Bill Analyses and Ratings
Bill Information: H0875 – State Budget Personnel Cost Reduction Calculator
Bill Summary
House Bill 875 adds Section 67-3512B to Idaho Code, requiring the Legislative Services Office to calculate a reduction from the Governor’s annual budget document for all state entities that receive legislative appropriations and employ 50 or more full-time equivalent positions. The calculated reduction covers employee benefit costs, health insurance costs, and employee compensation, and is derived by dividing a five-year average of actual personnel cost expenditures by the total personnel costs originally appropriated for those years. For agencies in existence fewer than five years, the average spans all available years.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee may incorporate these calculated reductions directly into each entity’s appropriation bill, and the reductions apply across all fund types — meaning general funds, dedicated funds, and federal funds are all subject to adjustment. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, under an emergency declaration to align with the start of the state fiscal year.
In practical terms, this bill institutionalizes a data-driven mechanism for identifying and capturing the gap between what agencies are budgeted for personnel and what they actually spend. Because state agencies routinely experience vacancies and turnover, actual personnel expenditures are typically lower than appropriated amounts. This bill directs the legislature to systematically account for that gap when setting future budgets, rather than allowing agencies to retain unspent personnel funds.
Overall Assessment
This bill strengthens legislative control over state spending by requiring the Legislative Services Office to calculate, using a five-year historical average, the difference between what state agencies are appropriated for personnel costs and what they actually spend. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee gains a concrete, data-backed tool to right-size personnel budgets for any agency with 50 or more full-time equivalent positions, preventing the routine rollover of unspent salary and benefit funds. The result is a more disciplined appropriations process that holds state government accountable to its actual cost of operations rather than its projected maximums.
Rating Breakdown
ARTICLE I. Responsibility in Government (1)
Section 67-3512B directly operationalizes fiscal discipline by mandating that the Legislative Services Office calculate reductions based on a five-year average of actual versus appropriated personnel costs. This gives the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee a systematic, evidence-based mechanism to reduce government spending to reflect real-world agency operations, preventing agencies from budgeting for personnel costs they consistently do not incur.
ARTICLE II. Citizen Involvement in Government (0)
This bill governs an internal legislative budgeting calculation between the Legislative Services Office and the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. It creates no new avenues for public participation, does not affect elections or voting processes, and has no bearing on how citizens engage with their government.
ARTICLE III. Education (0)
While education agencies with 50 or more FTE positions would fall within the bill's scope, the bill establishes a general personnel cost calculation process applicable to all qualifying state entities. It makes no provisions specific to education policy, school funding formulas, curriculum, or parental rights in education.
ARTICLE IV. Agriculture (0)
The bill addresses state personnel budget calculations and contains no provisions related to agricultural policy, family farms, water access for agriculture, or agricultural markets. No agricultural agency or program is specifically targeted or protected.
ARTICLE V. Water (0)
The bill's scope is limited to personnel cost appropriations for state entities and has no bearing on water rights, water management, inter-basin transfers, or any other water policy matter.
ARTICLE VI. Natural Resources and Environment (0)
This bill establishes a budget calculation methodology for personnel costs and contains no provisions addressing natural resource management, environmental regulation, land use, or conservation policy.
ARTICLE VII. Energy (0)
The bill is confined to state personnel budget processes and makes no reference to energy policy, energy independence, utility rates, or energy resource development.
ARTICLE VIII. Idaho National Laboratories (0)
The bill governs state legislative appropriations processes and has no connection to the Idaho National Laboratory, nuclear research, or technology development programs associated with INL.
ARTICLE IX. Private Property Rights (0)
This bill concerns internal state budget calculations for personnel costs and has no effect on private property rights, eminent domain, regulatory takings, or land use restrictions affecting private citizens.
ARTICLE X. State and Federal Lands (0)
The bill addresses personnel cost appropriations for state agencies and contains no provisions related to the ownership, management, or transfer of state or federal lands.
ARTICLE XI. Wildlife Management (0)
The bill establishes a personnel budget reduction calculation process and makes no provisions related to wildlife management, hunting and fishing rights, predator control, or public land access for recreation.
ARTICLE XII. Economy (0)
While reducing state personnel spending could have marginal downstream effects on the broader economy, the bill is a procedural budgeting tool and does not directly address commerce, small business regulation, labor markets, or economic development policy as those topics are defined in this metric.
ARTICLE XIII. Health and Welfare (0)
Although the bill's reduction calculation includes health insurance costs as one component of personnel expenses, it does not alter healthcare delivery, Medicaid policy, welfare program eligibility, or patient rights. It is a budget process mechanism, not a health or welfare policy.
ARTICLE XIV. American Family (0)
The bill governs state budget calculation procedures and contains no provisions related to family policy, parental rights, marriage, abortion, or child welfare programs.
ARTICLE XV. Older Americans (0)
This bill establishes a personnel cost reduction methodology for state appropriations and makes no provisions addressing services, programs, or policies that specifically affect older Idahoans.
ARTICLE XVI. Law and Order with Justice (0)
The bill is a budget process measure and contains no provisions related to criminal justice, law enforcement funding, gun rights, sentencing, or judicial procedures.
ARTICLE XVII. National Defense - Securing the Border (0)
The bill addresses state personnel budget calculations and has no connection to national defense, border security, the Idaho National Guard, veterans' services, or military affairs.
ARTICLE XVIII. Election of Judges and Idaho Supreme Court Justices (0)
This bill governs legislative appropriations processes and makes no provisions related to judicial elections, the selection or retention of judges, or constitutional interpretation standards for Idaho courts.
ARTICLE XIX. Religious Liberty (0)
The bill establishes a state budget calculation methodology for personnel costs and has no bearing on religious freedom, conscience protections, or the free exercise of religion by individuals or institutions.