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Committee sends bill clarifying recall signature threshold for large Idaho cities to House floor
Summary
The committee approved House Bill 377 to align recall-petition signature requirements with district-based city council elections in cities with populations over 100,000, sending the bill to the full House with a due-pass recommendation.
Representative Steve Tanner asked the committee to send House Bill 377 to the House with a due-pass recommendation after explaining the bill would align recall-petition signature requirements with district-based city council elections in large cities.
The measure would amend the recall statute so that, in cities required to elect council members by district, a recall petition must be signed by 20% of the registered electors in the council member's district rather than 20% of the citywide electorate. "If this statute doesn't get changed," Tanner said, "you would have to get 20% of the registered electors from the whole city at large, which would make it very difficult to recall somebody from a particular district."
Rick Hogewbaum, Canyon County clerk, testified in support and said the change is a technical cleanup left over after the 2020 law establishing district-based city elections. "This is just a true up because when that legislation was passed a few years ago, they did not clean this language up," Hogewbaum said, noting the existing language still refers to a citywide signature requirement. He said the discrepancy had been raised by constituents in Nampa when districts were established and that cleaning the language will align recall procedure to how those council members are elected.
The bill was presented as responding to the earlier statute that requires cities with a population above 100,000 to establish council districts; Representative Tanner and testifying county clerks said the change responds to situations in Boise, Meridian and Nampa where district-based elections already occur. Representative Alfieri moved to send House Bill 377 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the motion carried.
The committee record shows the request originated from county clerks in Ada and Canyon counties and that Mayor Debbie Kling of Nampa supports the clarification. The bill now proceeds to the House floor for further consideration.
