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JFAC recommends due-pass on Department of Fish and Game FY2026 budget package
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to give the Department of Fish and Game a due-pass recommendation for its FY2026 enhancement package, including one-time capital items and reappropriation language to carry project funds into the next fiscal year.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to recommend passage of the Department of Fish and Game’s fiscal year 2026 enhancement package, approving $10,217,400 from dedicated funds and $7,967,500 from federal funds for a total of $18,184,900.
The packet includes one-time funding for hatchery improvements, regional office renovations, replacement items and IT hardware, and smaller ongoing items to support seasonal habitat-restoration employees and license system contracts. “The department of fish and game is an executive department within the, within the state of Idaho with responsibility to preserve, protect, perpetuate, and manage the wildlife within Idaho’s borders, including fish, wild birds, and other wild animals,” budget analyst Janet Jessup told the committee.
Committee members discussed the mix of one-time and ongoing funding in the request; the motion as approved included roughly $15,000,000 in one-time funds and approximately $2,216,500 of ongoing funds drawn from dedicated and federal sources. Representative Manwaring moved the FY2026 enhancement motion; Senator Hart seconded it.
The committee recorded a final tally of 16 yes, 3 no and 1 absent; the chair announced that, "Majority having voted in the affirmative, this motion will go forward with a due pass recommendation." The committee also considered two pieces of reappropriation language tied to the motion: one to allow project funds to be carried into the next fiscal year and a second covering depredation funds. The committee adopted that reappropriation language in a roll-call vote (unanimous across the senators present and a unanimous House tally of members voting), enabling the agency to reappropriate specified funds.
The committee’s action is a recommendation to the full legislature; the appropriation still requires floor consideration and any additional steps in the legislative process.
