the public at least twenty-four hours prior to the hearing. This rule does not apply during the five days prior to any cutoff established by concurrent resolution, nor does it apply to any measure exempted from the resolution.”
- Montana three-day notice: “Notice of a committee hearing must be made by posting the date, time, and subject of the hearing online and in a conspicuous public place not less than three legislative days in advance of the hearing.”
To help maximize Idahoans participation in their governance, lawmakers should adopt the following legislative transparency best practices:
- Utilize a master email listserv subscription for all committee updates;
- Subscription notifications do not expire after the session;
- Provide a three-day notice for all public hearings and agendas (automatically emailed to those subscribed);
- Post all bill amendments in advance for committees and floor action; and
- Post the room number on the legislative website where lawmaker offices are located at the capitol building.
Whether we are entrepreneurs, parents, students, members of a trade group, or even a lawmaker, it is important to have meaningful public notice of when a bill is going to be available for a public hearing and what the actual text of that proposal is. Only then can we rearrange our schedules, review, and prepare to provide the testimony lawmakers need to help advance good policy for the state.
Requiring at least a three-day notice of bills scheduled for a public hearing will help improve the information available not only for citizens but also for lawmakers as bills advance through the legislative process.
Jason Mercier is Vice President and Director of Research of Mountain States Policy Center, an independent research organization based in Idaho, Montana, Eastern Washington and Wyoming. Online at mountainstatespolicy.org.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
