Idaho Legislature’s budget committee meets in Moscow, Lewiston this week

Members of the Idaho Legislature’s joint budget committee are meeting in Moscow and Lewiston for three days this week as they gear up for the 2027 legislative session. 

Although the Idaho Legislature is not in session, the Joint FInance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, normally conducts a spring and fall tour at locations around the state during the legislative off season.

JFAC is a powerful legislative committee made up of 10 members each from the Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate. Each year, the committee is responsible for setting every budget for every state agency and department. 

Last year, JFAC and Gov. Brad Little enacted budget cuts for almost all state agencies and departments. Other than K-12 public schools, most state agency budgets were cut by 4% in the fiscal year 2026 budget and 5% in the fiscal year 2027 budget. 

JFAC will begin working on the new fiscal year 2028 budget in January.

As preparation for the work that will come during the regular legislative session, JFAC members will participate in budget briefings, audit updates and working tours to inspect state facilities during this week’s meetings.

Deep dives on the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare budget request, the wildfire season and fire suppression costs, a briefing on new state correctional facilities and tours of the Port of Lewiston, Lewis-Clark State College and University of Idaho are planned throughout the week.

“The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee is pretty much working year round because government is a year-round process and funding government and making sure it is funded appropriately demands a lot of time from the committee,” said Sen. Scott Grow, a Republican from Eagle who serves as co-chair of JFAC.

Where is the Idaho Legislature’s budget committee meeting?

This week’s meetings will not be livestreamed online, said Keith Bybee, the Idaho Legislative Services Office’s budget and policy analysis manager. That means the only option to follow the committee is to attend in person. 

JFAC’s first meeting of the week begins Tuesday at 3 p.m. Pacific Time Tuesday in the Idaho-Palouse Room at the Best Western University Inn, 1516 Pullman Road in Moscow (the full agenda and schedule is embedded at the bottom of this article).

Wednesday’s meeting begins at 8 a.m. Pacific Time inside the student union building on the University of Idaho’s Moscow campus.

JFAC will move to Lewiston on Thursday, starting at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time at Independent School District No. 1 in Lewiston before moving on to the Idaho State Veterans Home, 821 21st Ave., in Lewiston. 

Grow said the working tours of state facilities, public schools, colleges and universities give legislative budget writers a chance to see first hand how government funding is put to use. 

“That gIves us opportunities to visit certain sites that are of interest in an effort to see how the appropriations have been utilized and to assure us that the money that was appropriated went for good and appropriate purposes in accordance with state law,” he said. 

JFAC will have new members during 2027 Idaho legislative session

There will be changes coming to JFAC for the 2027 legislative session. Five of the 20 members of JFAC who served during the 2026 legislative session will not be returning in 2027, either because they retired, they lost their primary election in May or they lost in November’s general election. 

The JFAC members who will not return in 2027 include Sens. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle; Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls; Cody Galloway, R-Boise; Rep. Steven Miller, R-Fairfield and Rep. Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello. 

Grow said Republican legislative leaders will appoint new members to JFAC during the Idaho Legislature’s organizational session, which begins Dec. 3.

After that the 2027 regular session of the Idaho Legislature begins Jan. 11.