Idaho Commission for Libraries seeks ongoing funding for Digital Access for All Idahoans program

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee heard a request to add $2,500,000 in ongoing spending to the Idaho Commission for Libraries’ base budget to continue the Digital Access for All Idahoans program, a federal broadband and digital literacy grant program administered with the Idaho Broadband Office.

Brooke Dupree, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, presented the agency’s fiscal materials and said the commission supports 850 libraries across Idaho and currently has 35.5 full‑time positions. Dupree told the committee the agency received “just over $6,000,000 for the Digital Access for All Idahoans” grant and is asking to include $2.5 million ongoing in the base because it expects additional notices of award and authority to spend the federal award through 2032. Dupree also described a $42,400 ongoing request for a broadband reimbursement tied to the Education Opportunity Resource Act (Chapter 56,…