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JFAC staff outlines program maintenance bills, committee reorders agenda to prioritize maintenance budget briefing
Summary
Budget staff explained the structure and timing of 10 program maintenance appropriation bills and the committee approved a temporary reordering of the agenda so attendees could hear maintenance-budget material before some members left.
Keith Bybee, Division Manager of Budget Policy and Analysis, briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on the program maintenance appropriation bills, explaining why JFAC organized those maintenance decisions into 10 functional areas and how various componentsbenefit cost adjustments, contract inflation, statewide cost allocation and CECare included.
Bybee told the committee that the maintenance bills group ongoing base budget adjustments (Benchmark 4 to Benchmark 5 in the legislative budget manual) across 10 functional areas: Legislative Branch; Statewide Elected Officials; General Government; Judicial Branch; Public Safety; Public School Support; State Board of Education agencies (secondary education); Health and Human Services; Natural Resources; and Economic Development (including Idaho Transportation Department, Commerce and Labor).
He described what the maintenance bills will and will not include: benefit cost adjustments such as health insurance and PERSI, contract inflation and statewide cost allocation will be in program maintenance, while replacement items, nondiscretionary/population-forecast adjustments (e.g., Medicaid caseload changes), annualizations and many new requests will be handled in enhancement bills. Bybee said maintenance bills will be discussed in hearings next Wednesday with decision-making on Friday; JFAC co-chairs later clarified that four key items will be considered Thursday to allow time for committee review before Friday decisions.
The committee also approved a unanimous-consent request to reorder the agenda so the maintenance-budget briefing would be heard earlier to accommodate several attendees who would leave at 9:15 a.m. The reordering motion was seconded by Senator Woodward and approved with no objections.
Why it matters: The program maintenance bills set the baseline for FY2026 appropriations by incorporating ongoing personnel and statewide cost adjustments; understanding which items are in maintenance versus enhancements changes how members prioritize review time and amendment opportunities.
Next steps: JFAC members will receive program maintenance bills and data in advance, staff said, and will have hearings and decision sessions next week where they can adopt, subtract or modify items in the maintenance bills.
