Top Idaho Republicans want government agencies to trim as many pages as they can from state code books.
In physical form, Idaho’s statutes fill out 27 volumes – enough to fill out a couple of dedicated bookshelves.
House Speaker Mike Moyle (R-Star) said there are plenty of laws pertaining to each state agency that are “obsolete,” “outdated” or “unnecessary.”
Under Moyle’s bill introduced Wednesday morning, state agencies would have until Sept. 1 to identify these statues they no longer view as necessary.
Moyle compared it to incoming President Donald Trump's promise to create the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, saying Idaho has been at it for years. Gov. Brad Little and state lawmakers have significantly cut or rewritten Idaho’s administrative rules since 2019.
“This bill takes the next step,” Moyle said. “It gives [agencies] the ability to help us to find out what we don’t need so we can clean up those statutes.”
The nonpartisan Legislative Services Office would then compile those reports and prepare them for lawmakers to consider during the 2026 legislative session.
Moyle pushed back during Wednesday’s introductory hearing that the September deadline is too aggressive.
“If you give [agencies] too much time, like we all do, we procrastinate. I want to get this done soon and I think this will help push them to get this done sooner.”
Hiring new employees to complete these reports, he said, is also unnecessary.
“It won’t take extra help and I guarantee that you can go in some of these agencies right now and talk to them and they can tell you where the bodies are buried.”
Over the last several years, state lawmakers have been significantly cutting and rewriting Idaho’s administrative rules and regulations.
A House committee unanimously introduced Moyle’s bill Wednesday.
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