The Idaho Spending Index serves to provide a fiscally conservative perspective on state budgeting while providing an unbiased measurement of how Idaho lawmakers apply these values to their voting behavior on appropriations bills. Each bill is analyzed within the context of the metrics below. They receive one (+1) point for each metric that is satisfied by freedom-focused policymaking and lose one (-1) point for each instance in which the inverse is true. The sum of these points composes the score for the bill.
Analyst: Niklas Kleinworth
Rating: 0
Bill Description: Senate Bill 1400 appropriates $24,107,800 and 130.25 full-time positions to the Industrial Commission for fiscal year 2025.
Does this budget incur any wasteful spending among discretionary funds, including new line items? Conversely, does this budget contain any provisions that serve to reduce spending where possible (i.e. base reductions, debt reconciliation, etc.)?
The agency is in year five of its business and technology modernization project, IRIS. This would be the final year of the project. Thus, this request contains appropriations for incentive payments for the vendor, due upon completion and maintenance of the modules already added.
This appropriation expands the scope of the project to “create workflows and automate business processes.” This would cost an additional $2,077,500 that was not budgeted for in the original project proposal. Being that this was not in the original request, this additional functionality is not crucial for the completion of the project. It is a want, rather than a need within the agency.
(-1)
Is the maintenance budget inappropriate for the needs of the state, the size of the agency, or the inflationary environment of the economy? Conversely, is the maintenance budget appropriate given the needs of the state and economic pressures?
This legislation confirms the program maintenance budget for the Industrial Commission of $20,065,300, growing from the base by 2.5% over the last three years. This rate is slower than the rate of inflation over the same period, demonstrating modest growth in the cost to maintain the agency.
(+1)
