Idaho Department of Administration requests funding as governor's housing fund nears depletion

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on President’s Day reviewed the Idaho Department of Administration’s fiscal 2026 budget request, including a request for a general-fund appropriation to the governor’s housing fund after officials told the committee the fund will be exhausted by August 2026 without action.

The department requests an ongoing $660,600 from the general fund for fiscal 2026 to support the governor’s housing stipend and related governor’s housing committee activities, Director Steve Bailey said. The committee previously asked the department to request $30,000 for fiscal 2025; that request was not funded, Frances Lippett, the committee’s budget and policy analyst, told members during the presentation.

The governor’s housing fund is continuously appropriated to the Department of Administration and is administered by the five‑member governor’s housing committee, Lippett told the committee. The fund currently provides a monthly housing stipend set at $4,551 and “has no consistent source of revenue,” she said. Lippett said the department requested an earlier, smaller appropriation that the legislature did not fund and is now seeking the larger, ongoing appropriation.

Beyond the governor’s housing request, the department described its overall appropriation and recent workload: it…