States findings of the Legislature and rejects the rate of legislative compensation set by the Citizens' Committee on Legislative Compensation.
Summary
SCR101 is a Senate Concurrent Resolution that rejects the legislative compensation rates set by Idaho’s Citizens' Committee on Legislative Compensation for the two-year period beginning December 1, 2024. The resolution states that the Legislature has constitutional authority to reject or reduce those rates and explains that, given rising costs for Idaho residents, lawmakers should prioritize fiscal restraint over increasing legislator pay.
If adopted, the resolution would keep legislative compensation and expense rates at the levels that were in effect during the Sixty-seventh Idaho Legislature rather than allowing the new committee-approved rates to take effect. It also provides that compensation already paid between December 1, 2024, and the resolution’s effective date is lawful and does not need to be repaid. The measure does not create a new compensation system; it simply preserves the prior one for the current term.
Impact
The resolution affects Idaho’s constitutional and statutory framework governing legislative pay by exercising the Legislature’s power under Article III, Section 23 to reject compensation rates set by the Citizens' Committee on Legislative Compensation. It maintains the prior compensation and expense rates for legislators, preventing the committee-approved increase from taking effect for the 2025–2026 period, and it validates any payments already made under the rejected schedule.
Sentiment
The available text suggests broad institutional support for the resolution’s fiscal message, emphasizing restraint and responsiveness to Idahoans facing higher costs for necessities. Because there are no recorded committee transcripts or votes provided, there is no direct evidence of debate or division in the supplied materials. The resolution’s tone is generally conservative and cost-conscious, framing rejection of the higher pay rates as a matter of public accountability.
Contention
The main point of contention is legislative compensation itself: whether lawmakers should accept the Citizens' Committee’s recommended increase or reject it and keep pay at prior levels. Supporters of the resolution argue that rising costs for food, housing, and energy make it inappropriate to increase legislator compensation, while opponents would likely view the committee’s independent pay-setting role as intended to insulate compensation decisions from self-interest. No specific dissenting lawmakers or groups are identified in the provided materials.
A resolution to direct the Clerk of the House of Representatives to only present to the Governor enrolled House bills finally passed by both houses of the One Hundred Third Legislature.
Relating to nonsubstantive additions to, revisions of, and corrections in enacted codes, to the nonsubstantive codification or disposition of various laws omitted from enacted codes, and to conforming codifications enacted by the 88th Legislature to other Acts of that legislature.