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Idaho Economic Outlook panel recommends $5.99B for FY25, $6.40B for FY26; JFAC accepts report
Summary
The Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee (EROC) presented revised revenue recommendations — $5.99 billion for fiscal 2025 and $6.40 billion for fiscal 2026 — and JFAC accepted the report by unanimous consent. The committee urged caution because of uncertainty tied to Federal Reserve actions and the presidential election.
The Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee recommended general fund revenues of $5.99 billion for fiscal year 2025 and $6.40 billion for fiscal year 2026, and the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee accepted that report by unanimous consent.
Senator Kevin Cook, co-chair of EROC, told JFAC the committee reviewed business, tax and financial data and heard testimony from economists and industry representatives before setting the recommendations. “We, the committee, recommend to the Senate and House representatives leadership and to the co chairs of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee total general fund revenues available for appropriation to be $5,990,000,000 for fiscal year 2025, and $6,400,000,000 for fiscal year 2026,” Cook said.
The committee framed its recommendations to comply with the Idaho Constitution’s requirement that appropriations and expenditures be balanced within revenues (Idaho Constitution, Art. VII, Sec. 11). The EROC report contrasted its median projections with the governor’s earlier figures and recommended caution against making appropriations above the committee’s numbers, citing uncertainty related to Federal Reserve actions and the recent presidential election.
Representative Jeff Ehlers, the panel’s other co-chair, thanked committee members and outside experts for the work that informed the report. “I just wanna say thank you to all our committee members for the hard work that they put on,” Ehlers said in presenting the findings to JFAC.
JFAC moved to accept the EROC report. A member moved that the committee accept the report; Senator Woodward seconded. Chair called for unanimous consent and, seeing no objections, said the report was accepted.
The accepted EROC numbers will be used in upcoming JFAC budget-setting work. EROC members warned that the recommended figures reflect a cautious stance meant to reduce the risk of setting appropriations above likely revenues.
Ending: JFAC accepted the EROC recommendation without recorded roll-call votes; the committee’s recommendation will be part of the revenue baseline used as JFAC proceeds to consider program maintenance and enhancement budgets next week.
