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JFAC approves $666,500 package for Commission on Aging, including $500,000 ARPA drawdown
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a FY2026 supplemental for the Idaho Commission on Aging that draws down $500,000 in ARPA funds and adds ongoing and one-time general-fund amounts to cover inflation and IT replacements.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to approve enhancements for the Commission on Aging on a motion that passed by recorded tallies, advancing the agency's FY2026 budget with a combination of federal and state funding.
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 before the federal access deadline of Sept. 30, 2025; an ongoing general-fund increase to cover inflationary cost pressures; and a one-time general-fund appropriation for replacement IT hardware.
McGurkin said $450,000 of the $500,000 federal request would be passed through as direct payments to local area agencies on aging (AAAs) to cover final invoices for programs including Older Idaho supportive services, meal programs, modernization at contracted senior centers, caregiver assistance, adult protective services and a pilot to expand the public-health workforce. He said the agency characterized the ARPA funding as one-time and that the requested expenditure would not create ongoing obligations.
The analyst described the ongoing general-fund request as $162,600 to address inflationary increases; of that, $155,000 was identified for a 3% increase in trustee/benefit payments to AAAs and $7,600 for a 2% increase in central Commission on Aging operating expenditures for training and travel. McGurkin also described a $3,900 one-time general-fund request for two laptops and two docking stations under the state's four-year replacement cycle.
Senator Jenny Ward Engelcain moved the package, and Representative Petske seconded the motion. A recorded roll call showed the motion carried with 19 ayes and 1 nay. The transcript records Seiderfeld as the lone nay; the committee chair announced that a majority had voted in the affirmative and that the item would go forward with a do-pass recommendation.
The committee discussion on the record included a clarification by the member offering the motion, noting that, despite the increases requested, the overall package represented a net negative change of 5.6 percent according to the committee analyst's presentation.
The approved package consolidates the three enhancements into a single legislative recommendation that will proceed with the committee's bill-drafting and fiscal processes.
The Commission on Aging implements federal Older Americans Act programs and Idaho's Senior Services Act; the approved appropriations are intended to support continued payments to AAAs and to close out specified ARPA-funded activities before federal deadlines.
