JFAC considers pared college-and-university budget; DEI audit language and transparency provisions advance

A divided Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Thursday debated competing motions to set the fiscal 2026 college-and-university appropriation, approving a compromise budget language package but splitting along chamber lines on parts of the motion and sending unresolved items to the full Senate.

The committee considered two competing motions: an initial motion offered by Representative Bryce that included targeted reductions of $2,000,000 each from Boise State University and the University of Idaho and several specific increases for Lewis-Clark State College and systemwide items; and a substitute from Senator Galloway that removed the $2,000,000 cuts and raised the total general-fund ask. After debate, the substitute tied 10–10 overall and failed; the original motion passed the committee on the floor call but did not reach a Senate majority at the roll call and, according to the chair, will be transmitted to the Senate for further action.

Why it matters: the committee’s choices set the legislature’s starting package for higher education funding and include both modest salary increases for Lewis-Clark State College and systemwide line items that back research and enrollment adjustments. The debate also surfaced policy tensions about how the Legislature should respond to university programming that some…