Appropriates and transfers $2,000,000 from the General Fund to the Constitutional Defense Fund in fiscal year 2016; and appropriates $971,700 from the General Fund to the Department of Administration for the Purchasing Program for fiscal year 2016.

This bill appropriates $2 million from the General Fund to the Constitutional Defense Fund in FY 2016 to support the work of the Constitutional Defense Council. The Constitutional Defense Council is made up of the Governor, Pro Tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Attorney General. The Constitutional Defense Fund is continuously appropriated and is managed in the House of Representatives on behalf of the Council. The current balance in the fund is $230,393.72. Since the creation of the program in 1994 the Legislature has appropriated a total of $2.5 million. This bill also appropriates $971,700 from the General Fund to the Department of Administration in FY 2016 to pay the Board of Examiner's approved legal fees and interest to Syringa Networks, LLC relating to the Idaho Education Network lawsuit. On June 30, 2015, the District Court entered a supplemental judgement awarding Syringa $930,593 in attorney's fees, accrued interest from that date through the end of April 2016 totals $39,852, and an additional $1,249 was awarded for costs by the Idaho Supreme Court.