Department of Labor requests $7.33 million in dedicated spending authority to sustain unemployment operations; lawmakers seek staffing and trust‑fund details

The Idaho Department of Labor asked the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Wednesday for an increase in dedicated‑fund spending authority to maintain core unemployment insurance (UI) operations as federal pandemic funding declines.

Director Janie Rivera said the department is requesting $7,330,000 in ongoing dedicated‑fund authority to cover UI operations that previously had been paid with higher federal grant levels during the pandemic. Rivera told the committee the request is intended to preserve current operations and staffing so the department can respond quickly if unemployment rises.

“During the pandemic, the department got a significant increase in federal grants,” Director Rivera said. “As these federal dollars are declining, we need to keep all of those operations going.”

Why it matters: the Department of Labor administers UI benefits, adjudication and appeals. During the COVID‑19 pandemic the department added staff to address a surge in claims; federal administrative funding has since declined. The department said dedicated funds have grown because those dedicated funds were not spent while federal funds were available, and the requested authority would allow dedicated funds to support ongoing staff and operations.

Key details from the hearing

- Amount and purpose: Brooke Dupree, Legislative Services Office analyst, outlined a requested $7,330,000 ongoing for unemployment insurance operations funded from the department’s dedicated special administration fund (not general fund). Dupree also described a requested cash transfer of $4,868,600 from the Unemployment Penalty and Interest Fund back to a continuously appropriated employment security fund to correct prior over‑transfers.

- Staffing: Rivera said the department expanded staffing during the pandemic — adding more than 100 people — and has since reduced staffing through attrition. The department wants spending authority to maintain a baseline staffing level necessary for claims determinations, appeals and employer compliance and to avoid overreliance on uncertain federal grants. Rivera said some staffing increases during the pandemic were for adjudicators and claim specialists and that future staffing needs will rise in a recession.

- UI trust fund and contingencies: Rivera described the state UI trust fund mechanics and told the committee the fund is currently solvent. “We have about a billion dollar trust fund,” Rivera said. She explained that if the trust fund is exhausted the state could borrow from the federal government or issue bonds, as other states did during the Great Recession and the COVID era.

Lawmakers sought follow-up information

Committee members asked for more precise staffing counts showing baseline staff levels and peak hires during the pandemic, and for details about how salary‑savings or unspent FTP authority has been used historically. Senator Galloway and Representative Handy asked for numerical breakdowns on how many permanent positions the department now needs and how staffing fluctuates in downturns.

Actions and status

The department presented the following budget requests to the committee: $7,330,000 ongoing in dedicated UI spending authority for UI operations; a requested $4,868,600 cash transfer from the unemployment penalty and interest fund to the employment security fund to correct an overtransfer; and $161,000 for OITS hardware (70 laptops/docking stations and 70 desktops). The committee did not record a vote in the hearing; the governor’s budget recommendation lists the enhancements as recommended.

Ending

Director Rivera offered to provide a factsheet and follow‑up data on current staffing levels, historical FTP fills and a staff count breakdown that would show baseline versus recession staffing. The committee asked the department to provide those figures to the analyst for distribution to members.