JFAC advances community college and corrections budgets, defers $2.5 million library digital-access grant

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) on March 7 approved several agency budget items — including enrollment workload adjustments for Idaho’s community colleges, a personnel/FTP transfer inside the Department of Commerce, and funding for juvenile and adult corrections — while declining to approve a $2.5 million federal Digital Access for All grant for the Idaho Commission for Libraries. The libraries item drew extended debate over whether federal digital-equity programs include diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) language and how returned federal funds are redistributed.

Why it matters: The committee’s votes shape which agency requests move to the Legislature’s floors and which items are held for further committee action. Several of the approved items allocate ongoing general funds or direct agencies to develop new funding models; the libraries item would have distributed a federal digital-equity grant to local libraries across Idaho.

Most significant outcomes

- Community colleges: JFAC approved $1,679,800 in ongoing General Fund for enrollment workload adjustments across…