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DHW seeks vehicle replacements, IT upgrades and MMIS staff in indirect support services request
Summary
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare requested one-time funding for vehicle replacements, hardware and SQL-server upgrades and reported planned MMIS IT hires; the governor recommended most items but did not recommend cloud capacity funding.
Analysts from the Legislative Services Office and Department of Health and Welfare officials told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Monday that the department’s indirect support services budget includes one-time replacement requests and IT upgrades and that the agency is filling IT positions tied to its Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) upgrade.
Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, said the department’s one-time replacement requests totaled about $2.8 million for FY2026. That package includes a vehicle-replacement request of $1.8 million to replace 60 vehicles, $384,000 for visitation rooms, and $648,000 for office remodels and furniture. The Office of Information Technology requested an additional $1.8 million for hardware replacement and $711,000 for SQL Server replacement; a separate ongoing $140,000 recurring request was for software assurance related to SQL Server updates.
The governor recommended the agency’s requested replacement items and the SQL Server replacement but did not recommend funding for additional cloud server capacity after the agency found alternative solutions, Williamson said.
Director Alex Adams explained the vehicle request in greater detail: the department operates roughly 435 state vehicles statewide, about two-thirds of which are used by child-welfare staff for casework, visitations and court transports. Adams said the department’s goal is a seven-year replacement cycle. The vehicles slated for replacement show odometer readings and ages that render replacement appropriate: model years in the 2007–2017 range and mileage from roughly 105,000 to 159,000.
Representative Tanner and other committee members questioned why costs rose from prior vehicle requests; Adams and LSO staff said vehicle prices have increased in recent years and last year’s smaller replacement purchase left the fleet off the seven-year schedule.
On IT staffing, Adams noted the MMIS update is a multi-year project (previously estimated at roughly $180 million) and that the department has posted six IT positions tied to operations of the MMIS; he expected hires to be completed in February. Adams said those positions are critical to the upgrade’s successful implementation.
Committee members asked for additional vehicle-fleet details (age, mileage, replacement history) and for confirmation of hiring status for MMIS positions; LSO and the department agreed to follow up with specifics in division-level hearings.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the indirect support services requests during the presentation; the governor’s recommendations for many items already appeared in the budget materials.
