New Leadership and Committees Finalized as Idaho Legislature Wraps Organizational Session

Posted by Ben Shuey on December 4, 2020

As the Idaho Legislature prepares for the 2021 Legislative Session, scheduled to kickoff January 11th, 2021, there was some specific preparatory work that need to be accomplished in order for them to hit the ground running in January.  Following the 2020 elections and some notable retirements in the Legislature, the body had the task of swearing-in all of the members of the 66th Session of the Idaho Legislature and then finalizing leadership roles, chairmanships and committee assignments for the next two years.  All of this preparation, known as the Organizational Session, took place, in person, at the Idaho Capitol over the course of the last week.  The Organizational Session is extremely important to the future advocacy work that the NWCUA will take on in 2021 and 2022, as we learn who the important decisionmakers, key chairman and overall leadership in the Idaho Legislature will be.

As previously reported, challenges were made to many of the leadership roles in both the Idaho House of Representatives and the Senate.  In the House, there were no changes to current Majority or Republican leadership, with Speaker Scott Bedke (R-Oakley-27), Majority Leader Mike Moyle (R-Star-14), Assistant Majority Leader Jason Monks (R-Meridian-22) and Caucus Chair Megan Blanksma (R-Hammett-23) all retaining their leadership seats.  There were two leadership changes for the House Democrats. Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise-18) was unchallenged, Representative Lauren Necochea (D-Boise-19) defeated incumbent Representative John McCrostie (D-Garden City-16) for the Assistant Minority Leader position and Representative Sally Toone (D-Gooding-26) ran unopposed for Minority Caucus Chair.

In the Senate, current Majority Leader Chuck Winder (R-Boise-20) was elected President Pro Tempore, following the retirement of long-standing leader Senator Brent Hill. Senator Kelly Anthon (R-Rupert-27) was subsequently elected to take Winder’s seat as the new Majority Leader, Senator Abby Lee (R-Fruitland-9) was elected Assistant Majority Leader and Senator Mark Harris (R-Soda Springs-32) was elected Caucus Chair.  For the Senate Democrats, Minority Leader Michelle Stennett (D-Ketchum-26) retained her position, Senator Grant Burgoyne (D-Boise-16) was elected Assistant Minority Leader and Senator Janie Ward-Engleking (D-Boise-18) was elected Minority Caucus Chair.

Following the completion of the leadership races, Speaker Bedke and Pro Temp. Winder turned their attention to appointing committee chairs and assigning members to each committee.  As we had previously discussed, there were some significant committee chair and membership musical chairs that took place on both sides of the Capitol rotunda. Some of this shakeup took place due to the retirement of previous chairs, some seniority rearrangements and then again others were the result of unsuccessful leadership challenges to Majority Leadership in both the House and the Senate. 

This afternoon, the Senate and House Leadership announced their new Chairs, Vice Chairs and final committee assignments.  The committees specifically germane to Idaho credit unions and their makeups are provided below.  We are very excited to continuing working with the many leaders that we have established relationships with over the years as well as to begin building strong foundations with the 22 new members that have joined the Legislature for the 2021 Session.

Senate Germane Committees:

Commerce & Human Resources: Chairman Jim Patrick (R-Twin Falls-25) and Vice Chair Mary Souza (R-Coeur d’Alene-4) <New>

Committee Members: Fred Martin (R), Todd Lakey (R), Jim Guthrie (R), Jeff Agenbroad (R), Peter Riggs (R)<New>, Janie Ward-Engelking (D) and Grant Burgoyne (D).

Local Government & Taxation: Chairman Jim Rice (R-Caldwell-10) and Vice Chair C. Scott Grow (R-Eagle-14) 

Committee Members: Steve Vick (R), Todd Lakey (R), Mary Souza (R) <New>, Steve Bair (R)<New>, Doug Ricks (R) <New>, Mark Nye (D) and Ali Rabe (D) <New>.

House Germane Committees:

Business: Chairman Sage Dixon (R-Ponderay-1) and Vice Chair Rod Furniss (R-Rigby-35) <New>

Committee Members: Rep. Brent Crane (R), Rep. Joe Palmer (R), Rep. Vito Barbieri (R), Rep. Randy Armstrong (R), Rep. GayAnn DeMordaunt (R), Rep. Lance Clow (R), Rep. Kevin Andrus (R), Rep. Tammy Nichols (R), Rep. Ben Adams (R), Rep. Matthew Bundy (R), Rep. Greg Ferch (R), Rep. Codi Galloway (R), Rep. Brandon Mitchell (R), Rep. Charlie Shepherd (R), Rep. Steve Berch (D) and Rep. Brooke Green (D).

Revenue & Taxation: Chairman Steven Harris (R-Merdian-21) and Vice Chair Jim Addis (R-CDA-4) 

Committee Members: Rep. Mike Moyle (R), Rep. Greg Chaney (R), Rep. Terry Gestrin (R), Rep. Sage Dixon (R), Rep. Tammy Nichols (R), Rep. Clark Kauffman (R), Rep. Ben Adams (R), Rep. David Cannon (R), Rep. Linda Wright Hartgen (R), Rep. Dustin Manwaring (R), Rep. Doug Okuniewicz (R), Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger (R), Rep. Jon Weber (R), Rep. Lauren Necochea (D) and Rep. James Ruchti (D).

State Affairs: Chairman Brent Crane (R – Nampa – 13) and Vice Chair Randy Armstrong (R – Inkom – 28)

Committee Members: Rep. Joe Palmer (R), Rep. Vito Barbieri (R), Rep. James Holtzclaw (R), Rep. Jason Monks (R), Rep. Heather Scott (R), Rep. Kevin Andrus (R), Rep. Julianne Young (R), Rep. Rod Furniss (R), Rep. Karey Hanks (R), Rep. Bruce Skaug (R), Rep. John Gannon (D) and Rep. Chris Mathias (D).

Commerce & Human Resources: Chairman James Holtzclaw (R – Meridian – 20) and Vice Chair Scott Syme (R – Caldwell – 11)

Committee Members: Rep. Steven Harris (R), Rep. Mike Kingsley (R), Rep. Chad Christensen (R), Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R), Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R), Rep. Wendy Horman (R), Rep. Karey Hanks (R), Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, Rep. Jon Weber (R), Rep. Sue Chew (D), Rep. Lauren Necochea (D) and Rep. Sally Toone.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Idaho Advocacy.