Engage · State

How the Idaho Legislature works

A hundred and five part-time legislators write Idaho's laws and its budget in about three months each winter. Here is who they are, how the session runs, and where your voice counts.

Who's in it

35 districts. Each elects one senator and two representatives, in House seats A and B. That makes 35 senators and 70 representatives. All three of yours represent the same district.
Two-year terms for everyone. Every seat in both chambers is on the ballot in every even-numbered year. There are no term limits.
New terms start December 1 after the November election. Members meet briefly in early December to organize and pick leaders.
It's a part-time job. Most legislators have other work and are home in their districts from spring to December.
District lines are redrawn after each census by a bipartisan citizen commission, not by the Legislature.

Find yours with Who represents you.

The session calendar

It starts in early January. The session opens on the Monday closest to January 9. In 2027 that is January 11. The Governor gives the State of the State address and releases a budget proposal that day.
There's no fixed end date. The session runs until the work is done, usually around three months, ending in late March or April.
Everything dies at the end. A bill that hasn't passed when the Legislature adjourns is dead. It has to be introduced again the next year.
Between sessions, interim committees study specific issues and the budget committee meets a few times. Those meetings are on the calendar.

How a bill moves

A draft, called an RS. A legislator has an idea drafted. Before it is a bill, a committee holds a short "print hearing" and votes on whether to introduce it. No public testimony is taken at this step.
Introduction. The bill gets a number, is read on the floor and is sent to a committee.
Committee hearing. The committee chair decides whether and when the bill gets a hearing. This is where the public testifies. The committee can send the bill to the floor with a "do pass" recommendation, send it to be amended, or hold it, which usually kills it.
Floor vote. The bill is read on three separate days. Debate and the vote happen at third reading. A majority of members present passes it.
The other chamber. It goes through the same steps there. If the second chamber amends it, the first has to agree.
The Governor. During the session the Governor has five days, not counting Sundays, to sign or veto. A bill left alone becomes law without a signature. After the Legislature adjourns the Governor has ten days. A veto can be overridden by two-thirds of the members present in each chamber.
It takes effect. Most new laws take effect July 1.

Deadlines inside the session

Individual members can introduce bills only in the first few weeks: through the 12th day in the Senate and the 20th day in the House. After that, bills have to come from a committee, and after the 36th day in the House only from certain committees.
Leadership sets target dates each year for moving bills between chambers. They slip often.
The end of the session moves fast. Bills can be heard and passed with very little notice in the final weeks.

The budget committee

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, known as JFAC, is ten senators and ten representatives who write every agency's budget. It is the most powerful committee in the building. See the state budget and how to influence it.

Where your voice counts

Before the session. Summer and fall are when legislators decide what to sponsor. They're home and reachable.
The committee chair. A bill that never gets a hearing never gets a vote. If you want a bill heard, or not heard, the chair is who decides.
The committee hearing. This is the only step with public testimony. See how to weigh in on a state bill.
Your own three legislators, before the floor vote.
The Governor's office, once a bill has passed both chambers.

Sources

Last reviewed November 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the linked sources before you rely on a deadline.