# Steve Berch

Steve Berch is a Democratic member of the Idaho House for district 15A.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Idaho House, district 15A
- Serving since: 2018-12-01
- Current term: ID 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/0c413128-0ec7-4228-aa8b-93572d153c6f

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/0c413128-0ec7-4228-aa8b-93572d153c6f (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Berch reported $199.4K in the 2026 cycle, in the top quarter of State House Democrats (median $40.4K).

## What Berch says (ID 2025–26 session)

69 classified statements: 69 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Berch | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.5% | 584 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 23.2% | 10.4% | 87 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 27.5% | 39.2% | 554 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 1.5% | 2.9% | 453 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 2.9% | 14.4% | 626 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 2.9% | 1.0% | 74 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: Education 63% (State House Democrats 15%); Economics and Public Finance 21% (State House Democrats 11%); Housing and Community Development 16% (State House Democrats 6.2%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 11% (State House Democrats 9.8%); Government Operations and Politics 11% (State House Democrats 15%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.71 (standard error 0.02), from 1,157 donors and 1,147 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 37% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (ID 2025–26 session)

916 roll calls. Attendance 95.0% (Idaho House 96.8%). Party unity 94.1% (84%). 82 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-04-02 · voted nay · passage · H 516 EDUCATION – Amends and adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding the prohibition of taxpayer funding of teachers unions. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H516/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Rules Suspended: Ayes 58 Nays 0 Abs/Excd 12, read in full as required – · H 978 APPROPRIATIONS – HEALTH AND WELFARE – PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES – Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for fiscal year 2027. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H978/
- 2026-04-02 · voted nay · Rules Suspended: Ayes 59 Nays 6 Abs/Excd 5, read in full as required – · H 975 APPROPRIATIONS – Relates to the appropriation and transfer of moneys in the state treasury for fiscal year 2027. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H975/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Rules Suspended: Ayes 58 Nays 0 Abs/Excd 12, read in full as required – · H 974 APPROPRIATIONS – IDAHO STATE POLICE – Relates to the appropriation to the Idaho State Police for fiscal year 2027. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H974/
- 2026-04-02 · voted nay · Rules Suspended: Ayes 59 Nays 6 Abs/Excd 5, read in full as required – · S 1438 APPROPRIATIONS – PUBLIC SCHOOLS – IDAHO DIGITAL LEARNING ACADEMY DIVISION – Relates to the appropriation to the Public Schools Educational Support… · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/S1438/
- 2026-04-02 · voted nay · Rules Suspended: Ayes 59 Nays 6 Abs/Excd 5, read in full as required – · S 1247 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT – Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding law enforcement entering into a memorandum of agreement. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/S1247/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Rules Suspended: Ayes 62 Nays 0 Abs/Excd 8, read in full as required – · S 1454 APPROPRIATIONS – HEALTH AND WELFARE – EARLY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH SAFETY AND PERMANENCY, AND FAMILY AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS – Relates to… · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/S1454/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Rules Suspended: Ayes 59 Nays 6 Abs/Excd 5, read in full as required – · H 976 APPROPRIATIONS – Relates to the appropriation and transfer of funds for strategic initiatives and local highway districts. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H976/
- 2026-04-02 · voted nay · Rules Suspended: Ayes 58 Nays 0 Abs/Excd 12, read in full as required – · H 972 APPROPRIATIONS – HEALTH AND WELFARE – DIVISION OF WELFARE – Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for fiscal year 2027. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H972/
- 2026-04-02 · voted nay · Rules Suspended: Ayes 62 Nays 0 Abs/Excd 8, read in full as required – · S 1448 MINORS – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding material harmful to minors. · pass · https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/S1448/

## Legislation (ID 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 2 bills: 2 reached committee, 0 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 0.

Recent sponsored bills:

- H 589: TAXATION – Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to revise provisions regarding the rate of income taxes. (in committee, 2026-02-05) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H589/
- H 590: TAXATION – Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to repeal and replace the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit and the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit… (in committee, 2026-02-05) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2026/H590/
- H 43: FISH AND GAME – Amends existing law to prohibit interference with certain lands, highways, and navigable streams. (in committee, 2023-01-30) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H43/
- H 38: TRANSPORTATION – Amends and adds to existing law to provide for a Too Great for Hate license plate. (in committee, 2023-01-27) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H38/
- H 33: GROCERY TAX – Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to exempt the sale of certain food items from sales tax, to repeal the grocery tax credit, and to… (in committee, 2023-01-27) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H33/
- H 39: EDUCATION – Repeals existing law relating to contract requirements for certain medical students. (in committee, 2023-01-27) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H39/
- H 35: TARGETED PICKETING – Adds to existing law to prohibit targeted picketing. (in committee, 2023-01-27) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H35/
- H 37: COUNTIES – Amends existing law to permit county commissioners to enter into a lease for up to 30 years. (in committee, 2023-01-27) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H37/
- H 36: PROPERTY TAXES – Amends existing law to revise eligibility for property tax reduction. (in committee, 2023-01-27) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H36/
- H 34: LEGISLATIVE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND – Repeals existing law relating to the creation of the Legislative Legal Defense Fund. (in committee, 2023-01-27) https://openstates.org/id/bills/2023/H34/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $199.4K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 96% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-09-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/2102758193936163074
- 2026-09-13 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/2099158932833133054
- 2026-09-01 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/2094628286408294699
- 2026-06-03 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/2062297286806491194
- 2026-04-07 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/2041603043033280635
- 2026-01-03 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/2007486387176759567
- 2025-12-14 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/2000320812990296342
- 2025-12-10 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/1998558304554070395
- 2025-12-09 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/1998532764480712736
- 2025-12-03 · Post on X · https://x.com/SteveBerch15A/status/1996186139737354553

## Links

- Official site: https://legislature.idaho.gov/legislators/membership/2019/id5368/
- Campaign site: https://www.berch4idaho.com/
- X: https://x.com/SteveBerch15A
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.berch.5
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steveberchforidaho/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0yTitge--AKQj-f8XOBJxA
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveberch/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/0c413128-0ec7-4228-aa8b-93572d153c6f