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JFAC approves Department of Labor accounting corrections, transfers $4.87M to correct fund balances
Summary
After an initial funding motion failed, the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee approved a set of accounting corrections and a $4,868,000 transfer to correct FY2024 fund balances for the Department of Labor and adopted language requiring staffing reports.
The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee approved accounting corrections and a fund transfer for the Idaho Department of Labor on Friday after an initial motion to provide unemployment‑insurance operations authority failed.
Brooke Dupree, a Legislative Services budget and policy analyst, told the committee the department had requested replacement items and changes related to unemployment‑insurance operations and IT hardware. An initial motion to add ongoing dedicated funds and federal funds for unemployment‑insurance operations failed, and committee members returned to the item later in the hearing after staff identified accounting errors the department needs to correct.
Representative Tim (Timothy) Handy moved and the committee approved a technical transfer: $4,868,000 from the Unemployment Security Administration and Reimbursement Fund to the Employment Security Fund to correct FY2024 accounting errors. The motion passed on the second attempt: Senate 10 ayes, House 8 ayes; Grand total 18 ayes, 0 nays.
The committee also adopted four pieces of language directing the Department of Labor to work with the State Controller to correct fund balances and requiring a report from the department on open positions. Dupree said the fund balance corrections were for FY2024 and require legislative approval because more than six months had passed and the amounts exceeded $500,000.
Why it matters: The approved transfer is an accounting correction rather than a new appropriation of new money; correcting fund balances and requiring a staffing report are intended to improve transparency on the department’s operating accounts and position counts.
Context: Lawmakers questioned whether the department still needed the level of FTEs added during the COVID response and encouraged the department to explain where positions remain necessary. Senators and representatives also discussed how unemployment‑insurance operations are funded by employer contributions and how fluctuations in unemployment affect federal support.
Ending: With the transfer and language approved, the Department of Labor will work with the State Controller to reconcile FY2024 figures and report back to the committee on position counts as requested.
