JFAC votes against funding National Guard education program

BOISE — The Joint Finance-Appropriation Committee voted against funding the Idaho National Guard’s reimbursement program Friday, but left open the opportunity for the programs within the Department of Health and Welfare's public health division to be considered in later budget-setting discussions.

The vote Friday came a week after the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) rejected a request to fund the National Guard’s education reimbursement program and subsequently voted to have the matter brought back for the committee’s consideration at the chair’s discretion. 

With the Military Division's budget requests before the committee once again, the individuals debating whether to restore or not restore this funding were largely a retread of the prior meeting.

Sen. Codi Galloway, R-Boise, brought forward an initial motion to restore $120,000 in funding for the Idaho Military Division’s Office of Emergency Management next fiscal year. Absent from this motion, however, was the restoration of funding for the Idaho National Guard’s State Education Assistance Program (SEAP), which provides enlisted soldiers and airmen up to $8,000 per year for tuition and fees at Idaho institutions.

Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Donnellan went before JFAC last month to discuss the impact of the education program’s cuts. In that meeting, he said it remained an essential reason individuals enlist in the Idaho National Guard, and that reductions to this reimbursement amount “would break faith” with soldiers and airmen who have already enlisted.

“While I am deeply respectful of our military and things that they do,” Galloway said, “knowing that there were no contracts that were really broken and that the amount was fairly small, I had to make hard decisions, which we will be doing often in this committee.”

Since National Guard members are “working professionals,” those affected could afford a likely $500 reduction in their education reimbursement, Galloway said. She added that the opportunity remained to cover the funding reduction through scholarships from private industry or by National Guard members attending a “less expensive school” in Idaho.

“When I look at this small amount of money, while it would be nice to pass this on to the service members that have done so much for our country,” Galloway said, “it’s not necessary when I have to weigh it against some of the other priorities we have to make."

Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, responded he was “sad to hear that thought process." Woodward noted that if state legislators saw a 5% cut from the over $8 million in total compensation for the year, the same percent reduction as Idaho's Military Division, it would net more than $400,000 in savings, which would “easily fund” the education of military members, he said.

Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, followed Galloway with a substitute motion to restore funds for both the Office of Emergency Management and restore $190,800 in funding for SEAP from the state’s general funds for the next fiscal year.

Petzke’s request would have allowed the program to retain 69% of this fiscal year's funding, up from the 39% it would be reduced to if JFAC's 5% cuts for the Military Division were implemented.

Petzke said his stance on the matter was the same as the previous week: Idaho remains at the “bottom of the country” in compensation for military service members. After limited debate, his motion to fund SEAP failed by an 8-10 vote, with the majority of House and Senate committee members voting against it.

Though Galloway’s motion received 10 votes in favor and 8 against, a majority of senators on JFAC did not provide an affirmative vote for the motion, resulting in a failed vote. With the vote failing among only the Senate members, co-chair Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, said the issue of restoring the Idaho Military Division's Office of Emergency Management can be revisited at a later date.

Public Health Funding Requests 

The committee also took up a budget request for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Public Health Division. Their request includes restoring funding for a variety of programs, including the Idaho Immunization Assessment Fund (which provides vaccines at no cost to children under 19), prevention programs for suicide, hepatitis, and HIV, and the Idaho Home Visiting program. 

The restoration of $1 million in funding for the Home Visiting program — which provides parents and caregivers with a free service to educate current and prospective parents on parenting and child development — was the focus of debate on the department’s budget request. 

Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, moved to retain this portion of funding, reversing the rescission of the program recommended by Gov. Brad Little.

Wintrow said maintaining this portion of the program's funding would pay dividends to the state through preventing incarceration, keeping kids out of foster care and helping ensure children are better prepared when they enter kindergarten. 

“These nurses and parents — as teacher partners — go into homes of high-risk families,” Wintrow said. “So mothers who might have some abuse issues, maybe never parented, (are) low income and a good number of teen moms.”

While many enrollees use Medicaid funding to participate, others would lose access because their participation stems from funds the state allocated to the program. Citing discussions with the program's directors, Wintrow said the result of the $1 million cut in general funds would be the unenrollment of 200 families across the state and the elimination of 10 staff members. 

A motion from Rep. Chris Bruce, R-Kuna, opted to forgo this request for the Home Visiting program while restoring funding for the division’s other programs, including the aforementioned vaccine and disease surveillance programs. Unlike Wintrow's recommendation, however, Bruce's motion did not include an allocation for $822,100 in federal funds for disaster planning and training.

In response to Wintrow, Bruce said that the reduction to the Home Visiting program would not result in the program's loss in its entirety — it would just remove the $1 million general fund portion, as per the governor’s recommendation. “Any program that comes to the Department of Health and Welfare, at some point, we have to put a cap on it,” he said. 

Wintrow’s motion to restore general funds to the Home Visiting program funding failed in an 8-10 vote. Bruce’s motion, though having a 12-6 affirmative vote, failed to get a majority of JFAC’s Senate members to vote in the affirmative. It will be held in committee for consideration at a later date.