JFAC has convened at this unaccustomed late-afternoon hour, and its first item of business is a request to allocate $660,000 from a mortgage foreclosure settlement to the Idaho Attorney General's office for use in helping Idaho homeowners affected by foreclosure. The AG's office made a presentation to JFAC some time back on the proposal; the money from the settlement is expected to come in soon; the expenditures would be over the next three years. The overall settlement is expected to bring in $13.3 million.

Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, moved to transfer $500,000, rather than the full $660,000, and Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, seconded the motion. Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Idaho Falls, proposed a substitute motion with the same bottom-line total, but cutting out funding to help low-income families negotiate loan modifications through Idaho Legal Aid Services, instead shifting that money to HUD for housing counselors; Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, seconded that motion. Thompson's motion was defeated, 5-15, and Jaquet's motion then passed unanimously.