Latest news with #JointFinance-AppropriationsCommittee
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State revenues now $141 million below Idaho Legislature's projections
The state flags hangs from the rotunda of the Idaho State Capitol Building in Boise on Jan. 7, 2025. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) Idaho state revenues fell short of expectations in May and now run $141.5 million below the projection set by the Idaho Legislature earlier this year, according to a new monthly revenue report released Thursday by the state. CONTACT US A month ago, state revenues lagged the Idaho Legislature's projection by $97.7 million, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. Now, revenues are running $141.5 million below the Idaho Legislature's forecast with less than one month remaining in the fiscal year, according to the May Budget and Revenue Monitor report. Idaho is still projected to finish the 2025 fiscal year on June 30 with a positive ending balance of $278.2 million, according to the May report. However, that projected ending balance has shrunk from the approximately $420 million ending balance that the Idaho Legislature planned on when the 2025 legislative session adjourned April 4. The revenue forecasts and collections are important because the Idaho Legislature built them into the state budget. Idaho runs on a fiscal year calendar that begins July 1 and ends June 30 every year. That means fiscal year 2025 is about to end, and fiscal year 2026 is about to begin. Rep. Wendy Horman, an Idaho Falls Republican who serves as co-chair of the Idaho Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, said the new revenue report shows positive strength in Idaho's economy despite the missed forecast. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, is a powerful legislative committee that sets the budget for every state agency and department. Compared to last year, revenue collections are up by $145.3 million, or 2.9%, according to the May report. 'I think this gives us good news about Idaho's economy,' Horman said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. 'Sometimes when you look at numbers against a forecast, it tells us more about the forecast than the revenue.' The revenue report shows the sales tax distributions were less than last year and a driving factor in the revenue shortfall. Other revenue sources, including individual income tax collections, corporate income tax and miscellaneous revenues, were all up. Lori Wolff, administrator of the Idaho Division of Financial Management, also expressed confidence in Idaho's economy after the revenue report was released Thursday. 'Gov. Little and the Legislature have consistently prioritized responsible budgeting, which has led to Idaho's tremendous economic success,' Wolff said in a written statement. 'We are still seeing year over year growth in revenue, signaling a strong Idaho economy. We have made investments in critical priorities while leaving a $400 million cushion on the bottom line to hedge against revenue softening. Idaho also has 22% of General Fund revenues in rainy day funds, greater than almost every other state. While we continue to watch revenue closely, we feel good about the strength of the state budget and our economy.' Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said her heart sank when she read the new revenue report. She said the state will still have enough money to pay for programs in the current year's budget, but she worries cuts are forthcoming next year. 'I am deeply concerned that all of the tax cuts and the underestimating of revenue will create an on-ramp for my legislative colleagues to easily and unfortunately cut valuable programs and services that Idahoans need,' Wintrow said in a phone interview Thursday. 'That is really what I have been dreading this whole time.' During the 2025 legislative session, the Idaho Legislature cut taxes by $400 million and provided an additional $50 million to create a new refundable tax credit for education expenses, including tuition at private, religious schools. Those actions reduced the amount of state revenue that the state has to spend in its budget by $453 million. The role of revenue in the budget is extremely important. The Idaho Constitution requires the state to pass a balanced budget each year where expenses don't exceed revenues. Horman said the newest revenue numbers still demonstrate the Idaho Legislature took a responsible approach to budgeting this year. 'It makes me especially glad we more than doubled the amount we typically leave on the bottom line when we adjourned sine die because it's giving us a cushion to adjust to the decline in sales tax revenue,' Horman said, using the Latin term sine die that legislators use when they adjourn the legislative session for the year. Horman said it will be important to monitor all revenue sources between now and when the Idaho Legislature convenes the 2026 session in January. She also said it would be a concern if revenues continued to to fall below the forecast in the coming months and into the forthcoming 2026 fiscal year. 'Looking at the trends with sales tax tells us we made the right decision to have conservative budgeting this year, and we will need to monitor all revenue sources between now and January,' Horman said. 'I do anticipate another year of probably even more conservative budgeting (next year) than we saw this year.' Horman said the Idaho Legislature has invested $7 billion in infrastructure projects like roads, school facilities, water projects, the permanent building fund and more over the past five years. She said the $1.05 to $1.55 per hour pay increases for state employees approved this year represent the largest salary increase in terms of dollars in state history. But Horman said next year's budget may be more lean in terms of spending. 'We will need to be cautious about investments we make in the maintenance budgets as well as the budget enhancements moving forward,' Horman said, referencing the new budget procedures where JFAC splits agency budgets into two parts. Wintrow said she's worried. 'I don't see my colleagues going back on their tax cuts to increase revenue, and my heart sinks wondering about the effects, which are dramatic and potentially harmful,' Wintrow said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hospital CEO says Idaho Legislature not doing enough to support medical workforce
Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, at left, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, speak during the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on May 19, 2025, at the College of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun) IDAHO FALLS – Two health care professionals told members of the Idaho Legislature's budget committee Monday that they are not doing enough to produce the medical workforce the state needs and that doctors are leaving the state due to its strict abortion ban. The comments came during the Idaho Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee's first day of spring meetings Monday in Idaho Falls. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC for short, is a powerful legislative committee that sets the budgets for every state agency and department. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The medical workforce debate started during a workforce panel discussion at the College of Eastern Idaho after Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, asked the panelists if the Idaho Legislature was doing enough to develop the kind of modern workforce Idaho employers and industries need. Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center CEO Betsy Hunsicker didn't sugar-coat her answer. She immediately told Petzke the short answer is 'no.' 'It's very challenging, and we don't have OB-GYN coming in here,' Hunsicker said. 'We're not training general surgeons. We're not. Physicians generally practice where they train. So I think the training piece for residency for physicians is really probably something that needs to continue to grow.' Hunsicker and other panelists asked legislators to support two programs to help develop the state's workforce – medical residency programs and the Idaho Launch workforce training initiative championed by Gov. Brad Little. The discussion and the tension ratcheted up during a presentation later Monday given by Dr. Jennifer Cook, the OB fellowship director and associate director of the family medicine residency program at Full Circle Health in Boise. Cook was giving an overview of health education programs and talking about ways to bring more doctors to Idaho. Cook said huge swaths of Idaho are considered maternal care deserts, and the state ranks near the bottom nationally when it comes to physicians-per-capita. In addition to supporting incentives like loan repayment programs and investing in medical residencies and fellowships, Cook told legislators they could attract more doctors if they clarified the state's near total abortion ban to include the health of the pregnant mother – not just the life of the pregnant mother. 'Because right now, physicians are kind of scared to practice here, I'm not going to lie,' Cook told JFAC members. 'Because there's so much ambiguity – and I don't think that was intentional in any way, shape or form. I think people are trying to support their constituents – but it has led us to this gray area where we don't know what management is actually allowable, and that's really hard.' Cook said that ambiguity has real consequences. 'I had fellows who sat and watched a woman who was 19 weeks pregnant bleed and couldn't do anything about it, and just waited until she was so sick she was about to die,' Cook said. 'If that was your family, it would be really scary.' While she was talking, Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, turned to his neighbor, Rep. Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello, and said, 'that's not true.' Moments later, Cook briefly paused her presentation to JFAC members. 'I can see some eyes rolling,' Cook said. 'I can see you all rolling your eyes.' Cook then continued her presentation. When she fielded questions after her presentation, Rep. Steven Miller, R-Fairfield, and Tanner told Cook that they feel Idaho's abortion law is clear. Tanner told Cook he thinks the discussion is political. He said his conservative doctor friends tell him the law is clear, while people who lean left are 'going nuts' over the abortion law. In an interview with the Idaho Capital Sun after Cook's presentation, Tanner said the life of the unborn baby gets lost in the debate. 'The problem that I see that they run into is they're only looking at the aspect of the mom, keeping that person alive, and not the actual baby,' Tanner told the Sun. Tanner also referenced the University of Washington's Washington, Wyoming Alaska, Montana and Idaho, or WWAMI, medical program. 'Part of the problem, in my opinion, I think overall is where you look at the training aspect that they actually go through,' Tanner told the Sum. 'So when they're going through the WWAMI they're going through up in Washington, and some of the actual classes and how most of the doctors that I talked to have come out like they're fully like, 'Abortion is no different than needing stitches. It's no different than anything.' And I think they dehumanized that child at that point in time.' However, the University of Washington has said it does not use Idaho funds to teach courses related to abortion care, according to the Spokesman-Review. At a legislative hearing during the 2025 session, UW School of Medicine Vice Dean Suzanne Allen said the school would agree to Idaho's abortion laws and stipulations, according to the Spokesman-Review. 'The University of Washington does not spend any Idaho funds on abortion care or abortion training,' she said. In a statement regarding House Bill 176, which sought to defund Idaho WWAMI, UW said it was disheartened to see the Legislature discuss dissolving a more than 50-year partnership. 'The Idaho WWAMI partnership is required to teach the same content to our students that other medical schools are required to teach across the country to pass the national licensing exam,' the university stated. 'This includes women's health content such as normal labor and delivery as well as complications including miscarriages that require abortion procedures.' Although the Idaho Legislature adjourned April 4 and is not in session, JFAC often conducts interim meetings during the fall and spring to continue monitoring the state budget and take a closer look at agencies and programs that receive state funding. This is not the first time JFAC members have been told that the Idaho Legislature's abortion ban has made it harder to attract and retain physicians. During a different JFAC interim tour on Nov. 21, 2024, Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine President Tracy Farnsworth told legislators the abortion ban has run off existing physicians and may be scaring away new ones. 'Many of you probably know this, with our current Idaho state abortion laws that provide very little, if any, opportunity to terminate a pregnancy for health because we don't have a health of the mother exception, we've lost roughly 25% of our OB-GYN,' Farnsworth said in November. 'We've gone from 200 to 150 OB-GYN, and we are hearing anecdotal evidence of a number of graduating OB-GYN residency students choosing not to come to Idaho because of fear of losing their license and (being) criminalized,' Farnsworth added. JFAC members did not vote on any budgets or any bills on Monday. JFAC's spring meetings continue Tuesday with a tour of community resource centers and the Idaho Department of Water Resources' Eastern Regional Office. JFAC's meetings are scheduled to conclude Wednesday with a tour of Idaho National Laboratory facilities. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho now has a powerful mini-legislature within its official Legislature
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, the Idaho Legislature's powerful budget committee, meets daily during the legislative session. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) Idahoans can breathe a sigh of relief now that the Legislature has folded its tent and gone home. The bright side of this year's session is that it could have been worse. The session lasted two weeks longer than expected, costing taxpayers about $20,000-$30,000 per day. The main reason for the delay was the inability of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) to finalize budgets for state programs. JFAC set many budgets even before it knew how much revenue would be available, and it then squandered time figuring out how to operate without defined procedural rules. Without a guiding script, Idaho Legislature's budget committee strays from voting procedures Adding to the delay was JFAC's decision to ignore the constitutional order of setting budgets. Since statehood, general legislation, which establishes state laws, was the job of the entire Legislature. Committees hold hearings, take testimony and produce bills for debate in both houses before sending them to the governor. JFAC's job has been confined to providing the funding to finance the programs established through that policy-making process. However, in recent years JFAC has had the nerve to set itself up as a mini-legislature within the official Legislature. That is, to fund legislative policies with appropriation bills but also to set its own policies with 'intent language' in the bills. JFAC co-chair, Rep. Wendy Horman, justified the committee's use of policy-making intent language, claiming it is the committee's job to set 'conditions, limitations and restrictions' on spending. She said, 'it is the job of JFAC to set fiscal policy.' The Idaho Constitution would disagree. Appropriation bills are to fund the government, not to set state policy. Several JFAC members have raised legitimate concerns. Sen. Julie VanOrden said the use of intent language to set policy skirts the public vetting process and is 'a real abuse of power.' Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking correctly observed that JFAC is 'a budgeting committee, it's not a policy committee.' JFAC's constitutionally improper policy-making has created memorable problems in the past. In the 2022 session, JFAC put intent language in House Bill 764, saying that federal money designed to make up for pandemic-related learning loss was to serve 'school-aged participants ages 5 through 13 years.' When about 80 legitimate schools and child care centers received grants, the extreme-right outrage machine swung into action, claiming fraud and abuse because some kids under 5 might have benefited from the federal money, which federal guidelines allowed. That resulted in a flurry of pointless legal actions and investigations, which ended up costing the state way more than the miniscule amount that may have been incidentally spent on kids under 5. In 2024, JFAC put intent language in House Bill 770, the funding bill for the Department of Transportation, that killed a favorable sale of the bedraggled transportation department building on State Street in Boise. The restriction resulted in litigation and will end up costing the state millions trying to renovate an outdated building that will be an unusable money pit. This year, JFAC has picked up the pace of its unlawful policy-making. In House Bill 459, the Department of Labor appropriation bill, the mini-legislature required the preparation of several reports, including one requiring 'an analysis of the impact of illegal immigration on the state's labor market and the potential costs and benefits of using E-Verify.' This should be done through legislative action, not in the funding process. Senate Bill 1209 calls for several legislative items. Among other things, Section 4 requires Idaho State University to lead any negotiations toward acquisition of the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. Section 6 requires the State Board of Education to develop a new outcomes-based funding model for Idaho's colleges and universities. Section 7 requires audits of state institutions of higher learning for compliance with Idaho's ill-defined diversity, equity and inclusion laws. In essence, the DEI laws prohibit many of the virtues that Jesus taught in the New Testament. Senate Bill 1196, requires the Idaho Commission for Libraries to report on compliance by state and school libraries with Idaho book ban laws. There are a number of other similar policy-making bills the JFAC mini-legislature churned out this session, but the list is too lengthy to lay out here. It is high time for JFAC leadership to establish procedural rules to expedite the funding of programs enacted through the established legislative process. More important, however, is that the committee get back into its proper lane of setting budgets, rather than establishing state policy. If not, it may be necessary for those affected by its improper policy-making to institute court proceedings to get JFAC to comply with its limited duty of funding programs enacted by the official Legislature. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho legislative session marked by budget conflicts, ‘medical freedom,' tax cuts
Day after day inside Idaho's Capitol, a group of hardline conservative lawmakers calling themselves the 'Gang of 8' rejected dozens of proposed budgets this legislative session. They told fellow lawmakers that they wanted no new government employees, no federal money and limited spending. Meanwhile, the Legislature approved $450 million worth of new tax cuts, which will come out of the state's general fund every year. In interviews with the Idaho Statesman, several said their approach was at least partly inspired by President Donald Trump's cost-cutting actions. 'The DOGE phenomenon is sweeping across the nation,' said Sen. Joshua Kohl, R-Twin Falls, referring to the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency. 'We want to be part of that in Idaho. We want to truly be a leader in the conservative movement, really slashing the growth of government.' But the group's approach clashed with other lawmakers' desire to ensure government agencies had the funding they said they needed to perform their duties. 'I like to give the agencies what they need, within reason, and it doesn't feel to me like we were giving them their asks,' Rep. Marco Erickson, R-Idaho Falls, told the Statesman. These diverging philosophies were a key source of disagreement this legislative session, sparking fierce debate and contributing to the extension of the legislative session past its target end date. In a whirlwind of last-minute budget approvals, Idaho lawmakers Friday wrapped up this year's regular legislative session, three months marked by fierce debate over how to fund state agencies and departments. The adjournment date was two weeks past their goal of ending by March 21. 'Our job is to run the government and our state. So we have to pass budgets,' said Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston. 'This session probably killed more budgets than I can ever remember.' She said she wished lawmakers would use 'a pocket knife instead of a chainsaw to balance the budget,' she told the Statesman. Idaho lawmakers have long sought to keep budgets trim, but many this year invoked the idea of DOGE when rejecting budgets they deemed excessive, Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, D-Boise, told the Statesman. McCann attributed that in part to a growing number of far-right legislators joining the body. Those who wanted to cut agencies' budgets expressed distrust of the funds those agencies requested through the Legislature's powerful budget-setting group, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. The committee approves budget proposals before they move to the House and Senate floors. Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, who co-chairs the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, has said that lawmakers on JFAC have done their job of holding agencies accountable for the money. Horman on Thursday touted the work they accomplished on budgets. 'We have work that we can all be proud of,' Horman said on the floor. 'We have been able to fund essential government services while returning as much money to the taxpayer as possible.' In the last few days of the session, lawmakers also sped through approving a controversial measure that banned businesses and schools from requiring medical interventions, including vaccines and any action taken to prevent the spread of diseases. The first version of the proposal was the only bill Little vetoed so far this year. The bill would have converted the state's Coronavirus Stop Act into a broader 'Medical Freedom Act,' a law that prohibits businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccines, and bans requiring medical interventions and action taken to prevent the spread of disease. Little said the bill would have forbid schools and day cares from sending contagious children home. To override a veto, lawmakers must vote on the bill again and secure two-thirds majority support in both chambers. An attempt to do so for the 'medical freedom' bill failed in the Senate. Lawmakers then passed a new version of the bill that allows some exceptions for schools. When asked about a potential veto of the latest bill, Assistant Majority Leader Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, told reporters in a news conference that 'I think everyone's in agreement and the issues are resolved.' Little signed the bill into law 15 minutes after it arrived on his desk. Idaho Republicans ultimately accomplished passing several of their longstanding proposals, including the use of public funds for private school tuition, also known as school vouchers; cuts to the state's voter-approved Medicaid expansion; and the creation of a state crime for illegal entry, directing local police to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ACLU of Idaho immediately sued the state and temporarily blocked the immigration law from taking place. They continued on the body's streak of tax cuts, which Little has called 'historic,' with a measure on property tax relief, a reduction on income tax and an increase of the state's grocery tax credit. 'We did a really good job this year,' House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, told reporters Friday. 'It was a good year for Idaho.' Lawmakers also said they tried to address Idaho's doctor shortage. After years of the state operating under one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, prompting an exodus of OB-GYNs, the Legislature passed a bill that would allow judges to dismiss frivolous lawsuits against medical professionals being sued for an illegal procedure. Susie Keller, CEO of the Idaho Medical Association, told the Statesman that the bill doesn't address doctors' concerns about liability. The law, which threatens doctors with up to five years in prison and loss of their medical license, allows abortions only in cases of reported rape or incest, ectopic pregnancies, or when saving the life of the pregnant patient. The narrow exemptions have created uncertainty and anxiety among doctors about what treatment is legally allowed, and when, Keller said. 'That's a high bar,' Keller previously told the Statesman. 'What I hear our doctors say is, 'How close to death does she have to be? Has she lost 10% of her blood? Has she lost (more)?'' Last year, Idaho lawmakers decided to shake up their budgeting approach. Going forward, budget committee members decided they would separate out 'maintenance' budgets to keep agency operations intact, then consider any funding above last year's in a separate supplemental budget bill. That approach, some told the Statesman, has created the impression that keeping budgets flat year over year is enough to keep agencies operating. For example, the members of the 'Gang of 8' have promised to reject any budget that exceeds 1% growth over baseline funding in an effort to keep government spending flat and save money. But the additional 'enhancement' funds that agencies request are often critical, lawmakers said — such as money requested in Senate Bill 1160 to replace 60 aging vehicles in the Department of Health and Welfare. 'Those cars are eventually going to have to be replaced, and they're just going to cost more money' in the future as costs rise, said Rep. Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley, who expressed disapproval of this and other examples of 'deferred maintenance' to keep budgets flat. A supplemental budget for the state's Liquor Division, similarly, faced repeated pushback in part over its inclusion of shrink wrap — which the division uses to streamline packaging and prevent theft. Items like these are 'mandatory to keep things going smoothly,' said Senate Minority Caucus Chair Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise. There was an 'internal battle' in the Legislature when it weighed this approach to budgeting last year, Erickson said, because of concerns that it would slow the process and block funding for important government functions. 'There were several of us who said this is going to happen,' he said. 'And that's what we've seen play out.' Idaho Democrats in a news conference said their party leaders are the ones who have stood up for Idaho values, in the face of irresponsible governing by the Republican Party. They touted standing up for health care and public schools, and in a news release criticized GOP infighting that 'brought chaos' to the budget-setting process. 'Republicans siphoned money needed for public education to subsidize private school tuition for the wealthy, they eliminated affordable housing funds, and actually managed to make our physician shortage worse, all while leaving us facing future revenue shortfalls,' Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said in the release. 'They have abandoned the values they once claimed to stand for: fiscal responsibility, local control and limited government. It is Idaho Democrats who champion these values.'
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho Legislature's budget committee rewrites final failed budgets
The door to the JFAC committee room at the Idaho State Capitol building is pictured on Jan. 6, 2023. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) The Idaho Legislature's powerful budget committee redrafted two failed budgets on Wednesday afternoon and sent signals that a potential compromise or deal had been reached. But less than two hours after the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, redrafted those two budgets, the Idaho House of Representatives killed a different budget – House Bill 475, one of the public school budget enhancements. All the budget back-and-forth is a telling signal of where the Idaho Legislature found itself Wednesday: 87 days into a contentious session where mainstream Republicans and Democrats in the minority are having to fight tooth-and-nail against hardline conservatives to pass budgets. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX During a rare afternoon meeting – and its second meeting of the day Wednesday – the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee drafted failed budgets for the Idaho Office of Energy and Mineral Resources and Idaho Transportation Department. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, sets every budget for every state agency and department and then sends those budgets to the full Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate for consideration. The Idaho Senate killed earlier versions of both budgets in recent days. The Senate killed an earlier version of the Idaho Office of Energy and Mineral Resources budget, Senate Bill 1191, on Friday. Senators then killed an earlier version of the Idaho Transportation Department budget, Senate Bill 1205, on Tuesday. However, after changes were made both budgets made it through JFAC on Wednesday without incident or serious opposition – signaling that legislators may have reached some sort of compromise that could eventually pave the way for them to pass the remaining unfinished budgets and adjourn the legislative session for the year. 'Our hope is that this will be our last JFAC meeting, unless either the House or the Senate kills something and we might have to come back,' said Sen. Scott Grow, an Eagle Republican who serves as the co-chair of JFAC. Some JFAC members themselves even spoke openly of a compromise during Wednesday afternoon's meeting. 'I would like to congratulate the committee, because the definition of compromise is when everybody's unhappy, and I think we achieved that – except for the good chairman (Grow),' said Rep. Steven Miller, R-Fairfield. 'We have a different Legislature than we've had before. We've got a different committee than we've had before, and so we're going to learn how to compromise and learn how to work ourselves through that process and to do it civilly and understand that there's times that you feel things so passionately about, this is very difficult to let go of that.' Grow also spoke of negotiation and compromise. 'I always hope we're trying to do more good than bad, and that's our objective,' Grow said. 'I think we've accomplished that as people have negotiated. (There's) been a lot of back and forth, a lot of strong feelings. But I feel that everybody has acted civilly, respectfully. So we commend the committee for the great work you've done and the great attitude in which you've done the work.' In the new Idaho Transportation Department budget, JFAC members removed budget intent language that the Idaho Senate objected to Tuesday night when it killed the earlier budget in a lopsided 3-31 vote. Budget writers also reduced funding for Idaho Transportation Department divisions by $100. For the Idaho Office of Energy and Mineral Resources budget, JFAC zeroed out a $481,000 request from Gov. Brad Little to create a SPEED Council to expedite the review of permits for large scale projects like mines or energy transmission lines. For the second time, JFAC also refused to accept $24.6 million in federal grant funding to provide Home Energy Rebates Program rebates to Idahoans who buy new appliances or increase the efficiency of their home. Idahoans could have accessed a total of $80.1 million in federal funding for the rebates through 2031, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. But once again, JFAC refused. State budget analysts told JFAC members that if Idaho passes up the federal funding, the money will go to other states participating in the program – the money won't be available to cut taxes or reduce the federal budget deficit. Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, voted for the budget because he said it needs to pass and be finished. But Petzke said he is disappointed by walking away from the funding, and that he hopes Idaho residents speak out against the Legislature for doing so. 'We're basically giving up tens of millions of dollars that could have gone into Idaho's economy,' Petzke said. 'And it's not going to. It's going to go to other states instead. And that's extremely disappointing. But it's where we're at right now as a body, it seems. And so I hope that people are upset about that and let us know, because I think that this is unfortunate for Idaho's economy.' Both the Idaho Department of Labor budget and the Idaho Office of Energy and Mineral Resources budgets still need to pass the full Idaho House and Idaho Senate in order to take effect. Wednesday marked the 87th day of the 2025 legislative session. Legislators already missed their nonbinding target date to adjourn the session for the year March 21. Most Idaho legislative sessions run for about 80-90 days, although there is no requirement to adjourn by a certain date. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
