Idaho Bills

Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for fiscal year 2020.

This is an FY 2020 supplemental appropriation bill for the Department of Health and Welfare for the Child Welfare Division. The bill provides onetime funding for the remaining three months of system development for the new child welfare case management system. Last legislative session, these funds were intentionally withheld to ensure that the system was progressing in a manner that would meet the needs of the children in foster care and for staff that work with those kids. The bill also provides additional ongoing funding to account for increasing costs for children in congregate care, foster care, and adoptions.

Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for fiscal year 2021.

This is the FY 2021 original appropriation bill for the Department of Health and Welfare for the Divisions of Child Welfare, Services for the Developmentally Disabled, and Service Integration. It appropriates a total of $129,513,400 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 749.51. For benefit costs, the bill maintains the current appropriated amount for health insurance at $11,650 per eligible FTP and temporarily removes funding for the employer's sick leave contribution rate. The bill also provides funding for the equivalent of a 2% change in employee compensation for permanent state employees, with an additional 2% increase for those in the 20 job classifications most in need of equity adjustments. The bill funds the final year of the child welfare IT system replacement, provides five additional social workers, directs the use of funding for Head Start, provides for a cash transfer from the General Fund to the Technology Infrastructure Stabilization Fund, and directs the department to meet the educational needs of children in its care. Lastly, the ongoing General Fund appropriation is reduced.