Secretary of State seeks annual voter guide funding, software subscriptions and deputy transition funding

BOISE — The Secretary of State’s office told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee it needs new ongoing and one‑time appropriations for publications, software subscriptions, a deputy director transition and periodic IT replacements.

Christopher Lahoset, Legislative Services Office analyst, told the committee the office requests $400,000 ongoing from the general fund for a voter guide mailed to Idaho households; he corrected a typographical error in the budget book and said the anticipated split is roughly $300,000 for mailing and $100,000 for printing. Lahoset said the office’s authorized full‑time positions are 35.5 and that, among other recent appropriations, the legislature previously provided $10 million one‑time for an elections system upgrade; of that $10 million about $2.5 million has been spent with reappropriation for the remainder.

Lahoset described a $287,100 request for recurring software subscription costs tied to new campaign finance and lobbyist reporting systems; he said the total base budget for software subscriptions and cloud storage at the agency is $775,000. He also briefed the committee on a one‑time $26,000 request to pay a federal upgrade fee to access a national motor‑vehicle database that helps validate voter records and driver license numbers; Lahoset said ongoing subscription costs to that database continue at a modest quarterly rate.

Phil McGrane, Secretary of State, told the committee the voter guide has been his “number 1 policy initiative since I took office” and that voters have consistently expressed demand for candidate information and election materials. “Making sure there’s candidate information in that” helps clarify local races, he said.

McGrane said the office has used its earlier investments to roll out three major IT projects in two years: an upgraded campaign finance system, a new lobbyist reporting system, and the VoteIdaho website. He said $2.9 million of the previous $10 million one‑time investment has been spent and the office has bids out for a replacement election management system, with vendor bids ranging roughly from $5.6 million to $9.4 million.

Committee members asked about postage and printing timing for the Idaho Blue Book and the voter guide. Lahoset noted postage increases — from 60¢ to 73¢ per stamp since 2022 — as a driver of higher mailing costs. The office also requested $20,000 ongoing for IT training and one‑time funding to replace laptops and other equipment.

The committee did not take final appropriation action at the hearing; members asked for additional detail, including the statutory proposal to run the voter guide and further information about long‑term subscription and maintenance costs for new systems.