An Idaho legislative task force aimed at improving government efficiency and cutting costs on Wednesday moved forward proposals to eliminate or merge six state entities with an estimated savings of just over $300,000 a year.
Some of the proposals considered at Wednesday’s meeting at the Capitol in Boise either had no estimated savings or staff had not yet been able to analyze how much could be saved.
The Idaho DOGE Task Force, named for the federal Department of Government Efficiency previously helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, held four additional proposed mergers or eliminations for further consideration.
The ideas lawmakers advanced were:
- Eliminate the Bingo-Raffle Advisory Board and place its duties under the Lottery Commission.
- Merge the Soil and Water Commission with the Department of Water Resources
- Move the STEM Action Center into the Workforce Development Council
- Eliminate the regional committees for the state Infant and Toddler Program Early Intervention Services
- Eliminate the Idaho Honey Commission
- Integrate the animal health duties of the Sheep and Goat Board into the Department of Agriculture
The task force cannot pass legislation but will bring forward recommendations to the rest of the Legislature when it convenes for the 2026 session, which begins Jan. 12.
Most of the decisions were unanimously approved by task force members, except for the vote to propose elimination of the Idaho Honey Commission. Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, D-Boise, and Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, voted no, with Semmelroth noting that the department staff did not consult the Honey Commission before making the recommendation.
Task Force co-chair Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, said he would vote to move forward the recommendation for consideration, but he thought it was “important that (the Honey Commission) weigh in, and have an opportunity to weigh in, which they will on legislation.”
The task force held for further review the following proposals:
- Consolidate the Lottery Commission and State Liquor Division
- Merge the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources and Office of Species Conservation
- Eliminate community college Dormitory Housing Commissions
- Integrate the State Brand Board into the Department of Agriculture
Proposals had varied results for saving state money
Agency heads brought the proposals to the committee in response to an executive order by Gov. Brad Little issued in August. Some agency staff began looking into the merger or elimination proposals earlier, including Workforce Development Council Executive Director Wendi Secrist.
Secrist in August 2024 also became director of the STEM Action Center, which is meant to facilitate educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.
She began evaluating the merger last summer, and her proposal indicated that the state general fund would see savings of around $300,000 a year by eliminating two staff positions.
Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, questioned how the effectiveness of STEM Action Center activities are measured and its $6 million a year total cost.
“How can you guys as Workforce Development Council actually bring evaluational processes to this, to actually make these where they’re actually worthwhile for the state?” Tanner asked Secrist.
Lakey echoed Tanner’s questions.
Secrist said staff is in the process of creating new ways to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs that are less focused on outputs, such as how many events were attended or how many students attended them.
The other proposal with a cost-savings estimate came from Cally Younger, administrator of the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Younger said the idea to merge the energy office with the species conservation office existed from the time when she worked for former Gov. Butch Otter.
In doing so, she estimated about four full-time positions could be eliminated with a savings of about $360,000 a year.
“It makes a lot of sense, because our offices serve very similar functions,” Younger said. “We both serve as liaisons to the federal government on our offices’ issues.”
Scott asked why the species conservation office wouldn’t move to Idaho Fish and Game, and Tanner suggested eliminating the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources and instead having Younger work on those issues as a staff member in the governor’s office.
Younger responded with concerns to both of those ideas, including that the Fish and Game’s mission was very different in dealing with hunting and fishing regulation rather than protecting endangered species, and that eliminating her office would not result in much savings because it is federally funded.
Scott made a motion to hold the proposal in committee to consider other avenues. Tanner agreed with the motion, and said he still saw benefits of eliminating the Energy and Mineral Resources office.
The proposal to integrate the animal health duties of the Sheep and Goat Board into the Department of Agriculture was a “revenue wash,” according to Lloyd Knight, deputy director of the Idaho State Agriculture Department.
Other proposals mentioned Wednesday did not include cost-saving estimates.
Task force will continue looking into other proposals
The task force plans to continue looking into many of the proposals, including the ones that did not move forward.
Some of those proposals come with complications. For instance, the merger of the lottery and liquor entities may require constitutional changes, according to Andrew Arulanandam, state director of lottery and liquor. He said while the two programs share a director, they “serve fundamentally different missions.”
The Dormitory Housing Commissions are a largely obsolete method by which Idaho community colleges may finance on-campus housing and student facilities. However, North Idaho College has a $7.2 million bond for a recreation center owned by its Dormitory Housing Commission, said Jennifer White, executive director of the Idaho State Board of Education. The bond will be active until 2046, she said.
Co-chair Rep. Jeff Ehlers, R-Meridian, said he hopes to plan one more meeting in December. He told the Sun the members would continue to look at agency staffing and other proposals, as well as other ideas from task force members.
He said other issues will have to be addressed in future legislative sessions, and on Wednesday said the task force’s work is a “multi-year project.”
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.