The New Legislature

Leaders and committees have been set. Now what?

The board is set, the pieces are moving. Last night, the Republican House and Senate caucuses met to choose their leaders. These were the results:

House

• Speaker: Mike Moyle

• Majority Leader: Jason Monks

• Assistant Majority Leader: Josh Tanner

• Caucus Chair: Jaron Crane

Senate

• President Pro Tempore: Kelly Anthon

• Majority Leader: Lori Den Hartog

• Assistant Majority Leader: Mark Harris

• Caucus Chair: Ben Toews

It’s notable that three sophomore legislators — Reps. Tanner and Crane and Sen. Toews — were elected to leadership positions. On the Senate side, conservatives who were hoping to see Sen. Doug Okuniewicz prevail in the pro tem election were disappointed with Sen. Anthon’s victory. The Senate maintains its reputation as a bastion of tradition. Anthon was previously majority leader, the stepping-stone to the top spot. Sen. Den Hartog was runner-up for that spot last year, and so slides in as majority leader, while Sen. Harris was previously caucus chair. It’s all very neat and tidy.

Here is how the eight new leaders stand with regard their 2024 Freedom Index scores. Green is House, yellow is Senate:

The mean average Freedom Index score of House leaders at the end of the 2024 session was 59.1. Average of the new House leaders from last session's numbers is 70.8. Senate leadership average in 2024 was 36.7, while the new leaders averaged 55.8. Both chambers will see improvement from a pure numbers perspective, though the proof in the pudding will be in the eating.

In the weeks leading up to the leadership elections, I spoke with numerous conservative activists who were confident Okuniewicz had the votes. However, a few members clearly proved to be unpredictable. While the secret ballot ensures we may never know how each member voted, that won’t stop speculation. This afternoon, one senator shared a piece of advice he received long ago from a legislative veteran: never reveal how you vote in leadership elections. Doing so, he explained, can only alienating colleagues you need to work with.

In any case, it is what it is. These eight lawmakers will lead the 68th Idaho Legislature, which means we must work with them to achieve our policy goals, as well as hold their feet to the fire when they go astray.

The House and Senate met today to finalize committee assignments. One of the biggest changes is in JFAC, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Co-chair Sen. C. Scott Grow has long advocated that other committee chairs should not sit on the budget committee, and though he lost his race for pro tem, he apparently secured a commitment from Anthon to make that change.

The House side saw a lot of continuity from the previous session, with all but one committee chairs retaining their positions. Former House Education chair Julie Yamamoto was defeated in her primary election this year, and Rep. Douglas Pickett will take her place. Former vice chair Rep. Lori McCann is not on House Education this time around, and Rep. Dale Hawkins will take her place.

The Senate side will look somewhat different from last year. Agricultural Affairs chair Linda Hartgen was defeated, so Vice Chair Tammy Nichols will assume that position. Sen. Kevin Cook previously chaired Commerce & Human Resources, but he will be replaced by Sen. Dan Foreman this year. Cook remains on JFAC, which makes me wonder if he had to choose between a chairmanship and staying on the budget committee.

Sen. Dave Lent remains in charge of Education, which was stacked with conservatives last time. It looks much more moderate now, so we’ll all need to keep close eyes on it. Sen. Jim Guthrie remains chair of State Affairs, where he used his desk drawer to kill a lot of good bills the past two years.

Sen. Brian Lenney, who was removed as vice chair of Commerce & Human Resources by then-Pro Tem Chuck Winder last year, was restored to his position, correcting what he called on Twitter “a historic wrong”. Winder also removed Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld from her position as vice chair of Health & Welfare, but she was not restored. Sen. Carl Bjerke will take over that position, while Sen. Jim Woodward will take Bjerke’s former position as vice chair on JFAC.

Zuiderveld will join JFAC this year as well, giving the Senate Finance Committee a solid group of fiscal conservatives. The House Appropriations Committee is more uncertain, though Rep. Josh Tanner broke with precedent and remained on the committee despite his election to leadership.

Two freshman legislators were given Senate vice chairmanships: Sen. Brandon Shippy on Judiciary & Rules and Sen. Josh Keyser on Transportation.

It will take some time to digest everything, and of course we can’t know what will happen until it does. I generally agree with Lauren Walker’s take:

Slowly taking in and processing all the committees, I was going to do graphics but I realize I’m not sure how new people will vote and also there’s so many squishies- every committee is a toss up.

There’s no time in politics to indulge in what might have been. The chessboard has been set up, and the game is about to begin.

Join me tomorrow (Friday) at 2pm MST for a livestream where I’ll discuss these results and what to expect from the 2025 session. I’ll be joined by former state senator Steven Thayn and perhaps other guests as well. Once the session begins, I plan to stream every Friday evening with multiple guests to break down what happened that week in the Legislature, so stay tuned!

The stream will go live on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. I'll see you then!