JFAC approves FY2026 funding package for Commission on Aging including one-time ARPA drawdown

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved additional funding for the Idaho Commission on Aging for fiscal year 2026 that combines one-time federal ARPA payments and ongoing and one-time general fund amounts.

Kellen McGurkin, a budget analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee the agency requested three enhancements: a $500,000 one-time federal appropriation to draw down remaining ARPA grant funds expiring Sept. 30, 2025; an ongoing general-fund increase of $162,600 to address inflationary costs; and a $3,900 one-time general-fund appropriation to replace two laptops and two docking stations per the Office of Information Technology’s recommended four-year replacement cycle.

The one-time $500,000 federal drawdown includes $450,000 for direct payments to local area agencies on aging (AAAs) to cover final invoices for programs including Older Americans Act supportive services, meal programs, modernization at contracted senior centers, caregiver assistance, adult protective services and a pilot public-health workforce expansion. McGurkin said the agency represented that these are one-time expenditures tied to ARPA and “none of this total results in ongoing obligations or loss of expected services when ARPA grants expire.”

The $162,600 ongoing general-fund request includes $155,000 tied to a 3% increase in trustee and benefit payments to local AAAs to cover rising costs such as labor, insurance and fuel, and $7,600 for a 2% increase in central Commission on Aging operating expenditures for training, travel and audit activities. The $3,900 one-time general-fund request covers two laptops and two docking stations.

Senator Jenny Ward Englecain moved the committee recommendation to add the three enhancements; Representative Petske seconded the motion. The committee recorded a majority vote in favor and the motion will go forward with a do-pass recommendation. The committee reported a final tally of 19 ayes and 1 nay across both chambers, with the recorded nay cast by Senator Seiderfeld and the remainder voting in the affirmative as recorded in the hearing transcript.

The committee did not direct additional follow-up beyond the appropriation; the analyst summarized the funding purposes and the committee voted on the motion based on the presented fiscal detail.

The approved package will be included in the FY2026 budget process and forwarded with a do-pass recommendation from JFAC.