Idaho Senate receives multiple gubernatorial appointment notices, refers nominees to committees

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Senate on Friday received a series of letters from Gov. Brad Little notifying the chamber of appointments and reappointments to multiple state boards and commissions and referred each nomination to the committee named in the governor’s letter for confirmation.

A clerk read the governor’s letters during the Senate’s messages from the governor. The letters included notices that nominees were appointed or reappointed to posts including the Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board, the Treasure’s (Treasurer’s) Investment Advisory Board, the Lake Pend Oreille Basin Commission, the Board of Environmental Quality, the Idaho Water Resource Board, the Idaho Lottery Division, the State Liquor Division director post, the public charter school commission and the State Board of Correction. A letter read during the session stated, “These appointments are submitted to confirmation by the Senate,” language attributed to Gov. Brad Little in the letters.

Why it matters: gubernatorial appointments to boards such as the Board of Environmental Quality and the Idaho Water Resource Board require Senate confirmation. The committee referrals begin the Senate’s formal review process and set the timeline for hearings and any follow-up materials the committees may request.

Details of the notices read on the floor included the following (as read into the record): Thomas J. Wilford was named to the Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board; Patricia Perkins was reappointed to the Treasurer’s Investment Advisory Board; Craig Hill was reappointed to the Lake Pend Oreille Basin Commission; Elizabeth Elroy and Dennis Lecum were named to the Board of Environmental Quality; Dean Stevenson and Mark Gibbs were named or reappointed to the Idaho Water Resource Board; Andrew Rulonandam (listed in the record with a similar spelling) was identified as appointed to the Idaho Lottery Division (and separately to the State Liquor Division director post in the record); Lisa Palos was named to the public charter school commission; Luke Malek was named to the State Board of Correction; and Wanda Quinn was reappointed to the public charter school commission. Each letter included the term start and end dates as read into the record and noted that the appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.

Committee referrals announced on the floor included: referrals to State Affairs, Resources and Environment, Health and Welfare, Education, and Judiciary and Rules, consistent with the subject matter of each board or commission named in the letters. A clerk’s announcement on the floor listed which committee would receive each appointment notice for consideration and the clerk said the notices would be filed in the Office of the Secretary.

The Senate also completed routine business that established quorum and attendance for the day. A roll call read into the record recorded 27 senators present and eight absent and formally excused; the read absentee list included senators identified in the record as Harris, Lent, O'Conowitz (as read), Ricks, Ward, Engelking and Wintrow. The clerk noted a quorum was present.

The session concluded with a procedural motion to adjourn until 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Senator Lori Den Hartog moved the adjournment; the motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote, the president announcing, “The ayes have it.”

The clerk’s reading of the governor’s letters begins the Senate’s confirmation workflow: committee assignments are administrative referrals that allow committees to schedule hearings, request additional documentation, and vote on whether to recommend confirmation to the full Senate. No committee hearings or confirmation votes on these nominees were recorded in the Jan. 10 session minutes.

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(For the record: messages from Gov. Brad Little were read into the Senate journal by the clerk; the readings and committee referrals, and the adjournment motion and voice vote, were reflected in the session record.)