JFAC advances dozens of budget adjustments and technical corrections; several items split along chamber lines

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Friday approved a series of maintenance budgets, replacement-item requests and supplemental appropriations affecting multiple state agencies, and forwarded several contested items to the full House for further action. Votes covered agencies from Idaho Public Television to the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources, with several motions carrying by clear majorities and a handful drawing substantial debate.

The committee’s work included routine replacement-item requests, forecast adjustments for psychiatric hospitals, continued appropriations tied to the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan, and accounting corrections for unemployment insurance funds. Several motions also carried technical language allowing limited transfer authority for mental-health appropriations; the committee adopted that language by unanimous consent in multiple places.

Why it matters: These votes move multiple agency budgets and grant spending authorities forward in the legislative process. Several funding decisions — particularly those that rely on federal grants or change how federal funds are treated — will determine how the state implements behavioral-health reforms, hospital operations and federally funded energy-rebate programs.

Most significant outcomes (motions, amounts, committee vote totals): - Idaho Public Television — Add $342,400 (general fund) for replacement items and a network operations center upgrade. Motion passed: committee total 16 ayes, 4 nays. - Soil and Water Conservation Commission — Add $1,040,500 (general fund; $40,500 replacement + $1,000,000 grants for water-quality/agriculture). Motion passed: committee total 18 ayes, 2 nays. - Behavioral health (supplemental/federal grant authority for Idaho Behavioral Health Plan, FY2025) — One-time $6,743,800 (Cooperative Welfare Federal Fund) to spend previously awarded federal grant funds. Motion passed: committee total 15 ayes, 5 nays. Related FY2026 federal grant increase ($261,400) also advanced (18 ayes reported). - Psychiatric hospitalization (civil commitment/community hospitalization, FY2025) — One-time $2,663,500 (general fund) for increased civil-commitment expenditures. Motion passed: committee total 19 ayes, 1 nay. - State Hospital fund shifts (West and South) — Forecast adjustments shifting federal to dedicated/general funds were adopted (committee recorded unanimous or near-unanimous approvals in the transcripts for the items; see agency budgets for details). - Substance Abuse Treatment & Prevention (FY2026 fund adjustments) — Net-zero adjustments between dedicated and federal funds for personnel and trustee/benefit lines; final committee vote recorded 14 ayes, 6 nays (motion recommended for passage). - Department of Labor — Initial operations enhancement motion drew contested votes; the committee later approved accounting corrections and a fund transfer of $4,868,000 from the Unemployment Security Administration and Reimbursement Fund to the Employment Security Fund (vote recorded: unanimous in committee where taken; recorded committee tally 18 ayes, 0 nays for the transfer). Additional language to correct FY2024 fund balances and a reporting requirement were accepted by unanimous consent. - Secretary of State — FY2026 package adding $468,300 (general fund) and reappropriation authority tied to elections work (election-system upgrades and election-integrity audit reappropriations). Committee vote: Senate 8 ayes/2 nays; House portion as recorded 7 ayes/1 nay/2 absent; motion advanced with due-pass recommendation. - State Treasurer — $25,000 (email security software; split general/dedicated as shown in budget book). Motion advanced; recorded committee tallies show both chambers with majorities in favor; motion advanced with due-pass recommendation. The broader governor proposal for a $15 million workforce housing initiative was not adopted as part of this motion and drew floor-level objections. - Office of Energy and Mineral Resources — The committee considered a package that included federal appropriations (roughly $24.5 million in federal funds) to implement the federal Home Energy Rebate programs and a $481,100 general-fund governor initiative to create a Speed Council. The committee recorded divided votes across the Senate and House members; after a tied or split count in the House portion of the committee, the co-chairs directed that the package be sent to the House for consideration with language attached. (See separate article on energy package debates for details.) - Idaho State Liquor Division — Multiple dedicated-fund enhancements and replacement items totaling $1,521,700 were advanced (committee total 14 ayes, 6 nays). - Commission on the Arts — $18,400 (general fund) for four additional NEA-matching arts-and-education grants; motion advanced with majority support. - Idaho Lottery — $176,700 (dedicated) for ITS-recommended hardware replacement; motion advanced with committee majority. - Brand Inspection Division (Idaho State Police) — Replacement vehicles and IT hardware totaling $289,200 (dedicated funds) were approved by the committee. - Commission of Pardons and Parole — $12,600 (general fund) for IT replacement items; motion passed unanimously in committee. - Division of Veteran Services — Technical FY2026 correction shifting $852,000 between personnel and operating lines across funds (net-zero reclassification) was adopted unanimously.

Several measures included “condition, limitation and restriction” language or transfer-exemption language tied to statute (67-3511 Idaho Code) to allow limited intradepartmental transfers for behavioral-health and psychiatric-hospital divisions; the committee approved that language by unanimous consent in multiple places.

What’s next: Most motions that received committee approval will move to the full House and Senate for consideration in standing appropriation bills. Items that relied on federal grant authority or that the committee chose to forward to only one chamber will be handled in subsequent floor work. The Office of Energy and Mineral Resources package in particular will be considered further in the House after committee discussion produced split chamber tallies.

Sources: JFAC meeting transcript (committee roll calls, motions, spoken explanations by analysts and agency representatives, and recorded roll-call tallies).