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Senate State Affairs advances slate of bills, backs several reappointments
Summary
The Senate State Affairs Committee advanced multiple bills to the Senate floor March 20, 2026, including election changes, utility oversight, and tobacco retail updates; the committee also recommended confirmation for several gubernatorial appointees. Most motions carried by voice vote.
The Senate State Affairs Committee met March 20 and sent a package of bills and gubernatorial reappointments to the Senate floor, mostly by voice vote.
Committee members recommended that several gubernatorial appointees be confirmed: motions to send the reappointments of Skip Smyser (Idaho Lottery Commission), Jerry Aldape (Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board) and Nikeela Black-Abrams (Idaho State Racing Commission) to the floor with recommendations for confirmation carried by voice vote. The committee also considered Bud Tracy’s reappointment to the State Building Authority; Tracy described his service as a way to help save the state money.
On legislation, the committee approved procedural requests and a series of bills for floor consideration: H 795 (obscene material and lewd matter, described as code cleanup), H 893 (codifier’s corrections), H 817 (updates to tobacco retail law covering mobile cigar sales and adult-only cigar events), HCR 32 (a resolution supporting state energy sovereignty), S 1398 (restoring a state-run presidential primary and moving the date to the Tuesday after the first Monday in May), H 872 (allowing initiatives and constitutional amendments to be printed on the same ballot page as other items), S 1397 (bringing private wastewater corporations with 100 or more connections under Public Utilities Commission oversight), and H 831 (limits on certain in-person school instruction during polling times). Motions to send each of these items to the floor with do pass recommendations carried by voice vote.
Committee members and witnesses provided brief testimony on several measures. Phil McGrane, Idaho’s Secretary of State, told the committee there was “strong demand from voters to restore Presidential primaries” and said combining presidential and state primaries would increase turnout and simplify administration. Testimony also included proponents and opponents on ballot formatting: Dr. Jean Henscheid of the Idaho League of Women Voters opposed H 872 on the grounds that separate ballot pages help voters treat citizen initiatives as a distinct responsibility, while Kootenai County Clerk Jennifer Locke and Secretary McGrane supported the change for cost and administrative reasons.
The committee adjourned at 9:32 a.m.
Votes and formal motions recorded in the committee minutes were voice votes; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the minutes.
