Note: This year IFF rated maintenance bills according to a more refined system. This is an enhancement bill, and will be rated as a standalone bill. IFF will only consider enhancement line items in these ratings. This means that FTP reductions passed in maintenance legislation will not be evaluated here, among other things.

Bill Description: Senate Bill 1386 is an enhancement of $134,400 and 0.00 new full-time positions for the Commission of Pardons and Parole for fiscal year 2027. This legislation appropriates a total of $4,391,700 and 37 full-time positions to the agency.

Rating: -1 

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 legislation authorizes onetime spending for the Commission of Pardons and Parole of $134,400, adding additional expenditures after last year’s (FY26) onetime spending of $12,600. Onetime spending is often even more volatile than ongoing spending, which is to be expected due to the onetime expenses generally being utilized for projects or capital outlay. This also calls for special scrutiny and discernment.

These outlays consist solely of OITS Hardware and a “Dedicated Fund Budget Restoration” ($87,100 DF). In a deficit year, this increase is unwarranted. Further, almost all agencies faced the additional 2% JFAC holdback, and agencies asking for exemptions or restorations do a disservice to agencies who accepted the entire 5% holdback.

(-1)