Rating: –1

Bill Summary:
Senate Bill 1219 (2025) appropriates an additional $1,789,500 to the Idaho State Tax Commission for Fiscal Year 2026. The funds are spread across five divisions—General Services, Audit, Compliance, Revenue Operations, and Property Tax—and cover $549,900 in personnel costs, $764,500 in operating expenses, and $475,100 in capital outlay. The bill authorizes seven new full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, two of which are designated as limited service roles intended to sunset after two years. These two positions are tasked with supporting the administrative rollout of the new parental choice tax credit program established under Idaho Code § 63-3029N.

To fund these administrative costs, the bill reduces the total available funds for the tax credit program by $674,900, diverting that amount from direct taxpayer benefit to agency operations. The legislation also includes standard limitations, restrictions, and an emergency clause, making it effective on July 1, 2025.

Reason for Rating:
Although the bill supports a Republican-backed parental choice tax credit, it undermines its own purpose by growing government bureaucracy and reducing the funds available to Idaho families. By authorizing seven new FTEs—five of them permanent—without any offsetting reductions, reforms, or consolidations, the bill expands the size and cost of state government in direct contradiction to the Idaho Republican Platform (Article I, Section 1D). That platform calls for minimizing government, rejecting unnecessary personnel growth, and limiting taxpayer-funded administration. The $675,000 administrative hit to the tax credit budget further erodes its value. Instead of finding efficiency within the existing agency framework, this bill grows overhead at the expense of policy outcomes, earning it a negative rating.