BOISE, ID – A board chaired by Idaho Gov. Brad Little gave the state the authority Tuesday to pay bills fighting wildfires in the event expenses exceed the available funding provided by the Idaho Legislature.
The Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners, often referred to as simply the land board, voted Tuesday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise to authorize the use of deficiency warrants to pay wildfire suppression costs if those costs exceed funding available in the budget.
In the event the costs exceed funding in the budget, Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf would be authorized to draw deficiency warrants against the state’s general fund budget.
The process is legal under state law, and basically amounts to using a credit card to pay wildfire bills that exceed funding.
Earlier this year, the Idaho Legislature voted to provide $40 million in the state’s Fire Suppression Deficiency Fund to fight wildfires this year, which is less money than the actual expenses the state incurred fighting wildfires last year, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
Last year, the state spent about $58 million fighting wildfires.
This year, Little asked for $60 million to fund wildfires this year, but the Idaho Legislature only provided $40 million.
The deficiency warrant funding authority the land board approved Tuesday comes as state officials are bracing for a greater potential for significant large wildfires this year due to rapid snowpack melt and forecasts for hot, dry weather.
During Tuesday’s land board meeting, Fire Bureau Management Chief Josh Harvey, Idaho State Forester Julia Lauch and Bureau of Land Management meteorologist Jim Wallmann briefed the board on the outlook for the summer fire season.
“So we’re expecting, really, the potential there for a very active season right now to continue into September,” Wallmann told the land board.
Excess wildfire bills could impact state budget that has seen revenues fall below projections
If Idaho has a significant fire season this year and excess wildfire bills require deficiency warrant spending, that extra money could provide an additional hit to the state budget, which is already experiencing revenue shortfalls compared to the Idaho Legislature’s forecast.
Through May, revenues for the 2026 fiscal year that ends June 30 have come in about $141 million below the Idaho Legislature’s forecast.
The state is still projected to end the year with a positive ending cash balance of about $278 million dollars. However the $278 million ending balance has dropped off from the larger $420 million ending balance that Idaho legislators were predicting as recently at the end of the 2025 legislative session April 4.
Depending on timing and costs, any additional wildfire bills from deficiency warrants could reduce Idaho’s projected year-end balance even more.
On Tuesday, Idaho Education News reported that Little’s budget office issued guidance informing state agencies to limit spending requests next year and internally prepare for midyear budget holdbacks of up to 6%.
Idaho’s economy is still healthy and strong, state officials said, but the Idaho Legislature approved more than $450 million in tax cuts this year that reduce the amount of revenue available to the state.
In addition to the revenue reduction for tax cuts, Idaho is also seeing slower growth in sales tax revenue, which is causing the state to decrease its revenue projections for future years, state budget documents show.
This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.
