2024 Idaho legislative session likely to extend through March 29

By Clark Corbin
Idaho Capital Sun

Due to legislative disagreements about Republican House leadership and fights over budgeting procedures and rules that played out behind the scenes during the first half of the session, legislators will likely miss their self-imposed deadline to wrap up the session by Friday, March 22. 

Instead, the session is likely to continue until Friday, March 29, legislative leaders told reporters during the Idaho Press Club’s annual legislative headliners breakfast on March 7. 

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee is scheduled to finish budget setting this week. Once that happens, it generally takes another two or three weeks to adjourn the session for the year sine die (a term legislators use to signal final adjournment), said Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise.

Legislative leaders set the March 22 targeted adjournment date in November, before the session began. The target was always nonbinding and, frankly, optimistic. There is no legal or constitutional requirement to adjourn a legislative session in Idaho by a certain date or deadline.

“I think with what occurred in the House, they would probably tell you they lost a week to 10 days,” Winder told reporters March 8. “So it’s probably going to be the 29th, which will be the final Friday in the month.”

“We still have a lot of work to do, a lot of bills … so it’s going to be a busy two or three weeks,” Winder added. 

“I hope that we are in the home stretch of the session, although it feels like we are probably more at second base,” said Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise.

“We are passing a lot of bills,” Wintrow added. “There are a lot of bills, probably a record number in our legislative session, which is a little startling to me. I’m not sure why we have so many.”

Following Idaho voters’ passage of Senate Joint Resolution 102 in November 2022, the Idaho Legislature also now has the authority to call itself back into session, without the approval of the governor.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.