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: House Bill 909 is an enhancement of $350,000 and 0.00 new full-time positions for the Office of the Secretary of the State (SoS) for fiscal year 2027. This legislation appropriates a total of $5,986,600 and 35.50 full-time positions to the agency.
Rating: -1
Is the continuation or growth in ongoing spending, if any, inappropriate for the changes in circumstances, scope of the agency, or current economic environment? Conversely, is the continuation or growth in ongoing spending appropriate given any change in circumstances or economic pressures?
The SOS did not participate in the 5% base reductions enacted by JFAC. They instead made a cash transfer to the General Fund. This cash transfer, while noted, does not reduce the agency’s budget. If all agencies availed themselves of this option, there would have been far fewer ongoing reductions.
(-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 SoS of $350,000, adding additional expenditures after last year’s (FY26) onetime spending of $148,000. Onetime spending is often even more volatile than ongoing spending, which is to be expected due to these onetime expenses generally being utilized for projects or capital outlay. This also calls for special scrutiny and discernment.
The onetime expenditure solely consists of resources to produce a Voter Pamphlet ($350,000 GF). This expenditure is mandated by law (Idaho Code § 34-1812C).
(0)
