Governor’s office seeks one‑time cash restoration for emergency fund, $250,000 for America250 activities

The Executive Office of the Governor presented its FY26 budget enhancements to the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Feb. 18, seeking a $1.35 million one‑time transfer from the general fund to restore the governor’s emergency fund cash balance to the $2 million base appropriation, and requesting $250,000 one‑time general‑fund support to implement objectives tied to a national America250 effort.

Christopher Lahoset, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the governor’s emergency fund has a $2 million base appropriation and that the fund’s cash balance had fallen to about $650,000 because of prior expenditures the office made to reimburse the Idaho State Police for the Moscow murder investigations and for a fentanyl‑related public program.

Lahoset said the executive office is also requesting $45,000 one‑time from the general fund for IT replacement items and $250,000 one‑time to “implement the objectives of the White House Task Force on celebrating America’s 200 and Fiftieth birthday known as Task Force 2250,” a group the analyst said originated with a presidential executive order.

Questions from lawmakers focused on itemized spending, constituent‑management software, and inter‑agency transfers. Several legislators asked for detailed expenditure lists and for itemized hardware lists tied to the $45,000 IT request. Senator Hart and others asked whether a previously appropriated constituent‑services platform (the budget book used the term “Salesforce”) had been procured; Lori Wolf, administrator of the Division of Financial Management (DFM), said the governor’s office had not yet spent the appropriation and that Salesforce proved cost‑prohibitive in initial evaluations. Wolf said the office is still defining requirements and exploring lower‑cost options and that DFM staff may be able to leverage existing functionality.

Transparency and transfers Lawmakers asked for transaction‑level details. Lahoset agreed to provide spreadsheets and reports; Senator Zatterfeld specifically requested an Excel breakout of how past emergency‑fund expenditures were spent. Representative Tanner and others asked about personnel cost reimbursements and transfers from other agencies to the governor’s office budget. Lori Wolf explained that reimbursing personnel costs across agencies is an established practice (the transcript referenced the “10P” process going back to the 1990s) and said the state’s new LUMA accounting system should improve traceability. Wolf also offered to supply committee members with more detailed role‑and‑hours information for recent transfers (she described reimbursed time when she served in the governor’s office during a transition period).

Why it matters Restoring the emergency fund cash balance would reestablish available cash to match the $2 million appropriation; per Lahoset, both appropriation authority and available cash are needed before the governor can expend the emergency fund. The America250 request would fund Idaho’s participation in anticipated national‑level events tied to a presidential executive order; the governor’s office said it would coordinate with existing state advisory councils.

Next steps and follow‑up Analysts agreed to provide the committee detailed expenditure reports requested by senators, an itemized IT hardware list, and the governor’s office will clarify the scope and procurement plan for any constituent services platform before using the previously authorized funds.