Governor's office requests small IT funding, seeks $1.35M cash transfer to restore emergency fund and $250K for America 250 planning

The Executive Office of the Governor briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Feb. 18 about the office's budget, the governor's emergency fund and several one-time requests for fiscal year 2026.

Christopher LaHozet, a legislative budget and policy analyst, told the committee the governor's emergency fund has a base appropriation of $2 million but a current cash balance of roughly $650,000 after expenditures for high-profile items, including reimbursements tied to the University of Idaho Moscow murder investigations and the "Esto Perpetua" anti-fentanyl efforts.

LaHozet said the executive office is requesting $45,000 in one-time general-fund support for IT replacement items (network switches, wireless access points, desktop and laptop computers and docking stations). The request also includes $250,000 in one-time general-fund support to implement objectives of the White House Task Force on celebrating the nation's 250th birthday—referred to in the presentation as "Task Force 2250"—an initiative stemming from presidential executive order 14189 signed Jan. 29. The governor's office said the proposed activities would include honoring Idahoans, a one-year exhibit featuring states' pavilions and encouraging local events; the office said it would coordinate with the existing America250 advisory council.

The analyst said the office also recommended a $1,350,000 one-time cash transfer from the general fund to the governor's emergency fund to restore the fund's cash balance to the $2 million base appropriation. "That cash transfer would bring that fund balance up to the amount that's currently appropriated as part of the base appropriation," LaHozet said.

Committee members asked about a constituent-services management platform the governor previously requested. Senator Hart and others asked whether the office had purchased Salesforce. LaHozet said Salesforce had been considered but the software is subscription-based and implementation costs and ongoing subscription fees were part of the discussion; at the time the analyst presented, the governor's office had not spent the FY25 appropriation for a constituent-services platform and was exploring cost-effective alternatives in coordination with the state's ITS and Division of Financial Management.

Questions from committee members also sought itemized lists for charter flight and travel expenditures and details on in-state charter costs and reimbursement transfers among agencies. LaHozet and DFM staff agreed to provide spreadsheets and expenditure reports requested by members.

DFM Administrator Lori Wolf explained interagency personnel reimbursement practices, including how staff time is sometimes shared and charged to agencies that receive services, a process that predates the current accounting system. Wolf said the state replicated the personnel-cost reimbursement process during the transition to the LUMA accounting system and that agencies should be able to track those transactions.

No formal appropriation decisions were made at the hearing; committee members asked for follow-up documentation, including an itemized list of IT replacement items, an accounting of emergency-fund expenditures, and the detailed travel and charter-flight reports referenced by lawmakers.