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Committee debate over $2.5M digital-access grant exposes partisan disagreement over DEI language; funding fails to advance
Summary
Lawmakers debated a $2.5 million federal grant for library digital access and whether the program’s materials included diversity, equity and inclusion references. The substitute and original committee motions both failed to carry in the House, so the appropriation did not pass.
Members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee debated funding for the Idaho Commission for Libraries on March 7, with disagreement centering on a $2.5 million federal Digital Access for All grant and whether grant materials referenced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Brooke Dupree, a Legislative Services Office analyst, told the committee the Commission administers statewide library grants and programs and presented the FY2026 request that included $42,400 general fund for broadband reimbursement, $40,000 federal funds…
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