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Secretary of State seeks ongoing funding for voter guide, software subscriptions and deputy transition
Summary
The Secretary of State’s office requested ongoing funding to publish a statewide voter guide, one‑time funds to double‑fill a deputy business director position for training, and increased subscription and postage funding tied to recent election system upgrades.
BOISE — The Secretary of State’s office appeared before the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Oct. 24 seeking several budget adjustments tied to ongoing election work, newly deployed IT systems and administrative transitions.
Christopher Lahoset, Legislative Services Office analyst, summarized agency operations and noted the legislature had appropriated $10 million in FY2024 for an elections system upgrade; about $2.5 million of that has been spent and the remainder was reappropriated into FY2025. Lahoset said the office’s full‑time position cap is 35.5 and that the agency relies primarily on general fund appropriation.
The office requested a $400,000 ongoing appropriation for a statewide voter guide, intended to produce and mail candidate and election information to all Idaho households. Lahoset corrected a typographical error in the budget book and said the committee should expect the estimator to be roughly $300,000 for mailing and $100,000 for printing if the ongoing request is approved.
Other requests included one‑time funding for a double‑filled deputy business director position to provide a year of overlap training before the current deputy retires; $287,100 in ongoing funding for software subscriptions (campaign finance and lobbyist systems) and $26,000 one‑time to pay a federal upgrade fee for access to motor‑vehicle (DMV) records used for voter registration validation. The office also requested an ongoing $20,000 item for IT training, periodic funding for the Idaho Blue Book and constitution reproduction, and a one‑time IT equipment refresh.
Secretary of State Phil McGrane told the committee that a voter guide has been his office’s top policy priority. “Voters overwhelmingly would like to see a voter guide,” McGrane said, adding that the office intends to publish guides for both primary and general elections. He described the recently launched VoteIdaho website and other IT projects the committee funded with the FY2024 appropriation: a new campaign finance system and a new lobbyist reporting system.
McGrane said the office has an active, competitive RFP process under evaluation for the counties’ election management system; Lahoset reported bids ranging from about $5.6 million to $9.4 million and that roughly $7.1 million of the original $10 million appropriation remained.
Committee members asked why the DMV access payment was a one‑time fee; McGrane replied the federal upgrade cost is a one‑time assessment to participate in the upgraded national system, while an ongoing subscription cost remains in the office’s baseline budget. Members also discussed postage inflation and requested additional detail on the deputy transition plan.
The hearing concluded with the secretary summarizing recent project rollouts and noting the office’s progress on meeting county needs while developing statewide systems.
