JFAC approves program maintenance budgets across state government, setting baseline for FY2026

The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee finalized program maintenance appropriations for a broad set of Idaho state agencies on Jan. 17, adopting baseline FY2026 budgets and standard statutory language that govern carryovers, reappropriations and reporting requirements.

Committee staff presented maintenance budgets by functional area — legislative and judicial branches, constitutional officers, public safety, general government, economic development, natural resources, education and more — and members approved each package, generally by unanimous roll-call votes. Staff said the program maintenance budgets start from the FY2026 base appropriation (the prior legislature’s ongoing authorization), remove one-time items, and add a limited set of statewide decisions such as statewide cost allocation and any contract-inflation adjustments the committee previously approved.

Bybee, budget director for Legislative Services, walked members through the legislative branch package, noting the statutory automatic transfer to the legislative account is not included in the appropriation because it is made separately by statute (he cited the statutory transfer amount to the legislative account). The committee set the legislative branch program maintenance at a total of $12,546,100 and placed no cap on authorized full-time equivalent positions for the legislative branch staff line items.

Committee members then considered the judicial branch package, constitutional officers, public safety agencies (including Idaho Department of Correction, Idaho State Police and Racing Commission), general government agencies, economic development functional area and natural resources agencies. Several packages included customary clear language sections—for example, continuous appropriation authority for lottery payouts, reappropriation authority for ARPA or energy resiliency grants, exemptions from expense-class transfer limitations for specific programs, and reporting requirements for specific funds such as the water pollution control fund or endowment distributions.

The State Board of Education and public schools budgets also were taken up. The State Board of Education maintenance budget covers a wide array of entities (colleges, universities, community colleges, health-education programs, Idaho Public Television and others) and includes a mix of FTP caps and non-capped institutions (notably tuition-driven institutions such as colleges and universities were not given FTP caps). The committee approved the State Board of Education package and a companion set of clear language items that allow institutions to reappropriate dedicated fund balances, use the non-cognizable process for tuition/fees, and clarify limits for systemwide programs.

Public school support — a statutorily driven appropriation largely operating by formulas and support units—was carried forward as the maintenance appropriation with a large general-fund baseline. The committee approved the public schools maintenance package and a set of 24 technical and policy language sections that direct specific distributions (for classroom technology, discretionary funds per support unit, English proficiency grants, advanced opportunities, assessments and reporting) and define how terms such as “distributed” and “expended” apply across the consolidated student-support structure.

Most motions were approved by unanimous roll call. Several of the packages include reappropriation authority for federal ARPA grants, carryover authority for capital projects that may not expend in a single fiscal year, and standard limitations and restrictions language that the committee attaches to appropriations.