Idaho

Idahoans could receive state voter guides under new bill – Idaho Capital Sun

Published

2 years ago

February 17, 2024

Idahoans could receive state voter guides under new bill – Idaho Capital Sun

Idahoans could receive a state-issued voter guide for primary and general elections under a new bill headed to the Idaho Senate.

Senate Bill 1273, brought by Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, would require the Idaho secretary of state to prepare and distribute voter guides before primary and general elections. The bill would expand upon and replace a voters pamphlet already mailed to Idahoans.

Many Western states, where many new Idaho residents are often moving from, have state-issued voter guides, McGrane said.

An Idaho guide, he said, would provide crucial information to voters in need. Voters headed to the polls often know their vote for president, McGrane said. But not necessarily for races further down the ballot, he said.

“A common thing I hear from voters is they’ll request an absentee ballot not because they want to vote absentee, but they just want to get the ballot in advance so they can go do their research,” McGrane said.

Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane at the State Capitol building on January 8, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)

The Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee voted unanimously Friday to advance the bill to the full Senate. To become law, the bill would also need to clear the full Idaho House and be reviewed by Gov. Brad Little. A similar bill McGrane sought last year passed the Idaho Senate, but did not advance in the House.

Under the bill, Idaho’s new voter guide would have “uniform information about issues, measures, and candidates to be voted on.” Candidates could also submit a photo, a statement and campaign contact information.

McGrane, answering questions, said the state does not intend to censor or change information. But he said the state would need to create policy for the guide, referencing requirements in other states for proof of endorsements or quotations.

Sen. Treg Bernt- R-Meridian, said the bill would provide consistent election information across the state. Bernt also said honest people shouldn’t worry.

“Those who are against it are those who are biased, and those who provide misinformation to voters. If you’re honest, and if you provide honest information about candidates, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about,” Bernt said.

Seventy-eight percent of Idahoans favor a state-issued voter guide, according to Boise State University’s Idaho Public Policy Survey released last month.

The bill, if approved, wouldn’t create an Idaho voters guide for this year’s primary election, scheduled for May, McGrane said. He said the first guide would be issued starting next fall.

A 2024 general election voter guide wouldn’t cost the state extra, the bill’s fiscal note estimates. The fiscal note says the guide’s distribution to 800,000 Idaho households would be funded through a $350,000 annual budget request. The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office requests funds every other year for its voter pamphlet, which the voter guide would replace and expand upon. The voter guide would only be produced every other year, agency spokesperson Chelsea Carattini told the Idaho Capital Sun.

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State-issued voter guide could have more info than other guides

Idaho has historically relied on third parties such as newspapers and the League of Women Voters for voter guides, McGrane said, but some private guides can struggle to get information from candidates. He also held up a copy of the “infamous” newspaper-like publication called The Idahoan, funded by partisan interest in 2018.

“It was portrayed as a state publication, but the editorials and descriptions of some of the officers in the Legislature were not kind. And so this is an example of where it’s being pitched to voters as neutral, when really it’s clearly not,” McGrane said.

States with different political leanings have statewide voter guides, former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson wrote in a letter to the committee. Grayson, who was also president of the National Associations of Secretaries of State, said statewide voter guides have “proven especially effective in rural Western regions” with less news coverage or active civic groups.

“Today’s fractured media landscape and polarized politics make it difficult for voters to find reliable information about elections,” Grayson wrote. “By offering the basic facts about the candidates running for office, a voter guide provides a base level of knowledge without partisan spin. For many, it’s one of the few unbiased resources available ahead of election time.”

A state-distributed Idaho voter guide would likely have a higher rate of candidates participating than the 65% participating in the League of Women Voters of Idaho guides, Kendal Shaber, who represented the organization, told the committee.

“And, if we’re lucky, increase voter turnout,” she said.

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Idaho

Water Outlook does not look promising in SW Idaho, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

Published

26 minutes ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Water Outlook does not look promising in SW Idaho, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

BOISE, Idaho — It has been a dismal year for snow, but we’ve actually received more precipitation than normal in the Boise and Payette River basins. The difference has been the temperature, and we are trying to learn what the change in climate means for water users— both commercial and recreational.

“If you think about the lack of snow we have gotten in the Treasure Valley, it is unusual,” said hydrologist Troy Lindquist with the National Weather Service.

Click here to see the conditions and hear from the National Weather Service.

Water Outlook does not look promising, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

The mountains of western and central Idaho received some snow this week, and that bumped up the snow water equivalent to 83 percent of average in the Boise Basin, 81 percent in the Payette River Basin, and 69 percent in the Weiser River Basin.

The lack of snow is obvious at lower elevations, but we have also received 4.88 inches of rain at the Boise Airport since the beginning of October, a full inch above the average. I wanted to talk with Troy Linquist to learn more about this strange winter and what it means for the future.

“If we don’t have that mid and low elevation snowpack, that’s just overall going to decrease the spring run-off,” said Lindquist. “Instead of it holding as snow and holding in the mountains, that rain has increased the reservoir system.”

I’ve been out kayaking as the South Fork of the Payette River is flowing at normal summer levels and has been for several weeks.

Most of Idaho’s rivers are flowing higher than normal, including Mores Creek, which dumps into Lucky Peak Reservoir.

It’s good news, but not as good as if the precipitation was sticking around in the mountains in the form of a deep snowpack.

Mores Creek just above Lucky Peak Reservoir

“If we just don’t get the snow that is going to impact the water supply, it’s going to impact vegetation, spring flows, the health of the ecosystem, and stuff like that,” added Lindquist.

The team at the National Weather Service will continue to monitor the situation daily and Troy Lindquist told me the outlook for the next ten days doesn’t look good. However, the wet winter months are a marathon, not a sprint— with several months left to improve the outlook. That said, it could also get worse.

The reservoirs have added water from the rivers and streams

“We got the second half of January, February, and March where we can accumulate snowpack,” explained Lindquist. “We do have time to see that snowpack recover, and that’s what we are hoping for.”

The Boise system has pretty good carryover from last year between Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock, and Lucky Peak. The system is 58 percent full, and the Payette system is 71 percent full.

Snow water equivalent after this week's snow

Some of Idaho’s river basins are actually doing pretty well right now, but southern Idaho is doing the worst, as the Owyhee River Basin is sitting at 20 percent of its average snowpack.

ALSO READ | Lemons into lemonade: Kayakers get a unique, winter opportunity while snow conditions worsen

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Idaho

Idaho faces “snow drought” despite high precipitation levels

Published

13 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Idaho faces “snow drought” despite high precipitation levels

Water managers in Idaho are expressing concern over an unusual weather pattern causing a “snow drought” across much of the state, despite a wet start to Water Year 2026. While fifteen of Idaho’s twenty-six river basins are experiencing “pluvial” conditions with exceptionally high precipitation, twelve of these basins are facing snow drought. This phenomenon occurs when winter precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, a situation exacerbated by the warmest winter on record, surpassing the previous record set in 1934.

The Spokane basin exemplifies this issue, with moderately pluvial precipitation conditions but exceptional drought snowpack conditions. Snow has only accumulated significantly at high elevations, leaving areas like the Big Lost River basin’s valley floor, downstream from Mackay, without snow cover.

Despite these challenges, some basins, including the Big Wood, Little Wood, Big Lost, and Little Lost, are seeing snowpack levels almost a month ahead of schedule. The Upper Snake River basin is also wetter than normal, which is crucial for recovering from drought due to below-normal reservoir carryover at the start of the water year.

Northern Idaho requires significant snowpack accumulation to recover from drought conditions, while western Idaho risks drought without more snow. Eastern Idaho is faring better, except for the southern side of the Snake River basin, which needs substantial snowpack for drought recovery.

An active weather pattern is forecasted for the next week, but drier than normal conditions are expected to begin this weekend and last for at least a week. Water managers will be closely monitoring temperatures to see if they drop enough to convert precipitation into the much-needed snowpack.

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Idaho

PUC takes comments on Idaho Power fire mitigation plan | Capital Press

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

PUC takes comments on Idaho Power fire mitigation plan

Published 2:20 pm Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Idaho law requires utilities file annual plan

State regulators will take written comments through Feb. 12 on Idaho Power’s wildfire mitigation plan, a document that the company has submitted in each of the last five years and is now required under 2025 legislation.

The current edition of the plan includes information on the use of software to identify wildfire risk, on efforts to enhance the Boise-based utility’s wildfire situational awareness, and on how design methods for new transmission lines and upgrades of existing lines will reduce wildfire ignition potential in heightened risk areas, according to an Idaho Public Utilities Commission news release.

The Western U.S. has experienced an increase in the frequency and intensity of wildland fires due to factors including changing climatic conditions, increased human encroachment in wildland areas, historical land management practices and changes in wildland and forest health, according to the application Idaho Power filed with the PUC.

“While Idaho has not experienced fires to the same magnitude as some other Western states, Idaho’s wildfire season has grown longer and more intense,” according to the application. “Warmer temperatures, reduced snowpack and earlier snowmelt contribute to drier conditions, extending the period of heightened fire risk.”

Wildfire law

A 2024 peak wildfire season that started earlier than usual, ended late, was busy throughout and caused substantial damage was a factor in the 2025 Idaho Legislature passing Senate Bill 1183, the Wildfire Standard of Care Act.

The law aims to protect utilities’ customers and member owners by empowering the PUC to set expectations and hold the utilities and strong standards, and outline liabilities for utilities that fail to meet the requirements, according to the bill’s purpose statement.

Wildfires in recent years have “bankrupted utilities and driven their customers’ monthly bills to crippling levels. In part this is due to courts holding utilities liable for wildfire damages despite no finding of fault or causation,” according to the purpose statement.

As for liability, in a civil action where wildfire-related damages are sought from the utility, “there is a rebuttable presumption that the electric corporation acted without negligence if, with respect to the cause of the wildfire, the electric corporation reasonably implemented a commission-approved mitigation plan,” the bill text reads.

Each electric utility’s mitigation plan identifies areas where the utility has infrastructure or equipment that it says may be subject to heightened risk of wildfire, states actions the utility will take to reduce fire risk, and details how public outreach will be done before, during and after the season, according to the PUC release.

Idaho Power’s new mitigation plan includes an updated risk zone map, and qualitative risk adjustments by area to account for unique factors that may raise or lower risk because of changes that have occurred over time, such as to vegetation composition due to fire impacts, according to the application.

Comments on the case, IPC-E-25-32, can be submitted online or at secretary@puc.idaho.gov.

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