Bill Description: House Bill 14 would require state agencies to review applicable statutes and detail any elements that are obsolete, outdated, or unnecessary.

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Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public access to information related to government activity or increase government transparency, accountability, or election integrity?

House Bill 14 would create Chapter 37, Title 67, Idaho Code, titled "Idaho Code Cleanup Act" to "ensure that the state laws provided in Idaho Code are streamlined, up-to-date, and essential for the citizens of Idaho, while best serving the public health, safety, and welfare."

The statute would call for a "comprehensive effort to review the Idaho Code for the purpose of eliminating bureaucracy" and require all state agencies to "review their enabling statutes, associated code sections, and any code sections that they enforce."

Additionally, each agency would be instructed to prepare a report for the Legislature detailing any "code chapters, sections, or subsections that are deemed by the agency to be obsolete, outdated, or unnecessary" and providing a "concise notation" for each one, explaining why and "whether it should be repealed or otherwise removed from Idaho Code."

Agencies would also be allowed to make suggestions regarding code sections outside of their purview and to provide ideas for making necessary code sections more concise.

At minimum, the review and reports required by House Bill 14 should provide a meaningful degree of transparency into the operation of state agencies. And, while these reports will not independently reduce the size or scope of government, they could provide a blueprint for more substantive legislative action in the future.

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