Idaho Bills

Relates to the appropriation to the Office of the State Public Defender for fiscal year 2027.

RS33732 / S1406 This appropriation to the Office of the State Public Defender provides enhancements to the FY 2027 budget that includes 6.00 FTP from the Public Defense Fund to hire additional trial attorneys to be assigned in Ada, Bannock, Bonneville, Jerome, Kootenai, and Twin Falls counties. Also included are onetime funds to provide for the migration of county data for 11 state offices; ongoing funds to provide secure hosted storage; and onetime funds for capital outlay to replace two laptops. Finally, this appropriation restores health benefit costs to the agency. Table 1 shows the adjustments to the budget found in the bill.

Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Juvenile Corrections for fiscal year 2027.

RS33704 / S1402 This appropriation to the Department of Juvenile Corrections (IDJC) provides enhancements to the FY 2027 maintenance budget that includes General Fund Budget Restoration, which restored 6.00 FTP and $593,900 for direct care staff at IDJC facilities, emergency support funding for counties, and substance use disorder mentoring for juveniles; Clinician Service Transfer from the Department of Health and Welfare; replacement items, which included 10 vehicles, recreation area improvements at the Nampa facility, new desks and chairs at the Nampa and Lewiston facilities, headquarter lobby remodel for security purposes, and other facility maintenance at the Lewiston and St. Anthony facility; and OITS Hardware, which included laptops and desktops that have surpassed the 4-year replacement cycle, as well as switches, routers, and other network upgrades that the Office of Information Technology Services has identified as key infrastructural priorities.

Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Administration for the Division of Public Works for fiscal year 2027.

RS33638 / H0919 This appropriation to the Division of Public Works in the Department of Administration provides the FY 2027 Original Appropriation from the Permanent Building Fund. It provides funding for building maintenance projects, alterations and repairs projects, ADA compliance projects, facilities maintenance for the Capitol Mall and Chinden Campus, and one capital project for design of the Bonneville County Readiness Center.

Relates to the appropriation to the State Department of Education for fiscal year 2027.

RS33705 / H0921 This appropriation to the State Department of Education provides enhancements to the FY 2027 maintenance budget, including dedicated fund spending authority to the School Bus Camera Fund in relation to the requirements of Section 49-1422, Idaho Code, which provides for the purchase of school bus stop sign arms, cameras, and related equipment using revenue generated from court-ordered infraction payments for illegally overtaking school buses. In addition, the bill includes federal spending authority for a onetime farm-to-school grant program, and an ongoing grant to support costs related to operating the Child Nutrition Program.

Relates to the appropriation to the State Board of Education and the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho for College and Universities and the Office of the State Board of Education for fiscal year 2027.

RS33709 / H0922 This is the enhancements bill for the college and universities, including a reduction of $752,900 for the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS); an addition of 4.00 FTP and $510,500 for the transfer of risk managers from the Office of the State Board of Education; and a $1,909,700 endowment funds adjustment. .

Relates to the appropriation to the Judicial Branch for fiscal year 2027.

RS33758 / H0925 This appropriation to the Judicial Branch provides enhancements to the FY 2027 maintenance budget that includes an $800,700 onetime increase in the Senior Magistrate Judge Fund for anticipated costs associated with magistrate judge retirement benefits. The next three enhancements were considered as part of the Court's General Fund reduction plan for FY 2027, which included shifting costs from the General Fund to dedicated funds. Implementation of the proposed plan includes a onetime increase of $700,000 in the Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Family Court Services Fund, a onetime increase of $400,000 in the Substance Abuse Treatment Fund, and an ongoing $2,000,000 increase in the Court Technology Fund. The total dedicated fund enhancement for the Court Operations Division is $3,900,700. In addition, this appropriation provides an ongoing increase of $77,900 for the Second District Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program to hire a trainer/recruiter position, as well as provide funding for rent, liability insurance, and an annual financial audit. In the maintenance bill, the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Division base budget was reduced by $144,800. This action restores $87,400 to the GAL Division onetime for FY 2027.

Relates to the appropriation to the Soil and Water Conservation Commission for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

RS33748 / S1405 This appropriation provides enhancements to the FY 2027 maintenance budgets for the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Enhancements to the Soil and Water Conservation Commission include onetime funding from dedicated funds to supplemental supplement existing payments for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and onetime funding for unspent grant funding for the CREP and Water Quality Program for Agriculture (WQPA). This legislation also includes a FY 2026 supplemental appropriation to provide onetime funding from dedicated funds for existing payments for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). This supplemental supports anticipated costs for the current year. Finally, this bill moves the Soil and Water Conservation Commission from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Water Resources pursuant to House Bill 503 of 2026. Pursuant to Section 22-2718, Idaho Code, the Soil and Water Conservation Commission was established and created in the Department of Agriculture and was historically budgeted separately from the Department of Agriculture. House Bill 503 amended the code to move the commission under the Department of Water Resources. This move is accomplished by removing the entirety of the maintenance appropriation for the commission from the Department of Agriculture in section one of this bill and adding the appropriation to the Department of Water Resources in section two of this bill. The budget structure of the commission under the Department of Water Resources mirrors how it was previously structured under the Department of Agriculture, as it remains a distinctly budgeted division. DISCLAIMER: This statement of purpose and