Bill Analyses and Ratings
Bill Information: H0965 – State Historic Preservation Office Transfer FY2027
Bill Summary
House Bill 965 transfers the State Historic Preservation Office Program from the Idaho State Historical Society to the Office of Species, Minerals, and Energy Coordination for fiscal year 2027. The bill appropriates $1,699,700 to the Office of Species, Minerals, and Energy Coordination — drawn from the General Fund ($257,400), Miscellaneous Revenue Fund ($150,000), and Federal Grant Fund ($1,292,300) — and authorizes 12 additional full-time equivalent positions for that office. Simultaneously, it reduces the Idaho State Historical Society’s appropriation by the same total dollar amount and cuts its FTE authorization by 12 positions.
Section 5 grants the Office of Species, Minerals, and Energy Coordination a full exemption from the expense class and program transfer limitations under Idaho Code Section 67-3511(1) and (2), allowing the office to move money freely between expense classes and programs throughout the fiscal year. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, under an emergency clause, ensuring the transfer is in place at the start of the fiscal year.
Overall Assessment
This bill is a straightforward administrative and budgetary transfer, moving the State Historic Preservation Office Program — along with its $1,699,700 in funding and 12 staff positions — from the Idaho State Historical Society to the Office of Species, Minerals, and Energy Coordination for fiscal year 2027. The net fiscal impact on the state is zero; no new money is appropriated and no programs are eliminated. The practical effect is a reorganization of which executive agency houses and administers Idaho’s historic preservation functions.
Rating Breakdown
ARTICLE I. Responsibility in Government (0)
The bill moves $1,699,700 and 12 FTE positions between two state agencies with no net change in total appropriations. It is a budget-neutral administrative reorganization that neither expands nor contracts the overall size or cost of state government.
ARTICLE II. Citizen Involvement in Government (0)
The bill addresses only the internal transfer of agency funding and staffing. It contains no provisions related to citizen participation, government transparency, voting, or public engagement in the legislative process.
ARTICLE III. Education (0)
The bill's provisions are limited to appropriations and FTE transfers for the State Historic Preservation Office Program. No education policy, school funding, curriculum, or parental rights provisions are included.
ARTICLE IV. Agriculture (0)
The bill concerns the administrative relocation of a historic preservation program between state agencies. It contains no provisions affecting agriculture, farming, ranching, or related water and land use issues.
ARTICLE V. Water (0)
No provisions in this bill address water rights, water appropriation, inter-basin transfers, irrigation, or any other water policy matter. The bill is confined to agency budget and staffing adjustments.
ARTICLE VI. Natural Resources and Environment (0)
Although the receiving agency is named the Office of Species, Minerals, and Energy Coordination, Section 1 explicitly designates the appropriation 'for the State Historic Preservation Office Program.' The bill changes no natural resource policy, environmental regulation, or land management authority.
ARTICLE VII. Energy (0)
Despite the receiving agency's name referencing energy, the appropriation in Section 1 is expressly limited to the State Historic Preservation Office Program. The bill makes no changes to energy policy, production, regulation, or development.
ARTICLE VIII. Idaho National Laboratories (0)
The bill contains no reference to the Idaho National Laboratory, nuclear research, energy technology development, or any related program. Its scope is limited to the State Historic Preservation Office Program transfer.
ARTICLE IX. Private Property Rights (0)
The bill makes no changes to property rights law, eminent domain authority, land use regulation, or due process protections for property owners. It is an internal government appropriations action.
ARTICLE X. State and Federal Lands (0)
The bill does not address state or federal land ownership, management, or transfer. The historic preservation program being relocated administers cultural and historic sites but the bill itself changes no land policy.
ARTICLE XI. Wildlife Management (0)
The bill contains no provisions related to wildlife management, hunting and fishing regulations, predator control, or federal wildlife designations. It is confined to historic preservation program funding.
ARTICLE XII. Economy (0)
The bill is an internal government budget transfer with no net fiscal impact on the broader economy. It does not address business regulation, taxation, labor policy, commerce, or economic development.
ARTICLE XIII. Health and Welfare (0)
The bill contains no provisions related to healthcare, health insurance, welfare programs, or public health. Its scope is limited to the administrative transfer of a historic preservation program.
ARTICLE XIV. American Family (0)
The bill makes no changes affecting family policy, marriage, abortion, child welfare, or related social issues. It is a technical appropriations and agency reorganization measure.
ARTICLE XV. Older Americans (0)
The bill contains no provisions addressing services for older Idahoans, retirement security, age discrimination, or senior care programs. It is limited to the transfer of historic preservation funding and staff.
ARTICLE XVI. Law and Order with Justice (0)
The bill makes no changes to criminal law, gun rights, law enforcement funding, incarceration policy, or the justice system. It is an appropriations transfer between executive agencies.
ARTICLE XVII. National Defense - Securing the Border (0)
The bill contains no provisions related to national defense, military affairs, border security, veterans' services, or immigration. It is confined to state agency budget administration.
ARTICLE XVIII. Election of Judges and Idaho Supreme Court Justices (0)
The bill makes no changes to judicial selection, judicial elections, or court structure. It is an executive branch appropriations measure with no connection to the judiciary.
ARTICLE XIX. Religious Liberty (0)
The bill contains no provisions affecting religious freedom, free exercise protections, conscience clauses, or church-state relations. It is a budget and staffing transfer between state agencies.