Secretary of State seeks ongoing funding for voter guide, maintains $10 million election upgrade progress

Secretary of State Phil McGrane told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee the office seeks a mix of one‑time and ongoing appropriations to sustain recent technology upgrades, start a permanent voter guide program and cover increased subscription and postage costs.

"My number one policy initiative since I took office has been a voter guide," McGrane told the committee, arguing the guide meets public demand and that the office intends to distribute a mailed guide for primary and general elections. The office requested $400,000 ongoing from the General Fund to design, print and mail the voter guide to Idaho households; budget staff clarified the office estimates the cost at $300,000 for mailing and $100,000 for printing if the enhancement is approved.

Budget analyst Christopher Lahoset summarized the office's FY24–FY25 funding history, noting the legislature provided a one‑time $10,000,000 appropriation in FY24 for an elections system upgrade; the office has used roughly $2.9 million of that appropriation so far and reappropriated the balance into FY25. Lahoset also outlined other requests: ongoing software subscription increases (about $287,100) to support the new campaign finance and lobbyist systems, a one‑time $26,000 fee tied to a federal upgrade to a DMV database access fee, ongoing funding for I.T. training ($20,000) and a one‑time double‑fill for a deputy business director to train a replacement ahead of a 2026 retirement.

McGrane told the committee the office has rolled out three major IT projects since the investment: an upgraded campaign finance system, a new lobbyist reporting system and the VoteIdaho website, which was heavily used in the most recent election. He said the office has an RFP out for the election management system used by the 44 counties and that bids return in a range the office is evaluating — Lahoset reported bids between $5.6 million and $9.4 million with about $7.1 million of the original appropriation remaining to apply toward the contract.

Lawmakers raised questions about the frequency of the voter guide (McGrane and staff said distribution would align with election cycles and that the fiscal year timing means a yearly appropriation shows up in the budget), the one‑time nature of the DMV access fee (McGrane said the federal upgrade required a one‑time payment, with a continuing smaller subscription fee thereafter), and postage pressures (the U.S. Postal Service first‑class stamp rose from $0.60 to $0.73 since 2022 and the office cited postage as a driver of higher printing and mailing costs).

McGrane closed the hearing by highlighting the office's IT work and saying he would provide additional procurement and implementation details as the RFP evaluation continues.