Idaho Transportation Department sought $275 million transfer for roads; governor recommended far less

Brooke Dupree, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the joint Senate Finance and House Appropriations committee that the Idaho Transportation Department requested a $275,000,000 general‑fund transfer to fund safety, capacity and maintenance work. "The biggest line item being requested is a $275,000,000 general fund transfer," Dupree said during her presentation.

The request included $87,000,000 earmarked for safety and capacity projects and $187,000,000 for road and bridge maintenance; Dupree said the department proposed splitting those transfers 60% to ITD and 40% to local governments. The analyst also flagged that prior reappropriations and a recently enacted continuous appropriation status make year‑to‑year comparisons harder: she said ITD has historically received about $300,000,000 in reappropriation each year and that roughly $181,000,000 had been continuously appropriated in a prior year.

Dupree noted the governor’s recommendation diverges from the department’s request. "The governor did not recommend the $275,000,000 transfer," she said, and instead recommended cash transfers out of the strategic initiatives program fund—roughly $45,000,000 in the current year and $32,000,000 in the out year (a transcript value given as $77,765,300 total for the recommended transfers was shown on the slide).

The director of ITD, Scott Stokes, told lawmakers that if appropriations for contract construction change the agency would adjust project scheduling and prioritize work. "When we have changes in our appropriation for contract construction, we make adjustments," Stokes said, and he offered to provide the committee with a list of safety and capacity projects that would be affected.

Several lawmakers pressed on local impacts. Representative Green warned that cutting roughly $300,000,000 in projects would reduce local economic activity tied to construction contracts. "That's $300,000,000 that we're removing from our local economies that many of your small businesses participate in," Green said, urging the committee to consider the downstream effects on jobs and local contractors.

Committee members also sought detail on specific line items Dupree presented: $15,500,000 one‑time from the highway dedicated fund for deferred building maintenance; $2,500,000 one‑time (plus $470,000 ongoing) for operations on a new stretch of State Highway 16; $4,900,000 for roadside tree removal contracts; $4,700,000 for equipment purchases; $63,000,000 for replacement items—about $60,000,000 of that for road equipment—and roughly $21,000,000 worth (79 pieces) eligible under the agency's buyback program; and $2,600,000 for IT hardware. Dupree said more detailed line‑item descriptions are in the legislative budget book (LBB p. 51–132).

Lawmakers asked how the governor’s recommendation would affect contract schedules, whether delayed projects would slip multi‑year, and how the department would prioritize pavement and bridge condition versus capacity work. Stokes emphasized ITD’s planning and readiness: he said the department has leaned into project development practices so it can move quickly if funds return, and noted the legislature previously authorized higher levels of bonding that allowed rapid project implementation.

The committee did not vote on any budget items in this session; Stokes and Dupree offered to supply follow‑up materials to the committee, including a list of projects affected by the proposed reductions and additional fiscal details.