Rating: –1

Bill Summary:

Senate Bill 1193 appropriates a total of $11,134,000 to the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) for fiscal year 2026, including $2,503,600 for personnel, $3,356,400 for operating expenditures, and $5,274,000 for capital outlay. Of the total, $8,390,200 comes from the General Fund and $2,743,800 from the Administration and Accounting Services Fund. The bill authorizes 22 new full-time equivalent (FTE) positions. Additionally, it appropriates $81,700 from the General Fund for FY 2025. It requires a joint report by December 1, 2025, from ITS and the Division of Financial Management identifying statewide IT cost efficiencies. The bill includes an emergency clause and takes effect July 1, 2025.

Reason for Rating:
S1193 significantly expands the size and cost of Idaho’s centralized IT bureaucracy without delivering meaningful reform, privatization, or efficiency guarantees. It adds 22 new government employees and allocates over $8 million in new General Fund spending for internal agency functions—not public services—while offering only a future report as a gesture toward accountability. The Idaho Republican Party Platform supports downsizing government, fiscal restraint, and privatizing services where appropriate. This bill grows a behind-the-scenes agency, increases administrative overhead, and entrenches state-run IT services without any mechanism for limiting costs, measuring outcomes, or exploring competitive alternatives. For these reasons, it earns a negative rating.

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