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Idaho proposal would require agencies to report obsolete statutes by Sept. 1, 2025
Summary
A legislative sponsor told the House committee Jan. 13 that RS31897 would require state agencies to identify statutes they consider unnecessary and submit findings to the Legislature by Sept. 1, 2025, using an online portal; committee members asked about agency capacity and costs and the motion to introduce the request carried by voice vote.
Representative Mike Moyle, District 10A, told the House State Affairs Committee on Jan. 13 that RS31897 would require all state agencies to submit reports to the Legislature by Sept. 1, 2025, identifying statutes they consider obsolete, unnecessary or no longer working.
The measure’s sponsor said the reports would be collected through an online portal to ease handling by Legislative Services Office staff and to give lawmakers material to use during the 2026 legislative session to clean up code. “What this bill does is requires all state agencies by September first of 2025 to report back to the legislature what they think is unnecessary,” Moyle said.
Supporters framed the proposal as a next step in a multi-year effort to remove outdated rules and return authority to the Legislature. Moyle told the committee Idaho’s prior rulemaking work has attracted national attention, and he said agencies may permissively flag statutes that pertain to other agencies if they believe those statutes are unnecessary.
Committee members asked how much work the bill would create for agency staff and for Legislative Services Office employees charged with compiling reports. Representative Polhonkus asked whether the Sept. 1, 2025, deadline gives agencies enough time and whether smaller agencies will need reassignments to complete the review. Moyle acknowledged smaller agencies may have greater difficulty but said larger agencies “know those codes better than you and I do because they live in those codes every day.” He added, “They can tell you where the bodies are buried,” referring to agencies’ institutional knowledge about outdated provisions.
Representative Dygert asked whether the agencies will request additional funding or overtime to meet the requirement. Moyle replied, “No, just get the job done. They’ll figure it out,” and said the bill requires the online portal to make submission easier and to reduce the burden on LSO staff who will compile the material.
After discussion, Representative Achilles moved to introduce RS31897; the motion passed by voice vote. The committee also approved the meeting minutes earlier in the session by voice vote.
No fiscal estimates, appropriation requests, or agency-by-agency workload breakdowns were provided in the recorded discussion. Moyle said other committees may see related proposals in coming days to advance similar statutory cleanups.
Items for follow-up include submitted report formats via the portal, whether agencies will ask for additional resources during budget hearings, and the Legislature’s plan for acting on the agency submissions during the next session.
