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JFAC approves $1.27 million for licensing division; adds quarterly reporting language and raises fund‑balance cap
Summary
The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee approved a $1,268,900 dedicated‑fund increase for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses to address inspector pay, vehicle replacements and IT hardware, and accepted reporting language tying appropriation reporting to policy bill 152.
The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee approved a $1,268,900 increase in dedicated funds for the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), and accepted language requiring quarterly reporting on the revenues and expenses of each of DOPL’s 45 boards and commissions.
Committee analyst Kellen McGurkin told members that DOPL regulates more than 200,000 licensees across 45 boards and commissions and is funded entirely by dedicated funds collected through licensing fees. He outlined three enhancement requests totaling $1,268,900: an ongoing dedicated‑fund amount to raise inspector pay; $900,500 one‑time for vehicle replacements across the field inspector fleet; and roughly $146,400 one‑time for Office of Information Technology‑recommended hardware.
Specifically, the committee approved an ongoing dedicated fund increase described by staff as approximately $222,000 to raise inspector pay (an average increase of about $0.95 per hour across 92 full‑time inspector positions), a $900,500 one‑time request to replace vehicles in the fleet (noted as 23 vehicles in the analyst’s remarks), and approximately $146,400 one‑time for laptops, conference room equipment and networking hardware. McGurkin said the division reported high turnover among inspectors and identified pay as a primary reason in exit surveys.
Representative Furness moved the funding package and Senator Quick seconded. The committee recorded a total of 16 ayes and 4 nays; the motion will go forward with a do‑pass recommendation.
Separately, language presented to the committee aligning the division’s appropriation bill reporting requirements with policy bill 152 was accepted by unanimous consent. The language requires quarterly reports to the Legislative Services Office and to the specific related board or commission, and raises the upper cap on individual fund balances that require submission of a corrective action plan from 25% to 50%, per a Legislative Audits Division recommendation. Representative Furness requested unanimous consent to accept the language; there were no objections.
