The Idaho Spending Index examines appropriation bills on several fronts to add important context to lawmakers’ discussions as the spending bills are considered on the House and Senate floors. Among the issues we look at in drawing a conclusion about a budget:
Does the agency requesting these funds serve a proper role of government? Has wasteful or duplicative spending been identified within the agency, and if so, has that spending been eliminated or corrected? Does the budget examine existing spending to look for opportunities to contain spending, e.g., through a base reduction? If there is a maintenance budget, is that maintenance budget appropriate? Are the line items appropriate in type and size, and are they absolutely necessary for serving the public? Does the budget contemplate the addition of new employees or programs? Does the appropriation increase dependency on the federal government?
Our analysis is intended to provide lawmakers and their constituents with a frame of reference for conservative budgeting, by summarizing whether appropriation measures contain items that are sincerely objectionable or sincerely supportable.
Bill Description: Senate Bill 1391 appropriates $2,140,800 and 10.0 full-time positions to the Commission on the Arts for fiscal year 2023, along with a $766,000 supplemental appropriation for fiscal year 2022.
Rating: -1
Bill Description: Senate Bill 1391 appropriates $2,140,800 and 10.0 full-time positions to the Commission on the Arts for fiscal year 2023, along with a $766,000 supplemental appropriation for fiscal year 2022.
Rating: -1
Analysis:
The proper role of government is to guarantee individual rights to life, liberty, and property. The Commission on the Arts does not represent the proper role of government since it does not further any of these pursuits. The procurement, preservation, advancement of the arts should be left to private entities and individuals. It is not an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars to fund an agency that does not narrowly focus government on its role within the framework of the United States Constitution and the Idaho Constitution.
Not only does Senate Bill 1391 fund an agency that operates beyond the scope of the proper role of government, but it is objectionable for its use of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to support its operations. This bill appropriates a $766,000 supplemental for fiscal year 2022, for funding artists, health & safety supplies, and marketing costs. These funds are borrowed from our grandchildren and are intended to be used to benefit the future generations that must repay the debt. Therefore, it is wrong to use ARPA funds for this purpose.
