JFAC has voted unanimously this morning to transfer $20 million from the current year’s budget to the fire fund in the state Department of Lands budget, with an emergency clause. The state currently has $8.6 million in bills pending from the 2017 fire season. Rep. Van Burtenshaw, R-Terreton, noted that the three-year average annual cost for fire suppression is $31.45 million on lands for which the state has fire-protection responsibility.

Other budgets up in JFAC this morning: The Idaho Department of Water Resources; the Department of Parks & Recreation; Colleges and Universities; and higher education Special Programs, which includes funding for the Opportunity Scholarship.