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Health and Welfare seeks fund swaps and reports opioid and prevention funding; federal cap drives accounting change
Summary
Department officials told the committee they want to swap fund sources to comply with a federal administrative cap on the substance-use block grant and reported ongoing opioid-response dollars and one-time opioid-settlement spending for recovery services and prevention.
Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, presented the substance abuse treatment and prevention budget and noted large trustee-and-benefit spending in fiscal year 2024.
She told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the division received an $8,000,000 appropriation for the state opioid response grant in FY 2023 that was made ongoing in FY 2024, and that the FY 2025 budget included $1,600,000 ongoing — $1,300,000 of which supported Millennium Fund initiatives such as community-based recovery centers and $250,000 for the Idaho Drug Free Youth program.
Williamson described a department request, supported by the governor, to reallocate fund sources to comply with federal rules for the Substance Use Block Grant. Federal guidance placed Idaho on a corrective action plan after the state exceeded the 5% cap on administrative/personnel spending for that grant. To regain compliance while preserving current staffing, the department proposed moving $533,900 from the liquor-control fund to pay personnel costs and simultaneously moving $673,900 of federal personnel costs to trustee-and-benefit payments on the federal fund side, effectively changing which fund pays personnel versus subgrants.
Senator Cook characterized the change bluntly, asking whether the department was “just going to shift some money so it doesn't look like we stay underneath the 5%.” Williamson answered that the department was using available dedicated funds (liquor-control funds) to pay more personnel costs so federal dollars can go to trustee and benefit payments.
Director Alex Adams said the department tried to avoid asking for additional general fund and had proposed net reductions in FTP for the affected program while covering the delta with dedicated funds; he described the department as a “pass-through” for some federal and Millennium Fund distributions such as opioid-settlement dollars.
Representative Tanner asked about opioid-settlement spending, including a $100,000 grant for Boise State University's collegiate recovery program. Adams said Boise State had established a collegiate recovery program and hosted events; he said he would provide a mid-year update and encouraged the committee to ask Boise State for operational details at its budget hearing.
Ending
Staff will provide follow-up documentation on the fund swap mechanics and the department’s corrective-action plan to the committee.
