The first day of the 2026 legislative session began with some high-level House shakeups — including a change in leadership in the House Education Committee.

Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, was named House Education chair Monday. A second term lawmaker, Hawkins had served as the committee’s vice chairman, often aligning with other hardline conservatives on what was frequently an ideologically split panel.

Rep. Clay Handy, R-Burley, will move over from the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to serve as House Education vice chairman. Like Hawkins, Handy is in his second House term. Handy has frequently aligned with moderates on the House floor and in JFAC.

The shakeups began Sunday evening, when House Republicans elected Rep. Douglas Pickett of Oakley as assistant majority leader, the third-ranking spot in House GOP leadership. Pickett, another second-term lawmaker, chaired House Education during the 2025 session. Normally, members of leadership do not also serve as committee chairs, so Pickett’s election Sunday created the vacancy at the helm of House Education.

Pickett replaces Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, in House leadership. Tanner stepped off the leadership team last week when he took an appointment as co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

“As a member of leadership, I’ll continue to work for the best interests of all Idahoans and to defend conservative values,” Pickett said in a news release Sunday.

The shakeups also created two House vacancies on JFAC — the 20-member committee that writes state agency budget bills, and will be under an even sharper spotlight in 2026, as the Legislature wrestles with a $40 million shortfall in the current budget year, and a projected $555 million gap in the budget year beginning July 1.

Two first-term lawmakers will now join JFAC: Reps. Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston; and Chris Bruce, R-Kuna.