Idaho lawmaker wanted to cut Commission of Hispanic Affairs. Why that failed

Carolyn Komatsoulis, Idaho Statesman on Jan 22, 2026

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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho lawmakers rejected draft legislation Thursday to eliminate the Idaho Commission of Hispanic Affairs, which serves as a bridge between the government and the state’s growing Latino population.

The move comes after the Legislature’s Elon Musk-emulating DOGE committee looked into the commission. DOGE refers to the Department of Government Efficiency, though repealing the commission would only save a few hundred thousand dollars and eliminate three jobs. Just over 14% of Idaho’s population is Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau.

“Last year, through DOGE, we started to look at some of these commissions and some of the bloat in government,” said the legislation’s sponsor Heather Scott, who told the committee that local nonprofits could handle the work. “This is one that really caught our attention.”

Just under $260,000 of the commission’s half-million dollar yearly budget came from donations and cigarette tax funds.

But five Republicans joined the committee’s two Democrats in voting not to introduce the draft legislation. The failed introduction is a rarity in a legislature where most proposals get the initial stamp of approval to become an official bill.

However, it’s unclear how far any repeal could get. Gov. Brad Little, speaking to reporters on the first day of the 2026 Legislative Session, said he would not support defunding or eliminating the commission. After the longtime commission director Margie Gonzalez retired in 2025, Little put his own press secretary in charge on an interim basis, the Idaho Press previously reported. Little appointed Annette Valenzuela Tipton, a Republican who previously ran for the Legislature, in May 2025.

Tipton declined to comment.

‘It would be a total disservice’

One of the no votes, Rep. Mike Pohanka, R-Jerome, said many of his constituents are Hispanic, and he’s there to represent them. Almost half of Jerome’s population is Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau.

“It would be a total disservice,” Pohanka told the Statesman in an interview. “Those are my people. I represent my district and my constituents. That’s what they elected me to do is represent them, so I’m casting their vote as well.”

Rep. Bruce Skaug, a Nampa Republican who represents a heavily-Latino district, told the Statesman that his district’s demographics played a role in his vote against introducing the bill. But he also said he wouldn’t support a plan that immediately ended the commission. Around a quarter of Nampans are Hispanic, according to the city of Nampa.

If nonprofits are to take up the work, they’d need more time for the commission to be phased out. He said he would likely support a better version of the bill that offered more time for a transition.

Sponsor not sure she’ll bring the bill back

The committee’s action surprised Scott, the legislation’s sponsor, she told the Statesman in an interview, but she said she understood that people wanted the commission to be phased out rather than ending abruptly.

Scott could bring the bill back, but she told the Statesman in an interview that she wasn’t sure if she would do so.

“We’ve just got to start trimming back,” Scott said. “We don’t have other ethnic commissions, so it seems unfair.”