Idaho Legislature's budget committee approves half of funding proposed for digital library grants
After initially trying to zero out all funding earlier this month, Idaho legislative budget writers on Thursday approved 50% of the funding for a federal grant designed to help increase internet access for Idahoans who face barriers to getting online.
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The Idaho Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, approved on Thursday a motion to authorize the Idaho Commission for Libraries to accept and spend $1,231,000 out of a $2.5 million Digital Access for All Idahoans grant.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, is a powerful committee made up of 10 senators and 10 members of the Idaho House of Representatives. The committee generally meets daily during the legislative session and is responsible for setting every budget for every state agency and department.
Funding for the grant was authorized by the federal Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act. The grant is intended to help Idahoans who face barriers to getting online, including seniors, veterans, low-income families and people who live in rural and remote areas. Some of the grant money goes toward paying for laptop and desktop computers at libraries in more than dozen Idaho communities, including Burley, Challis, Middleton, Payette and Plummer.
The money for the grant was all from the federal government; there was no request for state general fund money from the Idaho Commission for Libraries for the grant.
On March 7, JFAC zeroed out a $2.5 million funding request for fiscal year 2026 for the Digital Access for All Idahoans grant after Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, said the grant program contains elements of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. Opponents of the grant said the grants could be used to benefit people whose first language is not English, or people who do not speak English.
However, the March 7 action to zero out the grant funding failed on a tied 5-5 vote among the 10 House members serving on JFAC, which is why the library budget and grant was back before JFAC on Thursday.
Carlson said Thursday that reducing the grant funding ties in with a law she sponsored last year, House Bill 710, that regulates so-called 'harmful materials' in libraries.
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'We passed some language, a bill, last year, and we're actually just trying to reduce the grant money that's coming,' Carlson said Thursday. 'This grant money is only for operating expenditures, and we're just trying to put some side rails on what's going on with the libraries, trying to get them – with some of the additional language – trying to get them to follow the law that we passed last year, House Bill 710.'
Carlson did not provide any evidence during Thursday's JFAC meeting indicating Idaho libraries are not complying with House Bill 710.
Rep. Soñia Galaviz, a Boise Democrat, made an unsuccessful motion to pass the Idaho Commission for Libraries budget with approval for the full $2.5 million grant, but she was overruled by the Republican supermajority.
Galaviz said librarians across the state reached out to JFAC after the initial March 7 attempt to zero out the grant funding.
'We heard from libraries across the state – Moscow, Troy, Hailey, Potlatch, Elmore County, Genesee and beyond,' Galaviz said. 'They asked us – implored us – that we would reconsider based on the programs they intend to offer. We heard about computer classes ready to be offered to seniors teaching about cybersecurity and helping folks understand the danger of clicking on links from emails that maybe they don't know who the sender is. Telehealth for the rural communities. Computer access for veterans who want to access their VA services.'
Galaviz said she was especially moved by an email from an Idaho senior citizen who told Galaviz she learned on a computer at a local library how to send and receive emails with her 14-year-old granddaughter after the screen on her cell phone proved too small for the grandmother to read.
'The screen isn't big enough, so she relies on that laptop access that the libraries provide,' Galaviz said.
In the end, Carlson's motion to authorize half of the grant funding won out over Galaviz's effort to approve the full funding for the grant.
The fiscal year 2026 budget enhancements for the Idaho Commission for Libraries still must pass the full Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate to take effect.
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