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Legislative analysts: Idaho sits on hundreds of millions in structural balance as 2026 budget request grows
Summary
Legislative Services Office analysts told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that state revenues remain above pre‑COVID trend lines, leaving a multi‑hundred‑million dollar structural balance that lawmakers will have to allocate among tax relief, program maintenance and one‑time spending in the 2026 budget.
Keith Bybee, division manager for budget policy analysis at the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Oct. 23 that Idaho’s revenue picture for the current biennium leaves the state with a multi‑hundred‑million dollar structural balance and choices for 2026 spending.
Bybee said the governor’s recommendation projects general fund revenues of about $5.9 billion for fiscal 2026 against projected expenditures near $6.26 billion for the budget window he presented, leaving roughly a $700 million structural difference between ongoing revenues and ongoing obligations. “Today my presentation is going to cover, FY 2025 and FY 2026 budget overview,” Bybee said as he opened his slide deck.
The nut of the presentation: while the state’s revenue trajectory jumped sharply during the pandemic-era years, Bybee said Idaho’s higher population and income levels mean it is unlikely to return to the pre‑2020 trend…
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