JFAC is now looking at the federal "maintenance-of-effort" requirements that came with federal stimulus funds. Those require that if the state gets additional revenue in the current fiscal year, portions of it would have to go to schools or higher ed, where stimulus money went earlier. The state had been kicking around an idea of appropriating more money to schools on June 30, the last day of the fiscal year, and taking it back the next day, the first day of the next fiscal year, to meet technically meet the requirement. "From some of the conversations we had, that would be disingenuous, from the perspective of the federal government," legislative budget director Cathy Holland-Smith told the joint budget committee. "It obviously wouldn't allow them to spend the money at all."

So the new plan calls for a "surplus-eliminator" bill. If state revenues grow by the projected amount this year, $6.5 million more would be given to public schools at the end of the year, for use in the 2012 budget, which would mitigate some of the cuts. School districts would have the option of spending that money in fiscal year 2012 or 2013; Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, warned that if they get it, they'd be wise to hold off on spending it until 2013 in view of the economy.

In the higher ed arena, additional revenue that comes in would first spur an additional appropriation to make up cuts in professional-technical education, and then to community colleges to cover unfunded costs for enrollment growth; amounts would depend on revenues.