Committee hears library request to make Digital Access grant ongoing, seeks itemized spending details

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee heard a presentation from the Idaho Commission for Libraries on the agency's FY2026 budget request, including a request to make a $2.5 million-per-year Digital Access for All Idahoans grant part of the agency base.

The request would continue work the commission has started with federal funds from IIJA/NTIA and other ARPA-era awards to expand digital access statewide, including hiring personnel, funding digital navigators, buying devices, and subgranting money to community colleges, school districts and nonprofit organizations. "We're the 3rd state in the nation to receive our allocation of funds," Stephanie Bailey White, state librarian and director of the Idaho Commission for Libraries, told the committee, and the agency has launched a subgrant round and is ranking first-round applicants.

The commission said federal awards and one-time ARPA capital projects explain recent budget spikes. Analyst Brooke Dupree told the committee that FY2024 spending rose after a roughly $3.5 million ARPA Capital Projects Fund award and that the agency expects additional federal notices of award that can be spent through 2032. Dupree also identified a separate FY2026 request of $42,400 ongoing for a broadband reimbursement tied to the Education Opportunity Resource Act (Chapter 56, Title 33, Idaho Code) that would raise the program base to $275,000 to cover more eligible libraries.

Committee members pressed for more detail about how existing federal money has been and will be used. Senator Carl Carlson asked for an itemized list of how the roughly $6 million the commission has received for the digital access effort has been spent; Dupree said she could provide an overview but did not have an itemized accounting in the hearing. Bailey White described program goals: "There are going to be digital navigators, beefing up digital skills, providing tech support for people in communities who don't have access to that now," and said the agency planned to send about 80 percent of NTIA funds out through subgrants.

Lawmakers also asked about summer reading materials and public concerns about content. Bailey White said summer reading programs have been run by local libraries for decades and that the commission's role is primarily limited to providing manuals, posters and modest giveaways; she said the commission did not administer large grant programs specifically for summer reading. She said the agency received a $17,500 donation this year from the Scottish Rite Foundation to buy paperback giveaway books and that 107,000 children participated in summer reading last year, a 30 percent year-over-year increase.

Committee members divided on whether it is appropriate to roll a federal, time-limited grant into the state base. "Anytime we have federal money that sets up something and it goes for some period of time and then it stops ... there seems to be an expectation ... that the state will pay general funds," Chairman Groh said. Several legislators responded that ongoing appropriation can improve predictability for local partners. Dupree told the panel the committee has previously funded the digital access program on a one-time basis and that making it ongoing remains an option.

The commission recommended competitive scoring and ranking for subgrants and said it received more requests in the first round than available subgrant funds. National agencies (NTIA and NIST) will review subgrant packages and occasionally require corrections before subgrants are finalized and contracts signed.

Next steps: committee analysts agreed to provide a detailed accounting of prior digital access spending and a description of planned uses for the remaining grant period; the commission committed to follow up with additional documentation. No formal vote or appropriation was recorded during the hearing.