Treg Bernt — The chair recognizes Senator Den Hartog to ask a question.
Treg Bernt — Senator Taves is referenced as having served on the committee and being unavailable to elaborate further because he had gone to watch his son's last basketball game.
Treg Bernt — Was identified as someone who might want to comment on the cost of regulation and local government revenue from permits and regulations.
C. Grow — Likely referenced as the majority leader, though the transcript is unclear.
C. Grow — The chair or speaker transitions to Senator Groh after the prior response.
C. Grow — Thanked the witness, noted skepticism of housing subsidies, and raised a question about market demand for affordable single-family homes.
C. Grow — The chair calls on Senator Grow to ask the next question.
C. Grow — Asks about how to define and measure housing shortage in Idaho compared with neighboring states.
C. Grow — The chair calls on Senator Roby, though the name appears garbled and may refer to another senator.
C. Grow — Referenced in connection with a prior question about ADUs by right; likely a transcription error or misidentification.
C. Grow — C. Grow raised questions and concerns in the exchange about higher-density housing, focusing on whether reduced parking in apartment or duplex developments would be adequate, and more broadly on density, road capacity, and parking impacts.
Doug Ricks — Doug Ricks is referenced as the pro tem, and the discussion then notes that the pro tem is being excused.
Doug Ricks — The chair was addressed twice during the same exchange as the speaker requested a follow-up and then one last question, after which the chair yielded the floor.
Doug Ricks — The speaker addresses the chair while transitioning to another question.
Doug Ricks — Doug Ricks is repeatedly addressed as Mr. Chairman/Mr. Chair during a continuous chair-led exchange. The discussion includes the chair prompting whether there are any further questions, and later acknowledgments to the chair, but no substantive topic change occurs across these mentions.
Ron Taylor — Senator Ron Taylor is assigned to cover section 57 of the first rule, then the assignment is expanded to cover sections 57 through 83 of the first rule.
Ron Taylor — Senator Roby is addressed as having been on the committee and asked for additional input.
Ron Taylor — Senator Taylor was recognized and then asked whether second-home ownership in Idaho can be measured and whether it meaningfully contributes to housing affordability and broader housing pressures in the state.
Ben Toews — Ben Toews is discussed as being assigned the second, shorter rule, with speakers noting that he has drawn the short end of the stick and will be tasked with it. Shortly afterward, it is also noted that Senator Toews is excused from the meeting.
Emily Hamilton — Emily Hamilton, a senior research fellow/economist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, introduces her testimony on housing supply constraints and affordability. She outlines that she will discuss examples of local policy changes, state-local cooperation, and building code reform, then cites cases such as Minneapolis, New Rochelle, Portland, and Tysons to show how different localities increased housing supply through policy changes. She compares major metro areas like Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Boston, noting that places more open to apartment construction have seen smaller increases in housing prices and rents. She then presents a natural experiment from northern New Jersey, focusing on Palisades Park, where longstanding duplex zoning and infill construction contributed to population growth and affected tax rates.
Emily Hamilton — Emily Hamilton of the Mercatus Center introduced herself and discussed a parking-capacity example involving a proposed apartment near a grade school, explaining that a low parking ratio of less than one car per dwelling could generate opposition even outside downtown Boise. She was then kept on the panel for additional questions about regulation costs and local government revenue from permits.
Alison Rabe — Mentioned as having attended a lunch presentation on housing affordability.
Alison Rabe — Not mentioned in this section.
Ms. Hamilton — Emily Hamilton responds that the main building code reforms are the ones already being experimented with and says model code organizations should do more rigorous analysis.
Ms. Hamilton — Said model code organizations should do more rigorous analysis of existing requirements and changes over time, similar to federal benefit-cost analysis.
Ms. Hamilton — Explained that Idaho localities cannot on their own expand the residential code to cover more units; state action would be required.
Ms. Hamilton — Explained that statewide ADU reforms generally do not cause major neighborhood-level change, but can increase housing supply statewide.
Ms. Hamilton — Used Houston as an example of a city with unusual land-use rules that allow smaller lot sizes and no use zoning.
Ms. Hamilton — The senator asks Ms. Hamilton for advice on overcoming neighborhood resistance to denser housing forms.
Ms. Hamilton — Explained that homeowners can use HOAs or voluntary covenants to preserve neighborhood character even without zoning.
Ms. Hamilton — Says Maddie will provide more estimates later and begins comparing housing prices to incomes.
Ms. Hamilton — Senator Den Hartog asks Ms. Hamilton about research on institutional investors owning housing.
Ms. Hamilton — Says she has not personally studied institutional investors but explains their reliance on scarcity caused by restrictive zoning.
Ms. Hamilton — Explains that ADUs usually have only gradual impacts on shared infrastructure, though permits can require lot-level improvements.
Ms. Hamilton — Ms. Hamilton explained that parking reform can significantly reduce multifamily housing costs, especially when paired with effective management of on-street parking. She described tools such as residential permit systems, allocation rules, and dynamic or hourly pricing to manage street parking demand so that reduced off-street parking requirements can work in residential areas. She also noted that permit fees should reflect the real public cost of servicing new housing rather than becoming an undue tax, and contrasted that with the broader cost burdens created by excessive building code requirements and long permit delays.
Lori Hartog — Referenced as having served on the Meridian city council and as its president, describing local concerns about ADUs by right.
Chris Cargill — Introduced as president and CEO of Mountain States Policy Center.
Chris Cargill — Begins remarks as president and CEO of Mountain States Policy Center.
Chris Cargill — Continued presenting polling results on housing affordability and compared them with a Change Research poll.
Chris Cargill — Presented survey results showing strong concern about housing availability and support for legislative action.
Chris Cargill — Continued discussing survey responses about city performance and policy support for housing affordability.
Chris Cargill — Explained that most housing policy ideas had strong support, except easing construction of smaller homes, which was about evenly split.
Chris Cargill — Introduced Madeline Clark and asked to yield his time to her.
Chris Cargill — His slides are referenced as the basis for the presentation sequence.
Chris Cargill — Referenced for mentioning the shot clock approach.
Emily — Emily is referenced as having contributed to the discussion of related policy ideas, including the sixfold income disparity being discussed.
Emily — Identified as the person with expertise on parking and asked to return to answer the question.
Madeline Clark — Identified as a research director at Mountain States Policy Center and author of the study on housing costs.
Maddie Clark / Madeline Clark — Introduced herself as a senior policy analyst at Mountain States Policy Center and began testimony on housing supply.
Maddie Clark — Maddie Clark explained that the housing problem is better understood as an attainability issue driven by limited supply rather than simply affordability. She described market trends, noting changes in listings and prices, and argued that housing should be evaluated by unit type and bedroom count, not just total units. She linked current shortages to household growth, long-term economic forces, and the lasting impact of the 2008 crash, including the loss of construction workers and reduced building capacity. She then transitioned to supply-side solutions, emphasizing the need to streamline permitting and regulation, reduce government-related costs, remove barriers to land availability, encourage infill and light-touch density, and consider public lands as part of the housing supply response.