Idaho legislators address ‘monetization of politics' in new campaign finance bills
Idaho House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, answers a reporter's question during a press conference on Jan. 6, 2025, at the Statehouse in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
Republican House leadership introduced four bills on Friday to address the influx of out-of-state spending involved in Idaho elections.
A total of $17 million was spent on campaign and independent expenditures on 2024 legislative races. More than $9.3 million of that money was spent on materials to oppose or support candidates, according to VoteIdaho.gov, an official website managed by the Idaho Secretary of State.
'We've never seen that before, so it's our intention to do a little bit better job of identifying who's sending that money in here, where that money's coming from and what it's getting spent on,' House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, said about the legislation. 'The voters deserve to know that.'
Moyle, alongside House State Affairs Committee Chairman Brent Crane, R-Nampa, introduced four bills to the committee, including:
House Bill 306, which would establish 'criminal libel,' is a bill to make it a felony for someone to publish false statements about another person, establishing a maximum $100,000 fine, imprisonment for at most five years, or both.
House Bill 307 is a bill to allow the Idaho Secretary of State Office to investigate false claims against a candidate and publish its findings on its website.
House Bill 308 is a bill to require electioneering communications costing more than $1,000 to be reported within 24 hours closer to primary and general elections, and require political committees to upload materials they make about a candidate or campaign to the Idaho Secretary of website.
House Bill 309 is a bill which would require lobbyists to disclose expenses on a weekly basis during the legislative session and a monthly basis outside of session.
The legislation has support from Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, who said in a press conference before the committee meeting began that Idahoans have a right to know who is trying to influence their opinions during elections and who is trying to influence lawmakers.
'You can see it playing out in this session where there's a lot of pressure,' McGrane said. 'If you go to the speaker of the pro tem's office, they've got stacks of postcards from some of these organizations putting pressure on the process, and so adding transparency and disclosure is a key part of this effort.'
Crane said the legislation addresses what he considers 'monetization of politics,' or wealthy groups outside of Idaho getting involved in the state's politics.
Out-of-state campaign spending responsible for many of Idaho's negative campaign ads
'I'm extremely concerned,' Crane told the committee. 'In fact, I'm angry about the out-of-state money that is being spent to influence the outcome of elections in Idaho. If I had a magic wand and I could do what I wanted to do, it would be only Idaho dollars spent on Idaho elections.'
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruled campaign contributions are protected free speech, thus allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited money on political campaigns. The legislation introduced on Friday is meant to enhance campaign finance transparency, Crane said.
'We just want to let you know that we take it seriously when out of state money is being spent, especially dark money out of state,' Crane said.
During the 2024 primary election, the political committee that spent the most to oppose Idaho legislative candidates was the Make Liberty Win PAC, based in Virginia. The committee spent $716,000 to support and oppose Idaho candidates in 2024. Moyle was one of the candidates the PAC attacked the most, with $112,000 spent against him during the primary, IdahoEd News reported. The political committee sent mailers across his district falsely labeling him as 'anti-gun,' KTVB reported.
The committee voted to advance the bills for a full hearing at a later date. Crane said he would give the legislation a few weeks to circulate among legislators until then.
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