Deficiency warrants, supplementals and emergency language: committee briefed on statutory tools for unplanned spending

Kellen McGurkin, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee on Jan. 7 that deficiency warrants and supplementals are distinct statutory mechanisms the Legislature uses to handle unanticipated or exceptional expenditures.

McGurkin said deficiency warrants allow specified agencies to draw against the general fund for narrowly defined purposes — for example, dam safety, fire suppression and pest control — without a prior legislative appropriation. Those warrant expenditures are typically authorized by the Board of Examiners or the Board of Land Commissioners, and agencies later come before JFAC to appropriate general‑fund dollars that zero out the warrants. McGurkin noted the Board of Examiners consists of the governor, secretary of state and state controller; the Board of Land Commissioners has its own membership and statutory authority.

On supplementals, McGurkin told members that although supplementals function like ordinary appropriations, they are adjustments to the current fiscal year. “This session you’ll be hearing requests that make changes to the appropriation an agency has for fiscal year 2025,” he said. He emphasized that supplementals should address emergent needs rather than serve as routine midyear increases; one co‑chair recalled earlier years when many supplementals were submitted and urged that supplemental requests be reserved for true crises.

McGurkin provided the governor’s recommended totals for current‑year adjustments: approximately $604,842,000 across all funds, including about $98,776,000 in the general fund. He said the governor’s totals include a proposed transfer of $60,000,000 from the general fund to the fire deficiency fund. Committee members were told a fuller, agency‑by‑agency listing of deficiency‑warrant and supplemental requests is available in the budget materials and on the legislative web pages.

McGurkin also reminded the committee of the emergency‑clause provision in the Idaho Constitution: except in the case of emergency, laws do not take effect until the end of the fiscal year. If the Legislature wants a current‑year appropriation to be effective immediately, the committee must include emergency language in the bill.

The committee asked practical questions about timing and procurement when an agency faces an immediate repair need — for example, a leaky roof. McGurkin said procurement and purchasing rules may still apply and that agencies should coordinate with purchasing staff; in the budget process, a supplemental would be the mechanism to appropriate funds for the current fiscal year. Committee chairs urged members to use discretion and limit supplementals to bona fide emergencies.

Ending: McGurkin concluded by pointing committee members to a printed and online list of all deficiency‑warrant and supplemental requests by agency and stood for questions.