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2021 Idaho legislative session

2021 Idaho legislative session
← 2020 2022 →

General information
Session start: January 11, 2021 Session end: November 17, 2021
Leadership
Senate President Janice McGeachin (R) House Speaker Scott Bedke (R) Majority Leader Senate: Kelly Anthon (R) House: Mike Moyle (R) Minority Leader Senate: Michelle Stennett (D) House: Ilana Rubel (D)
Elections
Next Election: November 8, 2022 Last Election: November 3, 2020
Previous legislative sessions
2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2021 legislative sessions

In 2021, the Idaho State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 11, 2021, and adjourn on May 12, 2021. The House reconvened on November 15, 2021, and adjourned on November 17, 2021.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2020 elections. Republicans won a 28-7 majority in the Senate and a 58-12 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2021 session, Idaho was one of 16 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

Redistricting is the process by which states draw new Congressional and state legislative districts following the U.S. Census. Officials sent data from the 2020 U.S. Census to states in early 2021 to begin the process of redistricting. As of the 2020 census, Idaho was one of four states where an independent commission was responsible for redistricting.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session:

Republicans held a majority in the Idaho state House and state Senate.

Idaho was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas.

Idaho's governor was Republican Brad Little.

Leadership in 2021

Idaho State Senate

Senate president: Janice McGeachin (R)
Majority leader: Kelly Anthon (R)
Minority leader: Michelle Stennett (D)

Idaho House of Representatives

Speaker of the House: Scott Bedke (R)
Majority leader: Mike Moyle (R)
Minority leader: Ilana Rubel (D)

Selection of speaker

Rep. Wendy Horman (R) announced she would challenge Rep. Scott Bedke (R) for the house speaker position ahead of the 2020 legislative session. Bedke had served as house speaker since 2013.^[1] The Republican caucus held a vote for the house speaker position on December 2.^[1] An official vote was held on the house floor to elect a speaker of the house the following day.^[1] Bedke was re-elected to another term as house speaker.^[2]

Partisan control in 2021

See also: State government trifectas

Idaho was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2021 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 16 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 2021 legislative session.

Idaho State Senate

Party	As of January 2021
	Democratic Party	7
	Republican Party	28
Total	35

Idaho House of Representatives

Party	As of January 2021
	Democratic Party	12
	Republican Party	58
Total	70

Regular session

The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 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 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

Redistricting

See also: Redistricting in Idaho after the 2020 census

Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures.

To learn more about the redistricting process in Idaho after the 2020 census, click here.

Standing legislative committees

See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Idaho state government

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 2021 legislative session, there were 27 standing committees in Idaho's state government, including 3 joint legislative committees, 10 state Senate committees, and 14 state House committees.

Joint legislative committees

Senate committees

House committees

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 in which the Idaho Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article XX of the Idaho Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Idaho

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

See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

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

See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

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.

2023 measures:

See also: 2023 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

No measures to list

2022 measures:

Below is a list of measures that were referred to the 2022 ballot by the legislature.

See also: Idaho 2022 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

No measures to list

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

From 1992 to 2020, the Idaho State Senate was controlled by the Republican Party for most of the time period from 1900 to 2020. The table below shows the partisan history of the Idaho State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2020. 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: 1992-2020

Year	'92	'94	'96	'98	'00	'02	'04	'06	'08	'10	'12	'14	'16	'18	'20
Democrats	12	8	5	4	3	7	7	7	7	7	6	7	6	7	7
Republicans	23	27	30	31	32	28	28	28	28	28	29	28	29	28	28

The Idaho State Senate was mostly in Republican hands from 1900 to 2020. Democrats would occasionally gain control of the chamber, but it was usually not for more than a few election cycles. Most of their years in control occurred during the years associated with the Great Depression and World War II. The last year a Democratic majority was elected was in 1958. Republicans took control in 1960 and held it through the 2020 elections (although the chamber was split 21-21 following the 1990 election).

Starting in 1994, Republicans began to win large majorities in the chamber. They controlled 30 of the 35 seats by 1996 and increased their advantage to 32-3 by the 2000 elections. However, Democrats won seven seats in the 2002 elections, and, following that, the chamber stayed at 28-7 following most elections from 2000 to 2020. Republicans increased their majority to 29 seats in 2012 and 2016. These were the only two years that deviated from the 28-7 split from 2002 to 2020.

Historical House control

From 1992 to 2020, the Idaho House of Representatives was controlled by the Republican Party, the same as it had been since 1960. The table below shows the partisan history of the Idaho House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2020. 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: 1992-2020

Year	'92	'94	'96	'98	'00	'02	'04	'06	'08	'10	'12	'14	'16	'18	'20
Democrats	20	13	11	12	9	16	13	19	18	13	13	14	11	14	12
Republicans	50	57	59	58	61	54	57	51	52	57	57	56	59	56	58

The Idaho House of Representatives was mostly in Republican hands from 1900 to 2020. It only flipped to Democratic control four times. Two of the flips to Democratic control occurred in years associated with the Great Depression and World War II. In 1960, Republicans won back control of the House after losing it in 1958 and maintained a majority through the 2020 elections.

From 1992 to 2020, Republicans expanded their advantage over Democrats. From 1992 to 2000, they made steady gains and secured 61 seats following the 2000 election. Democrats made up some ground in 2002 when they picked up seven seats, but they then lost three of those seats in the 2004 elections. After the 2006 elections, Democrats held 19 seats, which was the most they had held since the 1992 elections. However, Republicans took back many of the seats in the elections from 2010 to 2020, holding a 58-12 majority at the end of the period. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

Elections	Idaho State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics

Idaho State Senate elections, 2020 Idaho House of Representatives elections, 2020	Idaho State Legislature Idaho House of Representatives Idaho State Senate Governor of Idaho Idaho Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2020 State legislative special elections, 2020 State legislative elections, 2018 State legislative elections, 2016	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures The State Legislative Decade

External links

Footnotes

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2025	State legislative elections (2025) • State legislative special elections (2025) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2025 Session Dates

2024	State legislative elections (2024) • State legislative special elections (2024) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2024 Session Dates

2023	State legislative elections (2023) • State legislative special elections (2023) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2023 Session Dates

Historical elections	2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000

Features of state legislatures	How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State legislature candidate requirements by state • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

State senates	Length of terms of state senators • State senators • Partisan composition of state senates • State senators sorted by year first elected

State houses	Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected

Leadership positions	President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House

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