JFAC approves wide-ranging budget actions; several Idaho Department of Correction requests advance, body-worn camera pilot fails to clear Senate side

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted on dozens of supplemental and fiscal year 2026 budget requests on Friday, Feb. 28, advancing most items to the floors of the two chambers with “due pass” recommendations and rejecting or splitting a few items along chamber lines.

The committee approved multiple Department of Correction (IDOC) supplementals to cover costs tied to an escape/shooting incident last year and population pressures, including one-time requests for advanced surveillance technology ($795,000), transport safety expansion ($1,148,000), county and out-of-state inmate placements ($5,939,400), and medical-services pressures ($5,957,200). A separate supplemental to begin a body-worn camera pilot — $1,051,000 total, of which $1,024,000 was general fund in year one — received a majority of votes in the House Appropriations side but failed to achieve a majority in the Senate Finance side and therefore did not carry as a joint committee approval.

Beyond the corrections requests, the panel approved a slate of FY2026 maintenance and enhancement items across state agencies: agricultural research and extension funding (including a viticulture faculty position and facility costs), an adjustment to the Endowment Fund Investment Board budget, a small dedicated-fund increase for the Office of Species Conservation to accept non-federal grants, replacement and ITS requests for the Public Utilities Commission, and technical cash-transfer and language corrections for multiple agencies. Several items required rollbacks or clarifications after committee members flagged numeric or drafting errors; staff corrected a transposition in a Department of Correction medical supplemental before a second roll call.

Votes at a glance - Millennium Fund Committee report: accepted by unanimous consent (see separate article). (unanimous) - Agricultural Research & Extension (FY2026):…