The Budget Calendar: From Agency Requests to Sine Die

The Idaho Legislature adjourned its 2026 session on April 2, in the evening. The budgets it passed would not begin to spend a dollar until July 1. Meanwhile, the agencies that would spend the money had begun preparing their requests the previous summer. A state budget is a yearlong conversation that runs on a fixed calendar, and nearly every news story about it is really a story about one date on that calendar.

The fiscal year and the three budgets in motion

The state accounting year starts July 1 and ends June 30. The Legislative Fiscal Report glossary gives the example: fiscal year 2026 begins July 1, 2025 and ends June 30, 2026. The year is named for the calendar year in which it ends. So FY2027 is July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, and FY2028 begins July 1, 2027.

At any moment in October 2026, three fiscal years are active:

The mix-ups follow from that overlap. A "FY2027 budget" can mean the amounts appropriated in March 2026, the same amounts after a mid-year change, or the actual spending when the year ends in June 2027. A "2027 budget" can mean FY2027 or the one debated in the 2027 session, which is FY2028. Always attach the dates.

The dates written into law

Idaho Code Title 67, chapter 35 (the State Budget law) sets the skeleton. These dates are in the statutes as of October 2026.

Date	What happens	Who acts	Authority
By July 15	Budget request forms are available to all departments, offices and institutions	DFM administrator, with the Legislative Services Office	67-3502(1)
By September 1	Completed requests are filed with DFM and LSO at the same time	Agencies	67-3502(2)
By November 15	The Division of Public Works files its capital project report with the Governor and LSO	Department of Administration	67-3502(2)
By November 20	DFM submits the information for the executive budget to the Governor or the governor-elect	DFM administrator	67-3505
January 1	The State Controller delivers a financial statement for the preceding fiscal year to the Governor and LSO	State Controller	67-1001(2)
Monday on or nearest January 9	The regular session convenes	Legislature	67-404
Within five days after convening	The Governor transmits the budget document	Governor	67-3506
By January 15	DFM reports to JFAC on authorized positions, vacancies and recommended compensation changes	DFM administrator	67-3513(2)
During the session	JFAC considers the budget in joint open session and prepares and introduces the appropriation bills	JFAC	67-3513(1), 67-3514
July 1	The new fiscal year begins and the appropriations take effect	Agencies	DFM Budget Process page

Four points about those rows.

One. The September 1 date has an exception: "except with special permission and agreement of" the DFM administrator and the director of LSO. Agencies, in other words, file on time unless the two budget offices agree otherwise.

Two. The Governor's budget document has four parts under Idaho Code 67-3507: the Governor's budget message, the detail of agency needs and recommendations for all funds (including federal, local and interagency money) with the capital program, the annual agency performance plans, and the federal funding reports with the disclosures about possible federal reductions. All money must be accounted for in the budget.

Three. JFAC must "sit jointly in open sessions while considering the budget." The statute lets the committee go into executive session on a two-thirds vote of its membership, but "no votes or any official action may be taken" there. The committee can "increase or decrease items in the budget." That sentence is the source of the Legislature's power to depart from the Governor's recommendation.

Four. The reason for the dates is practical, not ceremonial. The Constitution bars the Legislature from appropriating more than the tax then provided by law (Article VII, section 11), so the Legislature needs agency requests, a Governor's plan and a revenue forecast in hand before it sets numbers. The calendar puts those pieces in order.

The FY2027 cycle, with real dates

The actual events of the last full cycle show how the statutory skeleton plays out. Not every step falls on a date in the statute, and the 2025-26 cycle ran in the shadow of a revenue shortfall.

Date	Event	Source
By July 15, 2025	Statutory deadline for budget request forms to be available	67-3502(1)
Aug. 15, 2025	Gov. Brad Little signs Executive Order 2025-05, a 3 percent reduction in FY2026 General Fund spending authority; K-12 public schools exempt	Executive Order 2025-05
By Sept. 1, 2025	Agencies file FY2027 requests	67-3502(2); Idaho Capital Sun
Sept. 17, 2025	DFM memo tells agencies to cut their FY2027 requests by 3 percent, remove General Fund replacement items and submit revised plans by Oct. 3	Idaho Capital Sun, Sept. 18, 2025
Nov. 4, 2025	LSO presents a projected FY2027 shortfall of $555.2 million to JFAC	Idaho Capital Sun, Nov. 25, 2025
Jan. 12, 2026	The Second Regular Session of the 68th Legislature convenes; the Governor gives the State of the State address with FY2026 and FY2027 revenue forecasts	Legislature; Legislative Fiscal Report
January 2026	EORAC reviews the forecasts and concludes General Fund revenues of $5,665.1 million for FY2026 and $5,816.6 million for FY2027; JFAC adopts those numbers	Legislative Fiscal Report, page 27
Jan. 13 to Apr. 1, 2026	JFAC's page lists meetings on most weekdays, mostly at 8:00 a.m., plus Call of the Chair days	JFAC 2026 page
Apr. 2, 2026	Sine die. The Senate adjourned at 6:18 p.m. and the House at 6:29 p.m.; 81 days; 350 bills became law	Legislature sine die report; Idaho Capital Sun
July 1, 2026	FY2027 begins	Legislative Fiscal Report glossary
July 17, 2026	The Governor reports FY2026 General Fund revenue ended about $171.9 million above DFM's revised forecast and $19.2 million above the Legislature's	Office of the Governor

What JFAC does in the weeks after the Governor speaks

Idaho Code 67-3513 names the "standing committees of the house of representatives and of the senate in charge of appropriation measures": the Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, sitting together as JFAC. It has 20 members, 10 from each chamber. The Legislative Fiscal Report lists the 2026 chairs as Sen. C. Scott Grow and Rep. Josh Tanner, with Sen. James Woodward and Rep. Steve Miller as vice chairs. Lesson 3 covers who the members are and how the committee divides its work.

Maintenance first, enhancements second

For decades JFAC heard each agency for hours and wrote one budget bill per agency late in the session. In late 2023 and January 2024, the co-chairs announced changes that the Idaho Capital Sun described on January 4, 2024: shorter public hearings, smaller working groups to write budgets earlier, spending limits, and separate bills for maintenance budgets and new requests. On January 16, 2024 JFAC passed ten omnibus maintenance bills covering more than 100 agencies and divisions and over $5.1 billion in General Fund spending. On February 2, 2024, 12 of the 20 members passed competing standalone budgets, a dispute that was resolved on the floors; the session ended on April 10, 2024 after 94 days.

The approach has stayed. The Legislative Fiscal Report's glossary defines the "maintenance budget" as the funding needed to maintain the same level of service or activity in the coming year as in the current year, and a "line item" as a decision unit after maintenance that can fund new programs, expansions, provider rate increases and new personnel. The 2026 session produced maintenance bills (S1362 for public schools, H876 for higher education and related State Board of Education programs including community colleges and Career Technical Education, S1435 for Health and Welfare, S1361 for Correction and Juvenile Corrections, and H867 for General Government agencies) and separate enhancement bills (S1444 for public schools, H906, H907 and H920 for higher education programs, S1408 for the Deaf and Blind school). The Legislative Fiscal Report breaks the FY2027 General Fund appropriation into $5,496.4 million for program maintenance and $125.4 million for enhancements, a total of $5,621.8 million.

The JFAC minutes of January 9, 2024 describe the sequence: statewide maintenance budgets first, then agency hearings on additional requests such as replacement items, non-discretionary adjustments and line items; agencies that ask only for maintenance get no separate hearing; presentations are due 72 hours before a hearing. The Capital Sun reported in January 2025 that a budget needs a majority of the Senate members and a majority of the House members on JFAC, and that a budget that fails stays in committee and may be rewritten. In November 2025 the Capital Sun reported a change: the test became a majority of the members present from each chamber, where earlier it took six yes votes from each chamber regardless of attendance. These are committee practices, and they can change from year to year.

What the session leaves behind

Appropriations carry the force of a fixed budget: Idaho Code 67-3516(1) says appropriation acts are "fixed budgets beyond which state officers, departments, bureaus, and institutions may not expend." But the budget does not freeze after sine die.

• Supplementals and rescissions: The Legislature adjusts the current year at the start of budget setting. In 2026 the FY2026 Idaho Budget Rescissions Act (S1331) removed $131.3 million from FY2026 General Fund appropriations, while supplementals added money for Medicaid population changes ($92.6 million) and Correction population changes ($17.4 million), per the Legislative Fiscal Report.
• Holdbacks: Idaho Code 67-3512A lets the Governor reduce spending authority by executive order if authorized spending exceeds anticipated money. A holdback is temporary and does not reduce the appropriation. Lesson 5 covers it.
• Board of Examiners actions: Moves between expense categories need the consent of the State Board of Examiners (67-3511). Non-state money that was not known when appropriations were made needs approval of the DFM administrator and the Board (67-3516(2)).

The FY2028 cycle, as of October 2026

The next cycle is under way. Here is where it stands.

• Requests are in. The Capital Sun reported on September 9, 2026 that agencies' FY2028 requests were public on the DFM website, with the Department of Health and Welfare's the only request not yet posted. The July 2026 coverage said requests were limited to maintenance-of-operations funding. DFM budget chief Lori Wolff described the strategy as continuing to run agencies on less, and said in May that the next year was not the time to restore cuts.
• No new holdback is expected. Officials quoted in July 2026 said they did not anticipate additional holdbacks but wanted continued focus on efficiency.
• The election comes first. Idaho Code 67-404 says each Legislature's term begins December 1 after the general election. The November 3, 2026 election chooses the legislators and the governor who will take the FY2028 budget through the 2027 session. Idaho Code 67-3505 explicitly allows DFM's November submission to go to a governor-elect. The current JFAC page lists meetings on November 10 (3:00 p.m.), November 11 and November 12 (8:00 a.m.), 2026 with agendas posted there.
• Revenue reports keep coming. Revenue beat DFM's projection by $39 million in September 2026 and by $90.3 million over the first three months of FY2027, according to the Capital Sun on October 9, 2026.
• The 2027 session starts January 11. January 9, 2027 is a Saturday, so the Monday nearest is January 11. Under 67-3506 the Governor's budget document is due within five days of that date.

Questions and answers

When is the state budget actually passed?

Bills move between roughly February and the end of the session. In 2026, the last day was April 2. Some pieces can change later through supplemental bills in the next session.

Why do agencies file requests so early?

Idaho Code 67-3502 puts the deadline at September 1 so DFM and LSO can analyze requests, the Governor can decide his recommendation and the Legislature can have the Legislative Budget Book ready before January.

Can the public see agency requests?

Yes. DFM publishes agency requests on its site, and the Capital Sun reported on September 9, 2026 that the FY2028 requests were up. LSO's Legislative Budget Book also compares each request to the Governor's recommendation.

What is the difference between the Executive Budget and the Legislative Budget Book?

The Executive Budget is the Governor's four-part document under 67-3507. The Legislative Budget Book is LSO's reference for JFAC. LSO describes it as the primary reference document JFAC uses, with each request set beside the Governor's recommendation.

Who decides what time JFAC meets?

The committee's co-chairs schedule it. The 2026 page shows most meetings at 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, with other times and Call of the Chair days as needed.

Does the Legislature meet in the fall?

JFAC does. The 2026 page lists November 10 to 12 meetings. Per the January 2024 minutes, JFAC performs a detailed examination of one-fifth of state agencies' base budgets, so that in five years every agency base budget has been reviewed. The full Legislature meets in January unless called into extraordinary session.

What happens if the Legislature does not finish the budget?

The session can run longer, as it did in 2025 when the Capital Sun reported unfinished budgets in March. No appropriation means no authority to spend (Article VII, section 13), so each budget must pass before the fiscal year begins on July 1.

What does "sine die" mean for a reader?

It is Latin for "without a day" and means the session has adjourned with no set date to return. After that, only a special session called by the Governor or by the Legislature as the law provides could act on the budget again.

Hard questions

"Are the new maintenance and enhancement bills more transparent or less?"

Supporters, including House Speaker Mike Moyle and Sen. Scott Herndon in the Capital Sun's 2024 reporting, said working groups and a separate view of new spending improved transparency and gave the Legislature more say over priorities. Critics, including Rep. Britt Raybould and Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, said the maintenance budgets did not accurately reflect maintenance spending and made whole-budget votes harder. In 2026 Sen. Kevin Cook said a legislator who tried to find a specific cut in the 50-page rescissions bill would be "clueless." The record shows both views.

"Should the Governor or the Legislature have the last word on revenue?"

In FY2027, the Governor's revised revenue projection at sine die was $5,679.2 million, while the Legislature used EORAC's $5,816.6 million (before law changes). The difference is $137.4 million. The Legislature's choice is lawful: JFAC adopts the forecast it uses to set budgets. The risk, as the Capital Sun reported in November 2025, is that a forecast set too high leads to holdbacks. Lesson 4 looks at the track record.

"Should the session start earlier, or the fiscal year line up with the calendar year?"

Some states do. Idaho's July 1 fiscal year and January session mean the Legislature sets budgets for a year that starts about three months after it adjourns. Supporters of the current structure point to the time agencies have to prepare. Others say the long gap between forecast and the year-end is a source of misses. The structure is set by the Constitution and statutes and would need legislative action to change.

"Why are so many votes taken in the last weeks of the session?"

Budget bills depend on revenue decisions (such as tax conformity in 2026), policy bills and sometimes federal developments. In 2026 JFAC adopted its revenue projection first, on January 19, and co-chair Tanner said tax conformity would be considered after that and before budgets were set (JFAC minutes). The conformity bill, H.B. 559, then lowered the revenue estimate by $155 million for FY2026 and $175 million for FY2027 (Legislative Fiscal Report), so budgets were set against a number that was still moving. Whether that sequence should change is a question for the legislative leadership.