As a result of the lockdown trauma experienced during covid shutdowns, the Idaho legislature has...
Election Finance Transparency
Update: bill H 308 has been replaced with bill H 399 and bill H 309 has been replaced with bill H 398
H 399 Campaign Finance, is the same with this addition:
This legislation also requires the Secretary of State’s office to create a digital Ad Library that is available to the public through its campaign finance disclosure application. The Ad Library will require one-time funding of $144,600 for the software build, with ongoing annual costs of $25,200 for storage and bandwidth from the General Fund.
H 398 Lobbyists, is the same with these changes:
It treats "indirect lobbying" as a separate, defined category that is then included within the broader definition of "lobbying." It decreases the frequency of reporting during legislative sessions from weekly to monthly. It requires 48-hour expenditure reporting of $100 or more instead of $1000 or more. Finally, it includes entertainment expenditures as exempt from the 48-hr reporting.
Four New Campaign Bills
Do you realize how much out of state money comes in each year to sway Idaho voters? It's a real problem, the monetization of politics. The majority of negative attack ads last Idaho election came from out of state dark money! We need to know where the money comes from! Here is a vid showing some bills that are being proposed that would provide more transparency and clarification of who is sending that money to Idaho, what it is coming from, and what it is being spent on. I really think this is needed, an example is YAL this past election. Knowing who they are, how much they spent, and who they went after is very informative! It is amazing how much money is spent against certain candidates, again from out of state!
In the 2024 Idaho Republican primary, many were shocked by the defeat of Senate leader Chuck Winder and the attacks on House Speaker Mike Moyle, with both facing heavy opposition from the out-of-state dark-money group Make Liberty Win PAC (MLW). MLW spent significant amounts to target them. The group has also supported smear campaigns against other politicians, using paid college students to distribute negative materials.
Moyle, in response has proposed several bills aimed at countering dark-money influence, including measures to investigate false claims, regulate electioneering, and increase lobbyist transparency. One bill, House Bill 306, would make it a felony to spread malicious lies about public officials, addressing the kind of tactics used by MLW. However, this bill has raised concerns over potential First Amendment issues and harsh penalties.
Some legislators who benefited from MLW’s tactics, have opposed Moyle's reforms, accusing him of overreach. Despite these challenges, the bills aim to safeguard the integrity of elections and prevent political manipulation through false information.
H 306 Criminal Libel
In the age of the internet and social media, malicious lies are increasingly capable of destroying the life and
reputation of innocent people. To help prevent this problem from growing further, this legislation creates a
felony crime of criminal libel. This would apply when a person publishes false statements about another person,
knowing that the statements are false, or with reckless disregard as to whether they are true or false. https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/H0306.pdf
reputation of innocent people. To help prevent this problem from growing further, this legislation creates a
felony crime of criminal libel. This would apply when a person publishes false statements about another person,
knowing that the statements are false, or with reckless disregard as to whether they are true or false. https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/H0306.pdf
H 307 Elections, Campaigns False Claims
It is increasingly common to see attack ads in Idaho political campaigns with claims that are clearly false. This
legislation would allow a candidate about whom false claims have been published to submit the material to the
Secretary of State. If the Secretary of State finds the claims to be verifiably false, the party making the claims
may respond to the Secretary of State, after which they will publish the findings on his office’s website.
legislation would allow a candidate about whom false claims have been published to submit the material to the
Secretary of State. If the Secretary of State finds the claims to be verifiably false, the party making the claims
may respond to the Secretary of State, after which they will publish the findings on his office’s website.
H 308 Campaign Finance
Idaho's campaign finance laws, known as the sunshine laws, were first enacted in 1974 to enhance transparency in political campaigns and lobbying. Recent legislation reorganizes and updates these laws to improve transparency, simplify reporting, and strengthen enforcement. It moves provisions from Title 67 to Title 74, dividing the laws into five parts and separating campaign finance from lobbying requirements. The changes include more frequent reporting, adjusted campaign finance limits, and a revamped fine structure to improve enforcement.
H 309 Lobbyists Registration
This legislation updates campaign finance laws by separating lobbying reporting from campaign finance reporting and increases the frequency of reporting by registered lobbyists during and outside legislative sessions. In addition, this legislation updates the definition of lobbying to indicate clearly that both direct and indirect efforts to influence policymaking are considered lobbying.
This Youtube video with Phil McGrane, Brent Crane, Kelly Anton, and Mike Moyle gives an introduction to these bills.
Phil McGrane's Secretary of State website has a lot of really useful information on this. You can find it at: https://voteidaho.gov/. If you go to this tab: https://voteidaho.gov/data-and-dashboards/campaign-finance/ It let's you search campaign finance for both legislative and city races. It is really user friendly and easy to search by candidate or donor. Another intereting tab is https://voteidaho.gov/data-and-dashboards/spending-and-expenditures/ This is where you can see the color-coded charts indicating money spent for and against candidates.
