Idaho committee keeps governor housing stipend flat. But what about building a mansion?

After a legislative session marked by budget cuts, a panel of state lawmakers voted to keep flat the governor’s housing allowance.

One of just five states without an official residence for the governor, Idaho has for more than two decades paid governors a housing stipend. 

The Governor’s Housing Committee, a panel of four state lawmakers and one state official that sets the stipend each year, voted Thursday to hold it flat at $4,551 each month, which is roughly $54,600 a year. That’s partly because the fund that pays for the allowance is on track to be nearly depleted in a year or two, which would require asking the Legislature for more money.

“All the indications we’re getting this year, it’s going to be another tight budget year,” said Steve Bailey, the director of the Idaho Department of Administration, which handles government contracts. “So, asking for additional funds, if we can at all avoid it this year, may be the prudent thing to do.”

Idaho Gov. Brad Little earns $151,400 each year as governor. He lives in a home in Emmet, but also owns a condo in downtown Boise.

But the meeting to set the governor’s housing stipend almost didn’t happen Thursday. The panel’s two Republican lawmakers — Rep. Jaron Crane and Sen. Todd Lakey, both from Nampa — didn’t show up.

That left the decisions up to Bailey, the committee’s chair, and the two Boise Democrats that serve on the committee: Sen. Ali Rabe, who’s not running for re-election, and Rep. Brooke Green. Both tuned in virtually.

When Green connected moments after the meeting was set to start, Bailey seemed relieved that enough committee members showed up for the panel to conduct business. 

“Hello!” Green began. “Thanks for allowing me to join you virtually.”

“We’ll take virtual at this point,” Bailey replied, “because you are giving us a quorum today, so we can continue.”

The committee’s next planned meeting is May 27, 2027. 

Should Idaho buy or build a governor’s mansion? There’s history there.

The committee didn’t delve into a nearly perennial discussion on if the state should buy or build a governor’s mansion, instead of paying the governor a housing stipend. 

At last year’s meeting, in August 2025, lawmakers on the panel mulled the idea. Crane asked the Department of Administration to prepare a list of state properties that might work to remodel or reuse for a governor’s residence. 

A month later, Bailey supplied lawmakers the list, according to public records obtained by the Idaho Capital Sun.

The only property that might readily work, Bailey wrote, was one that Crane floated in last year’s meeting: the Alexander House, which is near the Idaho State Capitol. 

And he sent a seven-page summary of the history of Idaho’s governor residencies and stipends. Here’s an abbreviated version:

The first governor’s mansion: In 1947, the state bought the first governor’s mansion at 1805 21st St. in Boise. The house, purchased for $25,000, served as governor’s residences for about 40 years. Before then, governors lived in their own homes. 

In 1986, former Gov. John Evans was the last Idaho governor to live in the governor’s house on 21st St. The next year, the Legislature changed state law to let governors decide to live there. Three years later, in 1990, the home was sold.

The housing allowance’s creation: In 1995, the Legislature established the Governor’s Housing Committee, and transferred funds to a pool meant to be used for a governor’s housing allowance and “the acquisition, contribution, remodel, furnishing, equipping or maintenance of a governor’s residence.” Before then, the funds were not allowed to go toward a housing stipend.

In 1998, the stipend was established when governor-elect Dirk Kempthorne was about to enter office. It was set at $4,000 per month. 

By the mid-2000s and early 2010s, the stipend was at $4,500 each month, which was the rate received by former Govs. Jim Risch and Butch Otter. (Read more from former Spokesman-Review reporter Betsy Russell.)

The last governor’s house: Between 2009 and 2013, Idaho’s then-governor, Otter, didn’t get a housing stipend. That’s because he could’ve lived in a house that had been donated to the state by Simplot Co. 

But he didn’t live there; J.R. Simplot was his ex-father-in-law. In 2013, the state returned the House to the company. The governor’s housing stipend returned.

A plot of land in the foothills: The state still owns property near the Boise foothills, on Horizon Drive, that was meant for a governor’s residence, Bailey told lawmakers in an email. 

“I’m not suggesting we go that route,” he wrote. “I’m simply reminding the committee that this property is available in case it factors into future discussions and decisions.”

His timeline notes development related to that property in yellow highlights.