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 648 appropriates $34,660,600 and 221.00 full-time positions to the Office of Information Technology 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.)?
House Bill 648 requests several line items for hardware and IT infrastructure improvements as ongoing expenses. This includes $539,900 for security services equipment, $328,100 for network equipment, and $986,000 for data center equipment.
The cost for each of these projects is variable as not all hardware requires replacement on an annual basis. Making these expenses ongoing instead of one-time hides them in the base from the scrutiny of future legislatures. This lack of accountability lends itself to waste.
(-1)
