BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to restore funding for two crucial behavioral health programs. Leaving other supplemental services on the table.
Assertive Community Treatment, or ACT, and Peer Support Services were both cut toward the end of 2025 as reported on by the Idaho Capital Sun. Despite warnings from law enforcement agencies and other healthcare providers of the harm cutting these programs would cause.
In the days leading up to Monday morning’s vote, the Joint Legislative Millennium Fund Committee, who oversee tobacco settlement funds, voted to recommend $6 million from the Millennium Fund to be used to restore ACT and Peer Support Services.
This recommendation hinges on another settlement fund, the Opioid Settlement Fund, appropriating $5.8 million for other costs related to the programs. If that money does not come in or is not appropriated for that purpose, the committee then recommends $4.155 million to go to ACT and Peer Support Services.
JFAC had the option to restore funding for ACT, Peer Support Services and four other behavioral health services including Skills Training and Development, Transportation costs, the Half Day Partial Hospital Program and Early Serious Mental Illness.
This option would use the full $6 million from the millennium fund, nearly $5.6 million from the Opioid Settlement and a federal funding match of $23 million. All of this being one time spending from dedicated and federal funds, avoiding the use of general funds.
The other option before the committee was to just restore funding to ACT and Peer Support Services. This being made up of $10.1 million in dedicated funds and $20.5 million in federal funds.
Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, said of the additional programs they are “intertwined” with ACT and Peer Support. He told the committee without these other programs, it could end up costing the state more in the long run.
Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, said sheriffs told him without the other programs they “don’t have support” when they run into situations requiring behavioral health intervention. And without someone to call, they resort to having to take the individual to jail leading to a “direct correlation” to property taxes.
“For the small amount of money that we spend here, the sheriffs estimated it would cost, over the state around $150 million in property tax. That’s a significant number,” Furniss told the committee.
JFAC co-chair, Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, wanted to emphasize while these requests aren’t touching the state’s general fund, this funding method only goes through Fiscal Year 2027. Not wanting to “disillusion” anyone and this could come back as a general fund ask for Fiscal Year 2028.
The motion to fund all support systems narrowly failing on the house side of the committee.
The committee did pass funding for just ACT and Peer Support services by a vote of 16-2. Sen. Codi Galloway, R-Boise and Furniss being the only two voting against it.