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 1405 appropriates $11,036,300 and 72.00 full-time positions to the Department of Finance for fiscal year 2025.
ANALYST NOTE: With the exception of replacement items and the additional 2% CEC, this budget is largely maintenance spending consistent with the appropriations from Senate Bill 1270.
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.)?
This budget includes $95,400 in replacement items. Among the items in this request, the department asks for $55,000 to replace 25 laptops as part of a three-year replacement cycle. This works out to be $2,200 per unit. According to the Division of Financial Management’s budget development manual, this is the cost consistent with high-end laptops. Though some of the work conducted by the agency would undoubtedly require a higher-end machine, it is unlikely that all 25 laptops would need to have these capabilities.
(-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 Department of Finance of $10,783,500, growing from the base by 7.9% 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)
