Joint committee accepts Millennium Fund report, approves one-time help for youth assessment centers

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Feb. 28 accepted the report of the legislative Millennium Fund Committee and endorsed a package of mostly one-time allocations aimed at prevention, cessation and treatment programs for youth and other populations affected by substance use.

Senator Van Burtonshaw, co-chair of the Millennium Fund Committee, told the committee the Millennium Fund is financed by the tobacco settlement and that the committee prioritized programs for people under 18. "It's been our goal of the committee to prioritize programs that focus on prevention, cessation, and treatment for related tobacco, vape, alcohol, and illegal substances," he said.

The committee recommended one-time support for 12 youth assessment centers operated through the Department of Juvenile Corrections after those centers reported they were at risk of closing because federal grant timing left a gap. "When we spoke to the assessment centers, many of them essentially said that, due to some federal grants, that they were probably gonna have to close down their shops without this emergency funding," Representative Jordan Redmond said. The recommendation described the payment as a one-time appropriation to extend operations for roughly six months into fiscal 2026 and directed the funds to be administered by the Department of Juvenile Corrections.

The Millennium Fund recommendations also included $2,000,000 for a second cohort of school programs (vape detectors, school resource officers, after-school programming) through the Department of Education, additional personnel funding for Idaho Public Television tied to the committee's program recommendations, and continued funding from the opioid settlement for Idaho State Police educational programs. Redmond said the committee plans to roll remaining fund balance forward rather than spend it all this year in order to consider longer-term strategy for 2027.

Committee members pressed the presenters about sustainability. "With you saying that and you want them to be sustainable in the future, what gives us the confidence that that's gonna happen?" Representative Price asked. Redmond replied that the committee had emphasized this was a final one-time infusion and that local providers had plans to seek community support and other revenue sources. Senator Ward Engelking added that centers had plans in place but faced timing problems that left a short-term funding gap.

The committee accepted the Millennium Fund Committee report by unanimous consent and indicated it would take up the package language in the work groups and in subsequent bill language.

Why it matters: The funding decision buys time for 12 assessment centers serving youth statewide and locks in the committee’s stated intent that the assistance be one-time, while signaling the Legislature will seek longer-term options before 2027.