JFAC considers additional bill-drafting attorney for Legislative Services Office; motion referred to Senate after split vote

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on March 24 considered a motion to add one full‑time bill‑drafting attorney to the Legislative Services Office (LSO). Committee proponents argued that LSO staff were handling an unusually high bill load and that an additional drafter would keep the Legislature’s internal drafting work moving without overburdening current staff.

Division manager Keith Bybee and co‑chair sponsors said Idaho’s LSO staffing is lean compared with peer states and that the committee’s drafters have worked extended hours to meet demand. Senator Hart noted smaller neighboring states have higher per‑capita LSO staffing and said she supported the motion. Opponents said the Legislature should hold LSO to similar budget constraints applied to other agencies; Representative Petzke said he was opposed to adding staff while other agencies faced cuts.

The motion — to add 1.0 FTE and $129,000 from the general fund for an additional bill‑drafting attorney — passed on a combined committee vote that split along chamber lines: the House favored the motion while the Senate did not reach a majority. The committee clerk recorded a combined total of 13 ayes and 7 nays, and the chair noted the majority had not voted in the affirmative in the Senate; the motion will be carried to the Senate for further consideration.

Committee members discussed possible options including billing executive branch agencies for drafting of executive‑originated legislation; language directing LSO to explore inter‑agency billing and to pursue statewide budget submission platform improvements was included in committee language that the committee later accepted unanimously.