Rating: –1

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Bill Summary:

House Bill 301 rewrites and significantly expands Idaho’s state procurement code, restructuring how agencies solicit, evaluate, and award contracts. It defines new procurement procedures such as Requests for Information (RFI), Requests for Proposals (RFP), and Requests for Quotes (RFQ), and sets thresholds and timelines for solicitations exceeding $250,000. The bill centralizes procurement authority under the administrator of the Division of Purchasing, granting broad discretion to approve, reject, or modify solicitations and contract awards.

The bill also allows emergency procurements under the governor’s direction with delayed reporting requirements, permits multi-year contract renewals with minimal notice, and expands exemptions from public records laws for certain vendor submissions. While it includes a prohibition against using ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria in contract evaluations and mandates ethics disclosures, it also authorizes the administrator to create exceptions by rule, weakening procedural safeguards.

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Reason for Rating:

H0301 expands the power of unelected bureaucrats, reduces transparency, and centralizes procurement control within a single executive agency—contradicting the Idaho Republican Party Platform’s core principles of limited government, decentralization, and accountability. It allows long-term contracts to be awarded or renewed with minimal competition, shields key procurement documents from public scrutiny, and weakens legislative oversight through delayed emergency procurement reporting.

Though the bill includes some favorable provisions, such as a ban on ESG-based contract scoring, these are outweighed by its expansion of bureaucratic discretion and erosion of transparent, accountable governance. For these reasons, House Bill 301 is appropriately rated at –1.