Joint finance committee reviews Department of Administration budget; governor's housing fund faces depletion

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Presidents Day reviewed the Department of Administration budget, hearing from Frances Lippett, budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, and Department of Administration Director Steve Bailey about staffing, insurance and facility needs and a request to shore up the governor's housing fund.

Lippett told the committee the Department of Administration “houses four divisions” and draws most of its appropriation from dedicated funds, with roughly 10% from the general fund. She said the department is currently authorized 34 full-time positions and has filled approximately 92% of that authorization over the last five years.

The presentation included the governor's housing committee and the governor's residence fund. Lippett said the committee and fund are established in Idaho Code and that the fund “provides a monthly housing stipend to the governor currently set at 4,551” and “has no consistent source of revenue.” She told the committee the department requested a $30,000 appropriation from the general fund for fiscal year 2025; that request was not funded. The department later requested additional general-fund dollars for fiscal year 2026; without an appropriation, Lippett said the fund would be depleted by August 2026.

Director Steve Bailey expanded on the committee's work, saying the Governor's Housing Committee “meets once a year” and that its last meeting discussed “potentially revisiting a Governor's mansion” but had not produced a firm plan. Bailey said some state-owned property has been reserved for a mansion and that the property currently sits in a revocable easement with the City of Boise.

Committee members pressed the department on specific budget lines and fund accounting. Representative Tanner and other members asked for a clearer breakdown of continuously appropriated funds—particularly the group insurance and retained risk accounts—and for a written schedule of continuous appropriations. Lippett said the tables in the presentation did not include continuously appropriated expenditures and offered to provide additional detail to the committee.

Risk and insurance matters drew questions. Faith Knowlton, administrator for the Department of Administration’s risk and insurance programs, said one analyst is currently responsible for a very large property portfolio and vehicle fleet and that agencies sometimes enter inaccurate replacement values. “When we have discovered buildings that have been demolished, we do request and do remove them from the property value,” Knowlton said, and noted the division cannot recover premiums prior to the current year. She described a four-year appraisal schedule intended to reduce overinsurance and said additional staff would require agencies to coordinate property changes with central analysts.

Committee members also questioned the department about the Chinden Campus modernization and occupancy. Director Bailey said the division has completed about $70 million in Chinden Campus projects, with roughly $30 million in work currently in progress, and estimated an additional $145 million–$160 million in deferred maintenance and other work would be needed for remaining buildings. He said roughly 7% of rentable square feet on the campus is vacant and that one nonstate tenant holds three of eight buildings under a lease that runs through 2029 with an option to extend.

On personnel requests, the department listed ongoing enhancement requests that include three new full-time positions in fiscal 2026 for the office of group insurance, risk management and fiscal processing. The department also requested modest one-time capital items, including a trailer for security and IT hardware recommended by the Office of Information Technology Services.

The presentation closed with commitments to provide additional detail requested by lawmakers, including a breakdown of continuous appropriations and a list of the continuous appropriated funds that support the retained risk and group insurance accounts.

The committee did not take formal action on the Department of Administration appropriation in this hearing; analysts and agency staff agreed to provide supplemental materials to the committee for follow-up review.