JFAC backs $122.86 million in public-works projects from Permanent Building Fund

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved one-time appropriations totaling $122,861,900 from the Permanent Building Fund on March 12 for a slate of capital projects and replacements prioritized by the Division of Public Works and the Permanent Building Fund Advisory Council.

Approved projects and amounts included: funding to expand the Department of Lands' Ponderosa supervisory office; utilities connections for a planned Army National Guard Readiness Center in Bonneville County; construction and land purchase funding for Idaho State Police District 2 facility; lab construction funding for the Micron Center for Materials Research at Boise State University; a life-sciences complex at Idaho State University; a joint military science and veterans assistance center at University of Idaho; funding to restore statewide deferred maintenance; and a replacement-items package including alteration and repair, building-maintenance, ADA compliance, and campus facilities maintenance.

The package passed on roll-call and carries a due-pass recommendation. Committee language accompanying the appropriation requires the Division of Public Works to provide status and completion reports for public works projects as part of its November budget submission and directs the advisory council to recommend the disposition of appropriations when projects have not begun after specified periods.