Committee chairs bring their input to JFAC; big decisions loom tomorrow morning

Chairs of eight House and Senate committees are presenting their recommendations to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning, as the joint committee prepares to start setting budgets for state agencies next week. First up this morning was House Commerce & Human Resources Chair Sharon Block, R-Twin Falls. Also scheduled to present are Senate Commerce Chair John Andreason; Senate Judiciary Chair Denton Darrington; House Judiciary Chair Rich Wills; Senate Resources Chair Monty Pearce; Senate Transportation Chair Jim Hammond; House Health & Welfare Chair Janice McGeachin; and Senate Health & Welfare Chair Patti Anne Lodge.

Among Block’s recommendations: Funding the plan to shift from single-day issuance of food stamps each month, which is causing rushes that overwhelm Idaho grocery stores, to multi-day issuance.

Tomorrow morning, JFAC will hear from three more committee chairs: Senate Local Government & Tax Chairman Tim Corder; Senate Education Chair John Goedde; and House Education Chair Bob Nonini. Then, it’ll make some big decisions: Deciding on a target figure for the total state budget it’ll set, and determining what will be included for raises for state employees. “We’ll make the entire pie fit, we hope,” said JFAC Co-Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome.