Idaho Legislature Adjourns Sine Die

The 2026 legislative session adjourned sine die April 2 after lawmakers passed ethics in procurement and campaign finance bills. Effective July 1, House Bill 889 establishes a vendor debarment process for certain infractions, preventing a bidder from bidding on state projects or services for up to three years. The bill includes a revolving door provision restricting former officials and individuals from working with vendors for one year after leaving public office. Vendors, employees of vendors, or any person working on their behalf must report financial expenditures over $50 related to procurement. House Bill 930 requires all political candidates and political committees to open a separate checking account for the purpose of collecting contributions and paying expenses. Campaign funds must not be commingled with any other account. House Bill 930 was delivered to the governor on April 2, and if signed will be effective July 1.

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The Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices is initiating a lobbying compliance audit program. The program will be focused on reviewing principal lobbying financial reports (Form L-5 filings) as a result of recommendations by the Montana Legislative Audit Division. Last year, the Legislature passed House Bill 2, which funds a compliance auditor position tasked with implementing the compliance audit program. The purpose of the program is to evaluate the effectiveness and consistency of the lobbying reporting process and to assess overall compliance with the applicable statutory reporting requirements. As part of this program, a sample of principals will be selected through a random selection process for review of Form L-5 filings. Principals who are selected will receive a separate notification with additional information regarding the audit process.

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The 2026 legislative session adjourned sine die on March 12. The short session lasted 60 days focusing closely on various budget bills, including a state income tax bill which would impose a state income tax of 9.9% on households earning more than $1 million annually. This millionaires’ tax legislation was debated on the House floor for over 24 hours and is expected to be signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson. On the final day of the legislative session lawmakers primarily turned their attention to approving other operating, transportation, and construction budget bills.

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The 2026 legislative budget session adjourned sine die on Wednesday, March 11. The session lasted 21 days with 114 bills being passed. Lawmakers adopted the 2027-2028 biennial budget, which includes total net appropriations of over $10 billion, with $3.46 billion in general state funds. Gov. Mark Gordon signed the budget bill on March 5. 

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The 2026 legislature adjourned sine die on March 6. Lawmakers passed a campaign finance reform bill to modify the timeline of certain campaign finance regulations passed during the previous 2024 legislative session. House Bill 4018 makes certain technical fixes to definitions within the previous 2024 bill. It also pushes back the implementation date for a contribution tracking system from 2028 to 2032. The contribution limits remain unchanged and are set to go into effect next year. State officials have recognized the law still needs extensive work and have also passed Senate Bill 1502, which directs the secretary of state to prefile proposed legislation next year setting forth recommendations for changes to the campaign finance limitation presently being implemented. Both bills have been sent to Gov. Tina Kotek. If signed, House Bill 4018 is effective immediately and Senate Bill 1502 becomes effective June 5.

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Gov. Mark Gordon recently signed an executive order banning campaign contributions in state buildings used for activities of the Executive Branch. The ban applies to state facilities and commercial buildings operating under state leases. It does not apply to areas controlled by the Legislature, including the Legislative Services Office, committee rooms, and the Senate and House floor. The order applies to contributions and donations made in person by “cash, check, or any other means.” Online campaign contributions and donations would also be banned when the solicitation, delivery, or acceptance of online contributions and donations originates within a facility owned or leased by the state. Executive Order 2026-01 is effective immediately.

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 Lawmakers have proposed an amendment to a campaign finance bill passed during the 2024 legislative session. House Bill 4018 establishes contribution limits along with various other oversight of campaign finance and is slated to become effective in future years. The newly proposed amended version of House Bill 4018 seeks to delay the upcoming rollout of certain portions of the bill, including a modernized online system until 2031 or 2032. Some legislators suggest that delaying parts of the bill going forward would lower the costs for the Office of Secretary of State. The new contributions limits would currently be left intact and would still become effective January of 2027.

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Seattle City Council recently passed an ordinance which requires political consultants to register with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission within 15 days of providing political consulting services. Political consultants will also be required to disclose information including which local candidates, campaigns, and city ballot measures they work with and when that work began. Initially the bill was intended to prohibit political consultants from simultaneously holding city contracts while doing outside campaign work and also provided for a one-year cooling-off period before consultants could return to work for the city after campaign activities. However, those prohibitions were removed, and the bill instead focuses on consultant registration and reporting. Council Bill 121130 will become effective 30 days after the mayor’s approval.

The Office of City Clerk recently announced a new and improved lobbyist registration and weekly reporting system, beginning in February 2026. The upgraded platform is intended to streamline the filling process and provide an overall enhanced user experience. Training resources will be provided on the city’s webpage and a training session will be recorded and made available for remote viewing. As part of the system rollout, the lobbyist registration deadline will be extended to February 28, 2026. Until further notice, the current system remains operational.

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During 2025, lawmakers passed legislation on various topics such as reducing energy costs and pollution, addressing a $12 billion budget deficit, and the national redistricting debate. Legislation involving campaign finance included Assembly Bill 953, expanding prohibitions on foreign governments and principals from making contributions in elections to include foreign nationals. Legislators also passed Senate Bill 852, which expands the prohibition on the receipt, delivery, or attempted delivery of a contribution in certain forums to now apply to local government office buildings and offices for which the state or a local government pays rent, while eliminating the exception for legislative district offices. The 2025-2026 session will end recess and begin in the new year on January 5, 2026.

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The special session adjourned sine die on November 19. The session lasted seven days and lawmakers officially passed Gov. Joe Lombardo’s crime bill while adopting an additional amendment and making technical changes to the bill. However, the film tax credit bill failed when it was unable to garner enough votes to pass in the Senate. Other pieces of legislation up for debate during the special session were an appropriations bill and a proposal to create a grant program which would limit healthcare provider shortages. Those bills were both passed and will head to the governor’s desk.

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Gov. Joe Lombardo has called for a special session. The session will address items the legislature had left unfinished during their general session, along with a film tax credit bill and additional protections, certain public safety measures, and traffic safety cybersecurity issues. The special session will take place on November 13 and does affect lobbying reporting. If a person will be lobbying during the special session, registration will be required with the first lobbying report being due on December 10.

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The city of San Jose has increased lobbyist fees pertaining to annual registration, prorated registration, client fees, and late registration. The lobbyist annual registration renewal will increase from $219.36 to $330.99 per registration, with the prorated registration fee becoming $165.50 per half-year or less. The late registration fee is now $25 per business day and up to a maximum of 100% of the unpaid fee. Client fees will increase from $71.62 to $150.42 per client. These lobbyist fee increases will be effective through the fiscal year 2025-2026.

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Voters approved Proposition 50 yesterday, with 64% voting yes in favor of the measure and 36% voting against it. Prop 50 will create new congressional district boundaries and now gives Democrats a shot at winning as many as five additional seats. The proposition suspends House maps drawn by an independent commission and instead will replace them with districts adopted by the democratic-controlled legislature. These new districts will be in place for the upcoming 2026 election.

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