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JFAC accepts EROC revenue recommendations, setting lower revenue baseline for budgeting
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee accepted the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee(EROC) median revenue recommendations for FY2025 and FY2026 by unanimous consent, putting a more cautious revenue baseline into JFACplanning.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Monday accepted the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee(EROC) recommendations that set total general fund revenues available for appropriation at $5.99 billion for fiscal 2025 and $6.40 billion for fiscal 2026.
The EROC co-chair, Senator Kevin Cook, told JFAC the committee had reviewed business, tax and financial data and testimony from economists and industry representatives and produced median projections that were lower than the governor's recommendations. "We recommend cautious in making appropriations above the committee's revenue recommendation," Cook said.
EROC compared its medians with Governor Little's general fund projections. The governor's 2025 projection was cited in EROC briefing materials at about $5.99 billion (the committee cited the governor's larger figure in its discussion); for 2026 the governor's projection was roughly $6.03 billion; for fiscal 2027 the governor's number cited by EROC was about $6.836 billion while the committee's median was $6.385 billion. EROC noted economic uncertainty related to Federal Reserve actions to address inflation and the recent presidential election as risks to the outlook.
Representative Jeff Ehlers, co-chair of EROC, thanked committee members for the work that produced the median recommendations. The committee's report and median projections were accepted by JFAC on a motion to accept the EROC report, moved by Cochair Horman and seconded by Senator Woodward; the committee approved the acceptance by unanimous consent.
Why it matters: Idaho's Constitution (Article VII, Section 11) requires the state to balance appropriations and expenditures within available revenues, so the revenue baseline that EROC recommended will be a primary input as JFAC prepares program maintenance and enhancement budgets.
Next steps: JFAC will use the accepted revenue baselines as part of its upcoming maintenance- and enhancement-budget work sessions and final appropriation decisions.
