Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Accountability topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves bill to limit agency budget-affecting policy changes outside legislative session
Summary
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to advance House Bill 90, which would limit executive agency policy changes that produce budget impacts outside the legislative session, the sponsor said.
BOISE — The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 90 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation after the sponsor said the bill would prevent executive-branch policy changes that create budgetary impacts outside the legislative session.
Sen. Brian Linney (identified in the transcript as the sponsor presenting for Nampa, District 13) told the committee the bill seeks accountability by ensuring the Legislature is involved when policy changes have budget implications. He cited recent changes to Idaho’s child-care program — rule changes and state plan amendments — that the sponsor said led to a program pause and a shortfall. In his remarks Linney said those decisions "resulted in $50,000,000 in the hole." Later in the discussion a committee remark referenced a related shortfall as $15,000,000; the transcript contains both figures attributed in the discussion.
Sen. Melissa Wintrow, who said she was on the committee that reviewed the child-care rule changes, pushed back on the sponsor’s description and noted the department presented estimates and the committee had approved the prior rule expansion because members hoped it would help more families. Wintrow said putting rules into statute can reduce administrative flexibility and that the Legislature should consider the trade-offs between flexibility and accountability.
Sen. Keiser moved to send House Bill 90 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote with members saying "Aye" and no opposition recorded in the transcript. A later line in the record requests changing Sen. Wintrow’s vote to an "A" (aye) in the committee record.
The committee record does not include a detailed fiscal note or an independent cost estimate in the transcript; the sponsor cited the child-care example to argue the bill would prevent similar budgetary effects in the future.
The bill will proceed to the full Senate for further consideration.
