The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee examined the Permanent Building Fund and Division of Public Works (DPW) project portfolio, and staff told the committee the total value of active public works projects stood at roughly $1.9 billion.

Frances Lippitt, budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee the permanent building fund supports construction, maintenance and capital projects and that the fund is structured for multi‑year appropriations. "The total value of active public works projects is 1,900,000,000.0, which includes agency funds as well as funding from the permanent building fund," she said. Lippitt added that approximately 42% of funding for capital projects had been committed at the time of the presentation.

Specific FY2026 recommendations presented to the committee included several capital requests and a package of alteration and repair and maintenance items. Highlights presented by Lippitt and Division of Public Works Administrator Dale Reynolds included:

- $6.5 million to expand the Department of Lands' Ponderosa office, including improved reception security and restroom/showers for a hand crew;
- $5,560,000 to install utilities for a future Idaho National Guard readiness center in Bonneville County (site utilities for a project planned for 2029);
- $5,525,000 to adjust the Idaho State Police Lewiston District 2 project after a prior effort to buy an existing building failed (the earlier appropriation was $9,975,000; agency returned asking to include land purchase and new construction costs);
- $2.5 million to expand lab space in the Micron Center for Materials Research at Boise State University;
- $14,000,000 toward a life‑science complex at Idaho State University that administrators estimated would be part of a $127,770,000 total project when combined with agency funds and bonding; and
- $8,000,000 for a joint military science and veterans assistance center at the University of Idaho.

Lippitt also described a $68.2 million line in the request for alteration, repair and maintenance projects (including projects to improve accessibility and Capitol Mall/Chinden Campus maintenance) and a $12.5 million restoration of appropriation that had been repurposed the prior year for a minimum‑security dorm at Orofino Prison and to expand physician‑assistant facilities at Idaho State University.

Administrator Reynolds answered questions about project timelines and delivery methods, noting some projects are multi‑year and that 2–4 years is a reasonable average for many capital projects once design and procurement are complete. He said DPW was actively recruiting project managers and that projects already under contract must continue even when market conditions complicate costs.

On deferred maintenance, Lippitt and Reynolds said the state recently appropriated a large deferred‑maintenance program (cited in the presentation as $544 million) managed by an external contractor to address backlog work; committee members asked for status lists and were told DPW could supply a November capital budget report and additional detail on projects that had not progressed within a four‑year window.

Ending: Committee members requested DPW provide lists of projects that have not advanced within the committee's four‑year execution window, and asked for ongoing status detail available on SharePoint; no appropriation votes were taken at the hearing.