Idaho
As Idaho budget debate rages, JFAC co-chair says ‘budget setting is in limbo’ – Idaho Capital Sun
As legislative leaders continue to debate voting procedures and rules, the Idaho Legislature’s budget committee has not yet taken the traditional step of voting on a revenue target that the entire state budget is based around.
The revenue target is important because the Idaho Constitution requires the Idaho Legislature to pass a balanced budget where expenses do not exceed revenues.
The revenue target is intended to show the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, other legislators and the public how much money is available to spend on budget requests.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, faces other challenges aside from the lack of a revenue target. JFAC’s co-chairs, Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, are implementing a series of significant changes to the budget process this year, including breaking the budgets up into different parts and altering the committee’s daily public hearing procedures.
On Friday, 12 of JFAC’s 20 members rebelled against the new procedures to break up the budgets in different ways and went around Grow and Horman to write and craft their own standalone budgets that are in direct competition with Grow and Horman’s plans for separate maintenance of current operations budgets.
When asked if JFAC can continue setting budgets without knowing how much revenue is available to spend, Horman said she isn’t sure.
“I would say budget setting is in limbo,” Horman said in a telephone interview late Tuesday afternoon.
Why does the Idaho Legislature’s budget committee need a revenue target?
Normally, JFAC sets a revenue target and makes statewide budget decisions before it begins setting state budgets.
This year JFAC accepted a revenue report from the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee on Jan. 12, but has not yet acted on that report by setting a revenue target, Horman said.
“Given some of the other issues we’ve been dealing with in JFAC, that was moved,” Horman said. “It was less of a priority than resolving some of the other problems we are dealing with.”
Although JFAC has not yet set a revenue target, JFAC passed 10 omnibus budget bills on Jan. 16 that spend more than $5.1 billion in general fund money.
Since then, on Friday, JFAC also passed 14 additional state agency budgets that include millions more in general fund spending. The Department of Agriculture budget, for example, includes more than $15 million in general fund spending for fiscal year 2025.
Those new budgets JFAC passed Friday are in direct competition with the 10 omnibus budgets JFAC passed Jan. 16.
Idaho budget showdown could intensify Wednesday at the Idaho State Capitol
The situation with competing budgets could force the full Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate to pick one side or the other starting as soon as Wednesday. Nine of the 10 omnibus budgets are near the top of Wednesday’s floor agendas – five in the Idaho Senate and four in the Idaho House.
The earlier omnibus budgets passed Jan. 16 lump about 100 state agencies all together between new bare-bones budgets that Grow and Horman said do not include any new spending requests and are designed to simply keep the lights on for state agencies.
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By contrast, the 14 state agencies budgets JFAC passed Friday separate the agencies out from each other, but are intended to be full standalone maintenance budgets that include fuller raises for state employees, replacement items for state agencies and more, supporters of those budgets have said.
Because the Jan. 16 and the Feb. 2 budgets are in competition, both cannot pass, and legislators will need to make a choice at some point.
“That’s where we are at an impasse right now,” Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said in an interview Tuesday. “If that is the case, then we have to vote those down or our budgets (from Friday) could be ruled out of order.”
If the Jan. 16 omnibus budgets pass, the Feb. 2 standalone budgets could be thrown out. If that’s the case, JFAC may need to again return to those 14 budgets to consider state employee raises, new spending requests and replacement items that were not in the Jan. 16 budgets.
But if the Jan. 16 omnibus budgets fail, then those budgets will be thrown out.
How much revenue is going to be available for Idaho budgets?
The Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment’s Committee’s report recommends that a little less than $5.6 billion in revenue be available for budgeting in fiscal year 2025.
Horman said JFAC members were supposed to vote on a revenue target earlier in the year, but delayed action while legislative leaders debate JFAC’s rules and voting procedures.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little says JFAC’s budget changes could have unintended consequences
Depending on what happens in the ongoing budget showdown, JFAC may have already spent $5.1 billion against a revenue recommendation of a little less than $5.6 billion. Meanwhile, JFAC hasn’t yet considered new spending for the state’s largest budgets, the public schools budgets and the Medicaid budget.
Horman said the Idaho Legislature is not at risk of overspending its revenue.
“But the maintenance budgets (from Jan. 16) are well under those revenue targets,” Horman said. “As soon as House and Senate leadership make some decisions about JFAC operations and we get a resolution on the maintenance budgets, we will immediately put that on the agenda for consideration of what we have in the report from the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee.”
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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho lawmakers have introduced legislation that would phase out state funding for the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs while keeping the commission in place.
The proposal, introduced by Rep. Jeff Ehlers, would gradually eliminate general fund support for the commission by July 1, 2028. The commission would continue to operate but would need to rely on private funding.
Rep. Ehlers told the House Revenue and Taxation Committee on Thursday that the proposal came from recommendations by Idaho’s DOGE Task Force, which reviewed government programs and spending.
READ MORE | Idaho DOGE Task Force recommends defunding Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs
The bill would also eliminate the commission from a list of organizations eligible for a state income tax charitable contribution credit.
Rep. Steve Berch questioned why the legislation would remove both state funding and the tax credit option, saying it could make it more difficult for the commission to raise money.
“I hate to use this word, but I’m really offended by this specific effort to make it that much more difficult for private citizens to be able to contribute to the Hispanic commission,” Rep. Berch said in committee. “I don’t think this can be justified from a financial point of view, and quite frankly, I don’t think it can be justified from a moral point of view.”
In response, Rep. Jason Monks said that it would be more “offensive” to not allow further discussion of the bill before a final decision is made.
The proposal comes after an earlier attempt this session to eliminate the commission entirely. In January, Rep. Heather Scott presented a draft bill that would have removed all references to the commission from Idaho law and dissolved it by July 1, but that measure failed to advance out of committee.
The committee ultimately voted on Thursday to introduce the legislation, allowing it to be printed and advanced for further debate.
This story has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Shanea Fulks is the owner of Seven Sisters Closet Revival, a new consignment store at 260 South Woodruff in Idaho Falls. Take a look inside in the video above. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com
Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.
BIZ BUZZ
IDAHO FALLS
New consignment shop in Idaho Falls offers vintage clothes for customers and booth space for sellers
IDAHO FALLS – Curating vintage clothing is Shanea Fulks’s passion, and she’s sharing it with the community through a new business venture.
Seven Sisters Closet Revival opens Saturday at 260 South Woodruff inside Parkwood Plaza in Idaho Falls. It offers racks of vintage clothes for customers and booth space for others to sell their items.
“You get a rack with shelves, and you can come in throughout the week and sell things,” Fulks tells EastIdahoNews.com. “The things you’ll see in the middle of the store are pieces that I have curated. I hand-pick all the things I bring to the store.”
See some of the items in the video above.
Fulks says she’s had multiple people walk in already who are excited about the shop.
The store will have a grand opening this weekend. Fulks is partnering with the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon-cutting and open house at noon on Friday. A local band will be performing during the event.
Then on Saturday, a grand opening celebration will begin at 2 p.m. Several vendors and live entertainment will be available. Fulks says she’s looking forward to interacting with the community.
Fulks has been selling items from her personal collection online for years. After helping a mother and daughter find a formal dress during an interaction at another shop in town several years ago, Fulks says she realized there was a need for a store like this.
After about a year of working with real estate agents, Fulks says the Parkwood Plaza space formerly occupied by a beauty salon called Blush became available, and it was an ideal fit.
“It’s just been a whirlwind and we’re just trying to get it going,” says Fulks.
Fulks’ interest in fashion stems back to childhood. She lost her dad and stepdad to suicide at a young age and grew up in a household that struggled to make ends meet. As a result, she says they bought clothes at Goodwill and other secondhand stores.
She remembers being made fun of because of the clothes she wore. In time, she learned to embrace her uniqueness and developed an interest in vintage clothes.
“I’ve just always been attracted to old sweaters, military jackets (her dad served in Vietnam),” Fulks says. “I like to help people feel confident wearing something unique, even if it’s not trendy. Be bold and wear whatever you want.”
The idea of making the most of your circumstances and embracing who you are is inspired by her experience with suicide, and it’s reflected in the art that’s on display in her store.
“Part of the theme in my store is ‘Stay. We need you,’” she says.
The business name refers to her family. She comes from a blended family of six girls and four boys. When she and her husband were married, they had a daughter — the seventh sister.
Fulks says she’s looking forward to offering great deals to customers. She has two sons with autism who love art, and she wants to host art-themed events for people with special needs. She’d also like to host tea parties and other events in the future.
“I want people to come and feel like they belong,” she says. “I’m going to allow people to do karaoke. When you’re here, I want you to feel like you can have fun.”
Seven Sisters Closet Revival will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
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Gov. Brad Little has signed House Bill 533, which would remove the need for license plate stickers on Idaho vehicles.
The legislation, introduced earlier this session by Rep. Jon Weber (R) of Boise, eliminates the requirement for registration stickers on Idaho license plates. Weber stated during the bills intorduction that officers can verify the status of license plates without the stickers, potentially saving the state around $300,000.
During the bill’s introduction, some lawmakers argued that it could increase the workload for law enforcement.
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The new law is set to take effect in July.
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