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: Senate Bill 1430 appropriates $4,224,100 and 37.00 full-time positions to the Commission of Pardons and Parole for fiscal year 2025.

ANALYST NOTE: This legislation is minimalist in that it only enhances the maintenance budget appropriated in Senate Bill 1266 by adding $50,000 to cover the cost of extraditing inmates, purchasing replacement items, and paying its share of the 2% additional statewide change in employee compensation.

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 maintenance budget for the Commission of Pardons and Parole of $4,107,100, growing it from the base by 16.4% over the last three years. This rate is lower than the rate of inflation over the same period, demonstrating acceptable growth in the cost to maintain the agency.

(+1)