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DHW seeks replacements for vehicles, IT hardware; governor trims cloud request
Summary
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare requested one-time replacements for vehicles and IT hardware in its indirect support services budget; the governor recommended most requests but removed a cloud-server capacity line.
Legislative Services analysts presented the Department of Health and Welfare—s indirect support services budget to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Jan. 13, outlining one-time replacement requests and IT upgrades.
Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with LSO, said the department requested one-time replacement items totaling about $2.8 million, including funds for visitation rooms and vehicle replacements. "This would include dollars 384,000 for the visitation rooms managed by the agency, about $648 (amount not specified on the record) for office remodels and furniture and 1,800,000 to replace 60 vehicles. All told the replacement items for this line are 2,800,000," Williamson stated. The transcript contained an unclear figure for one line item; committee documents in the budget book should be consulted for precise line-item amounts.
Other IT and operations requests presented include: - Office of Information Technology hardware replacement: $1.8 million requested as a one-time item, including device and server upgrades. - SQL Server replacement and upgrade: $711,000 requested with an ongoing $140,000 for software assurance services. The department is moving from a 2017 SQL Server version toward the 2022 version. - Cloud server capacity and support: the department requested funding, but the governor—s recommendation zeroed out this line after the agency identified alternative solutions.
Director Alex Adams answered committee questions about vehicles and fleet management. Adams said the department has 435 state vehicles statewide and aims to replace the fleet on a seven-year rotation. He told the committee two-thirds of vehicle use is by child-welfare staff for court transport, visitations and related work. The vehicles proposed for replacement show mileage ranges between about 105,000 and 159,000.
On MMIS (Medicaid Management Information System) operations and staffing, Adams said IT positions tied to MMIS upgrades have been posted and were expected to be filled in the near term, with several hires anticipated in February. He told the committee MMIS is a major IT overhaul and the department viewed staffing and operational upgrades as critical to successful implementation.
Why it matters: the replacement of vehicles and IT infrastructure affects service delivery capacity for child welfare and Medicaid oversight. The governor—s partial adjustments (notably removing a cloud capacity request) reduce the department—s asked one-time appropriation but left core replacement items intact.
Committee members asked for fleet details (mileage, replacement prioritization) and for confirmation of MMIS hire timing; staff said they would follow up with the agency on specific procurement and hiring status.
