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Workforce Development Council urges consolidation of STEM Action Center, shifts funds to expand LAUNCH grants
Summary
Agency leaders told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee they want to fold the STEM Action Center into the Idaho Workforce Development Council and move funds within the In‑Demand Careers Fund to expand LAUNCH awards; lawmakers pressed officials on fund transfers, repayment rates and ARPA timelines.
The Idaho Workforce Development Council asked the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee to approve a policy change to transfer the STEM Action Center's responsibilities into the council and to reallocate existing In‑Demand Careers Fund dollars to expand LAUNCH grants for eligible students.
In testimony, Brooke Dupree, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, said the In‑Demand Careers Fund was created by House Bill 1 (2022 extraordinary session) and is supported by an $80,000,000 sales‑tax distribution. Dupree told the committee the council is requesting an expenditure‑category transfer totaling $1,150,000 that would, she said, "allow for up to 143 more students annually to get grants of up to $8,000." Dupree also summarized that the council has 14 authorized FTEs and noted reappropriation authority has driven differences between appropriated amounts and actual expenditures.
Wendy Seacrest, executive director of…
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