… To be more active in local Democratic politics!

If you want to be more engaged in local politics, you have come to the right place! If you haven’t yet seen our Take Action page, head over there for volunteer opportunities and other ways you can help directly. Check your legislative district at the Who We Are page to see if there are precincts needing a Captain or Vice Captain; there can be any number of Precinct Partners in a district. Be sure and come back and scroll down to find resources for keeping up on local politics as well as engaging with politics here in Ada County.

Quick links to lower sections

Connecting with social media

Read

X/Twitter | Facebook

Find more by checking which accounts are followed

https://x.com/NecocheaforID

https://x.com/wintrow4idaho

https://x.com/reclaimID

https://www.facebook.com/IdahoDLCC

Tags to follow on X/Twitter: #idpol, #idleg, and #idedu

Listen

Podcasts

Idaho Reports (PBS)

Watch

YouTube Channels

Idaho Reports (PBS)

Protest Calendars

(Links to other sites)

Currently Active Petitions

(This information may be out of date if a petition closes without notice.)

Legislative Bill Trackers

(Most are applicable while the legislature is in session, but some are active all year.)

Idaho Nonprofit Center - Bill tracker and advocacy newsletter for nonprofits

ID Voices for Children - Informative newsletter and webinar during the session focused on children's issues. Great source for child welfare in particular. 

ID Center for Fiscal Policy - Connected to ID Voices for Children (but has a separate identity). Focus on fiscal research and tax policy. 

Powering Independent Living/Our Care Can't Wait - Specific focus on direct care workforce crisis. They are connected to LINC, which does a lot of disability-related advocacy. 

Consortium for Idahoans with Disabilities - Don't let their unexciting website fool you. They are well-connected and active during the session for people with disabilities. Their Friday meeting during the session gets heated sometimes!

Idaho Supports Medicaid (Also has a Facebook page) - Very organized group. Also connected to Idaho Voices for Children. They did an amazing job mobilizing people in the past.

PODER - Tracks issues impacting Spanish-speakers. They have a newsletter and are active year-round.

Conservation Voters for ID - Tracks environmental issues year-round. Solid, active leadership. 

Legal Voice ID - Focus on women's and LGBTQ rights in WA, ID, and MT (and maybe some other states). They've been VERY active the last few years with webinars, etc, but they just had some staffing changes. Hope they are just as good this year. 

ACLU ID - Very active on civil rights issues with nat'l backing. Their "handy guide" in the lobbying manual is a favorite - LINK.

Reclaim ID - Responsible for Medicaid Expansion in ID.

ID Justice Project - They are newer on the scene, but so far they are the only people talking about incarceration rates in ID. They have a strong board and have been making inroads. 

AARP Idaho - Focused on aging. They have tremendous access and host regular town halls with the governor (they are also pretty active in Spanish-speaking communities). 

ID Public Health Assn - Cool group focused on public health

ID Counseling Assn - They do a lot of advocacy and are very involved and are open to partnering.

Idaho Governor's Office - This updates daily during the session. Good if you are watching for signature or timeline of a bill. 

Media

Idaho Reports - PBS show with a great weekly roundup (more frequent during session)

Idaho Ed News - Great source of all things education.

Idaho Capitol Sun - They've probably come the closest to closing the gap that Betsy Russell left behind when she retired.

How To Testify

If you want to give your opinion to legislative committees, the county commissioners, or a city council, here are some basic guidelines.

  • Get on the agenda. For the Idaho legislature, sometimes the bills move fast so you need to stay on top of when a bill is open for comments. You may need to call the committee secretary to verify times.

  • Prepare your remarks ahead of time. You need to stay focused and make your points quickly, especially when there is a lot of testimony. If someone ahead of you has already made the same point you want, just let the body know you are also in that category.

Special for Idaho legislature

  • Here is specific information about how you can participate in Idaho’s open legislative process.

  • The print hearing is only for the first chamber. There is only the one chance to testify in the the other chamber.

  • There is a video testify option, but if there are any technology issues you are out of luck.

Legislative Agenda

Check here for the latest daily committee agendas during the session. You can use this information to know which committee is considering which bill. Note that agendas can change at the last minute, so keep checking in case something new shows up.

Idaho Senate Agenda

Emailing Legislative Committees

When emailing, put the bill number and your desired vote in the subject line. You can write an email message but if the member receives 1000s of emails they may only be looking at the subject to get an indication of preferences. This tool is intended for residents living in the state of Idaho.

Below is the list of committees and the email addresses of the committee members.

  • To determine which committee to email, you will need to know which committee is discussing a particular bill. Bills move fast, so stay on top of things. To find a committee go to the session’s Bill Center and find the bill and it should be associated with a committee. There is also the agenda links above. If you are not sure, contact via phone one of the numbers in the page footer. Be a detective!

  • To email a single committee member click on their individual email next to their name and it should take you to your email client. If not, you will need to copy and paste the email. This is beneficial if they represent your district.

  • To email all committee members at once, copy the emails in the Full Email List and paste into your email client’s To field. (For some email clients, such as Outlook, you may need to change the commas to semicolons, or change the setting that allows commas to separate email addresses.)

  • The Committee Email only goes to the committee secretary.

Note: these are the standing committees; for any special or interim committees, as well as for any more details, please visit the Idaho State Legislature committee page.

Updated for 2026 Session but some committee assignments might change

Senate Committees

House Committees

Joint Committees

Write a Letter to the Editor

Your Voice Matters!

News outlets vary in regards to their accepted word count, so it's best to keep your letter short. If you keep your letter to 175 to 200 words you can submit your letter to multiple newspapers, which is recommended. News outlets either provide an email address where you can submit your letter (links below) or there’s a “fill in the box” format where you insert your text into a comment box. If you’re using the comment box, it's best to write it out first and then cut and paste your text into the requested format.

For most  papers, you can submit a letter every 30 days. Priority is given to in-state residents.  

You will need to provide your name/address, however the outlets do not publish your address. 

Tips: 

  • Be polite but firm. 

  • Use plain language. If you want people to understand your message  quickly and easily—use plain language. 

  • Be Concise. Decide what you want to say and say it with as few  words as possible. 

  • Check your facts by searching reputable websites, such as  FactCheck.org or the Bill of Rights from the National Archives.  

  • Have someone else read your letter to catch mistakes. When your  writing is clear, concise, and error free, your words hold more  credence with the reader.

Here are the links for Letter To the Editor submission pages for the two local papers. 

If you have the time and/or you’re super motivated to distribute to news outlets statewide, the League of Women Voters of Idaho has a page with links to the statewide outlets. 

Thank you! Remember, your voice matters!

Make a phone call

Calling to voice your opinion is now easy.

Make your 5Calls! Calling your representative is the best way to make your voice heard. 5Calls makes it easy—you can choose your subject, and they give you a script to follow as well as the phone number of your members of Congress.

From the latest national legislation under consideration to hot-button issues, you can call on a different subject every day. The list of topics is updated frequently and we encourage you to call every day! While this tool has a national focus, you can use the same concepts to contact your state representative.

Learn about 5Calls