Committee advances bill to create centralized portal for statutory reports to the Idaho Legislature

Representative Heather Scott, R‑District 2, told the House State Affairs Committee that House Bill 215 would create a centralized, searchable portal for statutorily required reports and improve legislative and public access to agency reporting.

Heather Scott said the portal would be hosted on the legislature's website and include notifications for committees and agencies. “When a report becomes available, that will go to the committee or the legislator or the agency that is supposed to receive the report,” Alex Penny, a research analyst with the Legislative Services Office, explained during his presentation on the project.

The bill would also address report timing in statute: where a reporting statute contains no due date, HB 215 sets an annual default due date of Dec. 15. Scott said the bill removes several obsolete code sections identified in the LSO survey and that additional cleanups have been referred to germane committees.

Alex Penny summarized LSO’s survey work: the office used keyword searches of Idaho code to identify more than 370 reporting requirements, narrowed that to about 296, and sent a questionnaire to 105 agencies; 57 agency responses said the report was no longer submitted or was no longer relevant. Penny said the portal would not replace existing delivery methods—the report could still be sent to committees—but would add a one‑stop public repository.

Committee members asked how the portal would support turnover in committees and agencies and whether it would be searchable. Penny and Scott said the LSO intends to automate notifications and include word searches and keyword lookups.

Representative Mickelson moved and the committee voted by voice to send HB 215 to the floor with a do‑pass recommendation. The transcript records a voice vote of “aye” and the chair declared the motion carried.