Citizens Task Force
Volunteer groups of everyday Idahoans overseeing each major state department
I am not here to create more government jobs or big committees. As governor, I will create multiple Citizen Task Forces via executive order. One for each major state department. These will be made up entirely of unpaid volunteers who know these systems from real world experience. No salaries. No perks. Just regular Idahoans who want to help clean up this mess. Nurses for Health and Welfare, truck drivers and road workers for Transportation, teachers and parents for Education, former corrections staff or families for Corrections, and so on. They volunteer because they want Idaho to work better for their kids and grandkids' future.
Each task force focuses on one department at a time. Review budgets, audits, citizen tips, and operations. Spot waste, fraud, or inefficiency. Make practical recommendations. We will use AI to help volunteers scan and analyze huge amounts of public data quickly, without drowning in paperwork. This is not replacing professional auditors. It adds real world citizen eyes where the experts often miss the day to day problems. Proactive and citizen led from day one. This puts regular people with firsthand knowledge in the driver's seat for ongoing oversight, not just one off input. It creates constant pressure for fixes instead of waiting for legislative requests or annual reports.
Many small holes will still sink the ship. The citizen task forces will have the mission of plugging those small holes.
The Problem
Idahoans want a real voice in how their government spends money and runs programs, but current oversight is top-down and reactive. Citizens rarely get to review fresh reports, analyze ongoing issues, or provide input before decisions are made. Agencies and lawmakers operate with limited real-world feedback from everyday people who know local needs. This leads to policies that miss the mark, waste that goes unnoticed, and a lack of trust that government is working for the people.
What I'll Do Day One as Governor
Sign an executive order to establish Citizens Task Forces in major departments using existing authority. Right away:
Create task forces of eight to fifteen volunteer Idahoans per key department (such as Health and Welfare, Transportation, Education, Correction) with real-world experience in the field.
Direct each task force to review fresh public agency reports, audits, budget submissions, and public tips using existing data tools and simple AI assistance (example: for pattern analysis).
Require task forces to post first public findings on Transparent Idaho within sixty to ninety days of receiving materials.
Launch pilots in three to five departments to test task force operations, tip intake, and resolution tracking, with results posted in ninety days.
Use existing agency support and volunteer structure (no new spending required).
This uses powers I already have to form advisory committees and direct agency cooperation. No new laws needed first.
How This Is Different From Now
Right now, citizen input is limited to occasional public comments or hearings. There is no ongoing, department-specific group of everyday Idahoans reviewing real data or providing timely feedback. This way creates proactive, expert-led task forces that review fresh information, gather worker and local tips, and make practical recommendations for fixes. It enforces existing advisory committee authority more effectively, gives citizens a real seat at the table, and ensures government hears from the people it serves.
What I'll Push the Legislature For
Easy laws to make it permanent:
Establish standing Citizens Task Forces in major departments with clear roles and public reporting requirements.
Require agencies to provide task forces with timely data, reports, and access to public records.
Mandate public posting of task force recommendations and agency responses on Transparent Idaho.
Strengthen protections for citizen volunteers and whistleblowers who provide tips.
No big new spending. Task forces are volunteer-based with minimal support from existing agency staff.
How We'll Check It Works
We will keep it honest with:
Public postings on Transparent Idaho of task force reports, recommendations, and agency responses.
Regular audits of task force operations, data access, and implementation of recommendations.
Citizen feedback portal to rate task force effectiveness and suggest improvements.
Yearly report showing tips received, recommendations made, actions taken, and impact on services.
Everything open for anyone to look at and ask about.
How This Connects to Other Reforms
This pillar gives everyday Idahoans the power to review reports and tip off issues across the plan. It feeds audits with real-world input to spot waste in budgets, contracts, grants, workforce, permitting, and housing projects. Transparency tools make task force findings public alongside other data. Accountability ensures agencies respond to recommendations. The three housing reforms, mental health response, veteran transition, rural broadband, and other crisis fixes benefit from citizen oversight on local impacts. This reform ensures the plan stays grounded in real, current Idaho needs.
Answers to Common Questions
Why Multiple Task Forces (One Per Department)?
One giant task force could get overwhelmed or too general. Department specific groups let volunteers go deep. Understand the unique rules, budgets, and pain points in that area. It spreads the work so volunteers are not burned out. It shows we are serious about fixing every corner of state government, not just skimming the surface.
How do we make sure task forces are fair and not biased?
Members are everyday Idahoans with real experience in the field. All meetings and recommendations are public on Transparent Idaho for scrutiny.
Why Use AI?
AI helps us move fast and dig deep without big taxpayer costs, but every finding gets human review by the task force, experts, myself, and/or the AG. If something looks off, we cross check with official sources and get expert input before going public with the findings. No assumptions. Just factual data reporting to restore trust in our government.
What about privacy?
Privacy and security first: Only publicly available data gets used. No personal info, no confidential citizen records. We will follow Idaho data privacy laws and be fully transparent.
Would the task forces have to be in Boise?
Only if the member lives there. Given that only public data will be used and that these are volunteer opportunities, this can be done from home anywhere in the state. The purpose is to open the door and empower those doing the research in their free time anyway as well as ensuring citizen tips are received and reviewed.
Legal authority and structure?
The Governor's executive order power lets me create multiple volunteer advisory task forces immediately. Idaho governors do this regularly. Each is advisory: reviews public data, tips, and reports. Recommends fixes. They complement existing auditors (Legislative Services Office, and so on). Legislation later can strengthen them.
Subpoena power?
None for the volunteer task forces. That is for legislative committees or the AG. Serious issues get referred there right away. As governor, I will direct full agency cooperation. Volunteers' public findings create pressure.
Verification of findings?
Cross check against official records, multiple sources. AI flags issues. Volunteers verify and get expert input when needed. All verified findings are presented publicly for you or the media to scrutinize. Corrections happen openly within the law.
Conflicts of interest?
Mandatory disclosure of any ties to the department. Conflicts mean recusal. Ethics policy, background checks. Diverse volunteers plus full public view prevent bias. Many regular citizens are digging into Transparent Idaho anyway. I just want to give them a direct line to the governor's office and the AG to produce real accountability instead of the information getting “lost in the mail.”
Qualifications for volunteers?
Real experience trumps degrees. For each task force: Idaho residents with relevant firsthand knowledge (for example, frontline workers, families impacted, small business owners dealing with regs).
Must haves: background check, volunteer commitment, confidentiality agreement. Open applications. Select for balance and common sense. Short training on basics, including how to use AI efficiently.
How many task forces? Timeline?
Start with 4 to 6 priority ones (biggest budgets or problems) in the first 60 days. Expand gradually. First findings in 3 to 6 months from the time.
Cost to taxpayers?
Near zero. All volunteers, low or no cost AI tools, virtual or in state meetings. Savings from uncovered waste pay for themselves many times over.
Agency resistance?
Full cooperation directed by me. Pushback goes public fast. Volunteers spotlight it, I back them up.
How does this connect to transparency?
Task force findings and recommendations are posted publicly on Transparent Idaho so citizens can see and follow up.
How does this connect to audits?
Task forces review audit reports and provide citizen context to help prioritize and interpret findings.
How does this connect to accountability?
Task force recommendations trigger public pressure and AG review when agencies fail to act on waste or poor performance.
What about rural or small department needs?
Task forces include rural voices. Reviews scale to agency size, ensuring small offices are not overlooked.
How will we know if task forces are working?
Public reports on Transparent Idaho will track tips received, recommendations made, and actions taken. Citizen feedback helps measure real impact.