Refilling ‘rainy-day funds’…

Idaho has drained $381 million from its various reserve funds in the past four years, as the economic downturn crimped the state budget and the money had to plug holes in the state budget. Now, Gov. Butch Otter is proposing starting to refill the accounts, to the tune of $60 million next year. Of that, $9.5 million would be from a statutorily-required transfer to the Budget Stabilization Account. Otter also wants to deposit an additional $16.5 million into that account; $29 million into the Public Education Stabilization Fund; and $4.98 million into the new Higher Ed Stabilization Fund, which would be that fund’s first general-fund appropriation; it now contains $365,000 from tuition interest.

“That will help us maintain the kind of fiscal stability, certainty and responsibility that Idahoans deserve and employers look for in their state government,” Otter told lawmakers. “And that’s what Idaho citizens will keep getting under my administration, with your help and continuing support.”