Labor director describes unemployment insurance spending authority request and fund balances to JFAC

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee questioned the Idaho Department of Labor about a $7.33 million request in dedicated fund spending authority for unemployment insurance operations, a proposed $4,868,600 cash transfer between departmental funds, and several fund‑balance and staffing issues.

Legislative analyst Brooke Dupree reviewed the department’s consolidated fund analysis and noted an estimated FY26 ending free fund balance of roughly $47 million under current law. Dupree said the department requested a $4,868,600 transfer from the unemployment penalty and interest fund to the employment security fund to correct past overcounting that had routed more money to the penalty fund than intended. Dupree also outlined a $7,330,000 ongoing request in the determinations program (unemployment insurance operations) to offset reductions in federal grant funding.

Director Janie Rivera told the committee the UI program is a federal‑state partnership that received large pandemic federal grants. As federal grant awards decline while economic conditions remain favorable, the department needs additional spending authority in dedicated funds to maintain a baseline staff able to respond if a recession returns. Rivera described the $7.33 million request as spending authority from dedicated funds (not general fund) to support current staff and operations when federal administrative dollars are lower than previous years. She said the department’s staffing and grant levels fluctuate with economic cycles; the agency filled many positions during the pandemic and subsequently reduced personnel through attrition.

Committee members asked for additional data: how salary savings are being spent, details on the department’s baseline staffing and how much it expanded in the pandemic, and whether the federal administrative grant formula is national or state specific. Rivera said she would follow up with specific staffing counts and a fact sheet describing benefit and tax calculations. She also explained the department’s trust‑fund and claims payment arrangements: the department operates continuously appropriated funds used to pay benefits and historically saw large swings during COVID and recessions. Rivera said the fund that pays claims varied between about $69.7 million and $202 million in recent years (the COVID spike), and she also characterized the department’s broader trust‑fund position as “about a billion dollar trust fund,” adding that the state sets tax rates and has statutory rules designed to maintain solvency; if the trust fund were exhausted the state could borrow from the federal government or use bonding under statutory options.

On program rules, Rivera summarized Idaho law: the UI program’s benefit duration is indexed so that maximum weeks vary with the unemployment rate (committee discussion cited a current 21‑week maximum at a 3.7% unemployment rate and a statutory range used for indexing). She said weekly benefit amounts are set in statute; the department’s reported average weekly benefit was about $434. The department confirmed the $7.33 million request would be funded from dedicated UI administration funds and not from general fund appropriations.

Dupree said the governor recommends the enhancements; the committee requested follow‑up materials on staffing counts, historical staffing fluctuations, salary‑savings use, and a more detailed explanation of the cash transfer and the legal/statutory triggers referenced in the department’s consolidated fund analysis.