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: -1

Bill Description: House Bill 356 is a trailer appropriation for House Bill 213 that funds the Rural Nursing Loan Repayment Program.

House Bill 356 is a trailer appropriation to fund the Rural Nursing Loan Repayment Program created under House Bill 213. House Bill 256 will appropriate $250,000 to provide student loan reimbursement for nurses who practice in federally-designated health professional shortage areas.

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 appropriation is consistent with the fiscal note accompanying House Bill 213 and makes the appropriations effective in the 2024 fiscal year. This is a wasteful program because it is beyond the proper role of the government to redistribute taxpayer dollars for the purpose of incentivizing people to take certain jobs. This program is slated to cost a total of $2.5 million over the next five fiscal years.

(-1)