Amends existing law to provide for the Legislative Services Office to conduct revenue analysis.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 948 BY WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO THE LEGISLATIVE SERVICES OFFICE; AMENDING SECTION 67-703, IDAHO2 CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE LEGISLATIVE SERVICES OFFICE TO CONDUCT REVENUE3 ANALYSIS; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.4

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:5

SECTION 1. That Section 67-703, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby6 amended to read as follows:7 67-703. BUDGET AND POLICY ANALYSIS -- FUNCTION OF LEGISLATIVE SER-8 VICES OFFICE. The legislative services office at the direction of the9 legislative council has authority to:10 (1) Provide the legislature with research and analysis of current and11 projected state revenue, state expenditure and state tax expenditures;12 (2) Provide the legislature with a report analyzing the governor's pro-13 posed levels of revenue and expenditures for budgets and supplemental budget14 requests submitted to the legislature;15 (3) Provide an analysis of the impact of the governor's proposed rev-16 enue and expenditure plans for the next fiscal year;17 (4) Review and evaluate requests for appropriations, including pro-18 posed plans and policies related to such requests, and make recommendations19 to the joint finance-appropriations committee and the legislature in rela-20 tion thereto;21 (5) Prepare draft legislation, statements of purpose and fiscal notes22 that individually or collectively represent motions affirmatively voted23 upon by the senate finance and house of representatives appropriations com-24 mittees to provide each state agency with an annual budget;25 (6) Have access, with or without prior notice, during regular operating26 hours to any records or other documents maintained by any state agency relat-27 ing to their expenditures, revenues, operations and structure;28 (7) Conduct research on matters of economic and fiscal policy and re-29 port to the legislature on the result of the research;30 (8) Provide economic reports and studies on the state of the state's31 economy, including trends and forecasts for consideration by the legisla-32 ture;33 (9) Conduct budget and tax studies and provide general fiscal and bud-34 getary information;35 (10) Review and make recommendations on the operation of state programs36 in order to appraise the implementation of state laws regarding the expendi-37 ture of funds and to recommend means of improving their efficiency;38 (11) Recommend to the legislature changes in the mix of revenue sources39 for programs, in the percentage of state expenditures devoted to major pro-40 grams, and in the role of the legislature in overseeing state government ex-41 penditures and revenue projections;42

2 (12) Make a continuing study and investigation of the building needs1 of the government of the state of Idaho, including, but not limited to,2 the following: the current and future requirements of new buildings, the3 maintenance of existing buildings, rehabilitating and remodeling of old4 buildings, the planning of administrative offices, and exploring the meth-5 ods of financing buildings and related costs;6 (13) Conduct studies of state and local finances, analyzing and making7 recommendations to the legislature on issues including levels of state sup-8 port for political subdivisions, basic levels of local need, balances of lo-9 cal revenues and options, relationship of local taxes to individuals' abili-10 ties to pay and financial reporting by political subdivisions; and11 (14) Develop and make available to the legislature and its standing or12 special legislative committees such fiscal information as will assist the13 legislature or any legislative committee in its deliberations.; and14 (15) Make annual revenue estimates, with revisions as necessary, for15 use in the annual state budget development and appropriation processes. The16 legislative services office may seek input from political subdivisions,17 governmental agencies, associations or organizations, and any interested18 individuals during revenue estimate development.19

SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby20 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after21 July 1, 2026.22