The Chairman’s Drawer

Behaving Like Mini-lords, Committee Chairmen Stop Conservative Legislation Far Too Often

Idahoans frequently criticize Committee Chairmen in the Idaho legislature for their controlling behavior regarding what bills and resolutions they allow to be heard, those they delay, and especially, the legislation they “hold in the drawer.”

The Power of the Chair?

In the House of Representatives, Committee Chairmen are assigned by the Speaker of the House and in the Senate, the President Pro Tempore appoints each Chairman. Both chambers operate under Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure, and their own chamber’s rules which include rules about the duties of a Committee Chairman.

If you have the patience to read through these Rules, you’ll notice they are rather vague. Well, because they are so vague, Chairmen often operate according to precedent and traditions to exert power over legislation assigned to their Committees. These powers, however, are simply inferred. That is, there are no rules that explicitly prohibit a Chairman from blocking or holding (drawering) legislation, but there are no rules explicitly granting those powers either.

A precedent has long been set by Committee Chairmen in both chambers to select which bills receive a hearing. Now, if you’re like us, that makes you a bit concerned. Why? Because who’s to say a Chairman will not refuse to offer a hearing on a piece of legislation due to personal dislike of the sponsor or at the behest of leadership or a certain special interest group? And, we’ve seen that happen time and again.

Blocking, delaying, or holding legislation can be a tactic to stop or stall a bill before it even has the chance to be reviewed in Committee or debated on the floor. The Chairman exerts veto-like power, even though they are charged with facilitating the legislative work of the committee.

Why is This so Consequential?

The reason the Chairman’s drawer matters so much is because too often, conservative legislation dies with the Chairman. There is only one person who, according to the Idaho State Constitution, is able to veto a bill — the Governor; however, Committee Chairmen in both chambers are exercising defacto veto power by deciding which legislation will be held in the drawer. 

Make no mistake, these chairs are preventing the will of the people to be heard through their representatives and senators who serve on those committees. They are denied the chance to even vote on the bills. It’s not a leap to say that when a tax cutting bill is held in a drawer, Idahoans feel the “taxation without representation.” This is not how a representative republic is supposed to operate. 

To see just how consequential these power-plays by Chairmen have become, we at the Idaho Freedom Foundation have compiled the following list of bills being held, delayed, and killed by Chairman. Notice how some of the most important bills, like grocery tax repeal (H260) and Medicaid accountability (H138), either don’t see the light of day or get trash-canned along the way by some tyrannical Chairman. Come back often!!

You may want to bookmark this page because we will continue updating this list through the legislative session so you can see what else Idaho is missing the opportunity to do because of a broken and abused parliamentary tradition. Not all traditions are worth keeping, especially when Idaho families’ well-being is at stake.

Bills that have been Blocked / Delayed / Held in Drawer by Chairman during the 2025 Session