Rating: +1
Bill Summary:
House Bill 364 establishes the Department of Government Efficiency Legislative Task Force (DOGE), a temporary legislative body charged with reviewing the structure, regulation, budgeting, and operational efficiency of Idaho’s state government. The task force consists of nine voting legislative members and up to two nonlegislative technical advisors, and it is divided into three subgroups: Regulatory Accountability, Budget Accountability, and Operations and Oversight.
The bill mandates semiannual meetings and requires the task force to submit findings and recommendations to the legislature. Specific goals include transitioning most executive regulations into statutory law by 2033, reducing unnecessary spending, consolidating agencies when appropriate, and modernizing operations with AI and emerging technologies. The task force is scheduled to sunset on November 30, 2029. An emergency clause allows the bill to take effect immediately.
Reason for Rating:
House Bill 364 exemplifies the Idaho Republican Party’s core values of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and legislative oversight. It creates a temporary structure to aggressively review and streamline state operations, shift regulatory power back to elected officials, and eliminate bureaucratic redundancy. By incorporating budget scrutiny and a sunset clause, the bill avoids expanding permanent government and encourages targeted, data-driven reform. For these reasons, H0364 is appropriately rated at +1.