Millennium Fund approves $1.29M supplemental for youth assessment centers; larger FY26 package fails in House

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee acted on recommendations from the Millennium Fund Committee, approving a fiscal‑year 2025 supplemental for youth assessment centers but declining (on House vote) a broader fiscal‑year 2026 package that the Millennium Fund had endorsed.

Key outcomes: - FY2025 supplemental for youth assessment centers — JFAC approved a $1,291,001 one‑time appropriation from the Idaho Millennium Income Fund to the Department of Juvenile Corrections to support youth assessment centers. The motion carried on committee roll calls and included language requiring sustainability plans, reporting, and generally accepted accounting practices for centers receiving funds.

- FY2026 Millennium Fund package (original motion) — the committee considered a larger package of dedicated‑fund requests (about $7.06 million) that included items the Millennium Fund recommended: a youth assessment survey, opioid/fentanyl public education funding through Idaho State Police, personnel support for Idaho Public Television’s anti‑vaping campaign, school resource officer cohort funding, after‑school programs, and $2.5 million for youth assessment centers. A substitute motion that narrowed the package (removing the survey and some after‑school items and seeking to fund fewer line items) failed in committee; the original (broader) motion later failed to pass the full House vote at the hearing (the Senate vote favored passage but the House did not), so the FY26 package did not advance at this hearing.

Why it mattered: The Millennium Fund contains tobacco‑settlement proceeds and other dedicated monies intended to support prevention and public health efforts; committee members debated whether funding should focus tightly on vaping/fentanyl prevention and school interventions or on a wider set of community and after‑school programs. Proponents described the youth well‑being survey and school‑based prevention programs as tools to tailor local interventions in partnership with parents; opponents worried about overlap with federal programs and questioned whether some proposals would effectively reduce youth substance use.

Language and conditions: The supplemental approved for youth assessment centers included seven subsections of language the committee adopted for this one‑time appropriation: (1) funds are one‑time, (2) recipients must submit a sustainability plan, (3) distributions will be determined by the Department of Juvenile Corrections, (4) recipients must report on use of funds and follow generally accepted accounting principles, (5) audit provisions if warranted, and (6) any future state funding requests would be submitted to the Idaho Behavioral Health Council if needed.

Votes and process notes: The FY2025 supplemental motion for $1,291,001 passed on committee roll call (committee recorded an overall majority vote in favor with Senate and House tallies as recorded in the transcript). The FY26 motion (the broader package) passed the Senate but failed to secure the House majority during the same hearing: after a substitute motion was defeated, the original motion failed in the House (final recorded committee aggregate: the original package scored 12 ayes and 8 nays across both chambers; because the House majority was not in favor at that time, the motion did not advance). Committee chairs noted the Millennium Fund Committee had recommended a more modest set of priorities after multiple meetings and that remaining proposals could be reconsidered later.

What’s next: The approved youth assessment center supplemental will be reappropriated to juvenile corrections as recorded; other Millennium Fund proposals may be revisited, amended or considered in subsequent hearings or interim work groups.