JFAC reviews Department of Health and Welfare public‑health budget, including program restorations and data modernization requests

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Jan. 21 reviewed the Department of Health and Welfare’s Division of Public Health Services budget request for fiscal 2026, focusing on proposed restorations of previously reduced ongoing programs, one‑time federal grants for data modernization and public‑health workforce support, and dedicated fund requests for immunizations and vital records.

The presentation by Keith Bybee, division manager for budget policy analysis, and Department Director Alex Adams framed the request as both a structural correction after large CARES Act and ARPA inflows in prior years and a targeted restoration of programs that the department argues are core to public‑health operations. “This year we...gave us a chance to get about $10,000,000 out of the budget or a 6% reduction year over year,” Adams said, describing the department’s approach to trimming and reprioritizing the base.

Committee members were presented with program‑level details. Bybee and department staff outlined one‑time enhancement requests tied to federal grants and ARPA carryover, totaling $8,752,500 in the package of one‑time items, and an agency request of roughly $20.8 million in ongoing restorations (the governor recommended about $21.5 million). Specific restoration requests shown in the budget book included: suicide prevention ($1,807,700 general fund and $195,000 federal), drug overdose prevention (restore 4 FTE and $2,820,200), refugee health screening (1.5 FTE and $991,000), Alzheimer’s and related dementias coordination ($275,200), the Fit and Fall Proof program ($140,000), multiple block grants reallocated ($190,000), diabetes population health ($1,063,700), HIV prevention ($957,300), oral health workforce support ($379,600), integrated hepatitis surveillance ($599,200), WIC/supplemental nutrition ($6,944,600), and TANF support ($400,000). The budget book also lists a request for immunization assessment fund support; the presentation described an ongoing dedicated‑fund request for $2,500,000 in the Idaho immunization program alongside a larger fund balance notation in the materials.

Data modernization and IT upgrades were a recurring thread. Bybee and Adams described multiple grants and CDC programs (epidemiology and laboratory capacity grants and Data Modernization initiatives) aimed at automating vital records, improving WIC access, and reducing siloing across roughly 60 public‑health systems. Adams said the department will provide a follow‑up summary to the committee detailing what prior ARPA and related investments have achieved and where additional funds would be used.

Committee members asked how programs might be reorganized. Representative Price and others asked whether items such as Alzheimer’s programs and overdose prevention should sit in other offices (for example, aging or the Office of Drug Policy). Adams and Division Administrator Elke Shaw Hatak (as introduced at the hearing) said the department focuses on prevention and maintained that some program relationships require the department’s public‑health role, but the department is open to interagency transfers if they make programmatic sense.

Project ECHO funding drew particular scrutiny. Adams described Project ECHO as a continuing medical education platform hosted by the University of Idaho and said the department had historically included a $200,000 pass‑through. He told the committee he had asked whether the department should be the fiscal home for a university program and noted legislative intent language directing the department to continue passing funds to Project ECHO; several legislators urged removing that intent language and shifting authority or funding to the university or other appropriate host.

A separate programmatic question concerned accreditation and the newly formed Office of Accreditation and Planning within the division. Senator Tanner pressed on the presence of diversity, equity and inclusion language in accreditation standards; Adams said accreditation is voluntary, has been pursued for a decade, and that the department has added an executive review to ensure communications and programs comport with “Idaho values.” Adams also told the committee that moving the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services into the Office of Emergency Management has been discussed in prior sessions and a similar proposal may be filed this year.

What happens next: committee chairs urged individual members to follow up with analysts and agency staff for details and said some items will be reconciled through trailer appropriations or future decisions. Department staff committed to supplying a short follow‑up memo on data modernization progress and to answering further questions about individual program operations and federal‑grant dependencies.

Ending: The committee did not take a formal vote on the Division of Public Health Services budget during the hearing. Members said they will continue to review the packet, contact budget analysts, and return with decisions during later JFAC deliberations.