The Idaho Legislature consists of the upper

Idaho Senate The Idaho Senate is the upper chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 35 Senators elected to two-year terms, each representing a district of the state. The Senate meets at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho. Composition of t ...

and the

lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

Idaho House of Representatives The Idaho House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 70 representatives elected to two-year terms. The state is divided into 35 districts, each of which elects two representatives to separate se ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

is divided into 35 legislative districts, which each elect one senator and two representatives. There are no term limits for either chamber. The crossing of upper and lower house districts into a single constituency is found in only seven U.S. state legislatures: Idaho,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Based on 2010 census data, each legislative district in the state of Idaho had approximately 44,788 residents.

History

The first Idaho legislature convened in December 1890.

Elections and composition

Members of the Idaho Legislature were originally elected by county, but in recent times districts apportioned by population have replaced representation by county. Today members of the Idaho Legislature are elected from 35 districts throughout the state. Some districts include several counties, while others are located entirely within a single county.

Ada County Ada County is located in the southwestern part of Idaho, United States. As of the 2021 United States census estimate, the county had a population of 511,931, making it by far the state's most populous county; it is home to 26.8% of the state's p ...

, the state's largest by population, currently has nine legislative districts within its boundaries (as of the 2010 redistricting, Ada County has Legislative Districts 14, 15, 16 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.) All 105 members are elected simultaneously every two years on the same day as the federal

election day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...

in early November.

Districts

Each district is represented by one senator and two representatives. Idaho has fourteen committees in the House of Representatives and ten committees in the Senate. Currently, there are thirty-five members in the Senate with twenty-six men and nine women. The House of Representatives also currently holds seventy members with forty-six men and twenty-four women. Districts are reapportioned every 10 years. The next reapportionment is expected to occur after the 2020 census and take effect as of the 2022 election. In the 1980s voters elected legislators from two districts, a smaller local district and a larger "floterial" district which often encompassed an entire region of the state. Legislative seats in floterial districts were last contested in 1990. Today floterial districts are prohibited by the Idaho Constitution.

Responsibilities

According to the Legislature's website, the Idaho Legislature is responsible for translating the public will into policy for the state, levying taxes, appropriating public funds, and overseeing the administration of state agencies. These responsibilities are carried out through the legislative process - laws passed by elected representatives of the people, legislators.

2017 Idaho Legislature

Currently both houses of the Idaho Legislature are controlled by the Republican Party with large majorities. In the 2017 64th Legislature the Senate is composed of 6 Democrats and 29 Republicans. The House is composed of 11 Democrats and 59 Republicans. In terms of single party strength the Idaho Senate is tied with South Dakota for the third most Republican controlled senate in the nation behind Wyoming (27–3) and Utah (24–5). The Idaho House is tied with Utah as the second most Republican controlled lower house in the nation only trailing Wyoming (52–8).

Current Sessions

The 2020 legislative session will begin January 9. The 2019 legislative session started January 7 and was later adjourned after 95 days of being in session. Which is 15 more than the previous year in 2018. During the 2019 legislative session there were 353 bills enacted into laws, 522 bills introduced, and 761 legislations drafted. While the legislature is in between sessions legislators work from their home.https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2019/sinedie.pdf

Location and time of operation

House of Representatives Chamber, Idaho State Capitol

The Idaho Legislature normally convenes at the

Idaho State Capitol The Idaho State Capitol in Boise is the home of the government of the U.S. state of Idaho. Although Lewiston briefly served as Idaho's capital from the formation of Idaho Territory in 1863, the territorial legislature moved it to Boise on ...

in downtown

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...

. The Legislature meets annually from January until mid-March, although sessions have been known to last into May. The

Governor of Idaho A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

may also call special sessions at any time. The Idaho State Capitol CommissionIdaho State Capitol Commission
Accessed 3 August 2007. was created by Governor

Phil Batt Philip Eugene Batt (born March 4, 1927) is an American politician who served as the 29th governor of Idaho from 1995 to 1999. Batt had previously served as the 35th lieutenant governor of Idaho, Chair of the Idaho Republican Party, and as a memb ...

in 1998. The Commission undertook the leading role of extensively remodeling the capitol building starting in 2007. The 2008 and 2009 sessions of the Idaho Legislature met in converted courtrooms in the old

Courthouse. The capitol building was official re-opened and re-dedicated on January 9, 2010.

References

External links

* {{authority control Bicameral legislatures