JFAC adopts SharePoint workflow, outlines hearing schedule and work groups

The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 8 received a demonstration of a SharePoint site and the legislature's session record to access the legislative budget book, agency presentations and archived hearings.

The presentation, given by Keith Bybee, Division Manager of the Budget and Policy Analysis Team for the Legislative Services Office (LSO), outlined a new naming convention for agency materials, instructions for downloading files (so members can annotate them), and how to find videos and slide decks in the public session record at legislature.idaho.gov. "SharePoint mirrors the OneDrive that all of the House uses to submit when you're reviewing an RS," Bybee said.

Bybee told members that downloaded documents must be saved to each member's device to allow editing and annotation and described a two‑pane "facing pages" view in the legislative budget book that shows multiple years of fiscal data side by side. He also walked members through the committee's hearing schedule, saying JFAC would generally meet from about 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and that work groups would convene after the committee adjourned each day.

Why this matters: JFAC reviews more than a hundred agency budgets in a short period. The SharePoint structure and session record are intended to reduce duplicate downloads, improve transparency for the public and press, and let members and staff annotate documents without printing the roughly 850‑page budget book.

Details from the presentation: Bybee demonstrated how to select files for download, recommended that members create a personal JFAC folder on their device, and described the session record's day‑by‑day archive with links to audio, video and materials. He said documents from prior sessions remain available and that staff can produce printed copies on request. Bybee said analysts will use a consistent code (for example, a five‑digit prefix and A/B file suffix) so agency and analyst presentations appear together.

LSO and supplementary staff introductions: Mr. Bybee introduced the Budget and Policy Analysis team members who will staff the committee, including Jared Tetreault (deputy manager), Janet Jessup (natural resources analyst and appropriations bill coordinator), Frances Lippitt (capital budgets and CEC assignment), Alex Williamson (health and welfare assignment), Brooke Dupree (transportation, commerce and labor), and new analysts Kevin Campbell (secondary education), Noah Peterson (public safety), Kellen McGurkin (general government) and Chris Lahoset (statewide elected officials and defender offices). Bybee noted tablets (iPads and Surface Pros) are available for members who want to mark up materials electronically.

LSO impact review team and research fellows: Paul Headley, LSO deputy chief, introduced the LSO impact review team — researchers available to perform targeted analyses, short memos or deeper research at the committee's request. Headley said the team is intended to strengthen evidence‑based review: "As I've looked at performance measures, performance budgeting, recently and over the years, there's 1 word or 1 theme that kinda continues to rise to the top and that's evidence." He named team members Casey Hartwig, Alex Penney and Alex Hatfield and introduced two research fellows affiliated with the university fellowship program, Ellen Upton and Kalyn (surname not specified in transcript), who will assist analysts and work groups.

Schedule and process reminders: Bybee summarized the first weeks of hearings: the governor's budget presentation and a DFM update this week; program maintenance budgets are scheduled to be set on Friday the 17th; week 2 begins agency budget presentations (Department of Health and Welfare, secondary education and others); later weeks will address higher education, transportation, natural resources, capital budgets and Medicaid. He reiterated that work groups will meet daily after the 8–9:30 a.m. JFAC session to allow detailed review and reduce the number of full‑committee hearings.

Support for members: Staff offered one‑on‑one help to set up SharePoint and download the budget book. Bybee said staff would repeat the file‑management demonstration individually for members who needed it.

Next steps and public access: Members were encouraged to use the session record and SharePoint; all documents demonstrated are publicly available through the legislature's website and the session record. Staff will assist members who request printed budget books or device setup.