Industrial Commission seeks staff and IRIS maintenance as caseloads, payments rise

The Industrial Commission on Thursday told the Joint Finance Preparation Committee it needs ongoing maintenance funding for its IRIS case-management system, several staff reclassifications and four replacement vehicles to address rising caseloads, payment backlogs and aging field fleet.

Noah Peterson, budget and policy analyst for the Legislative Services Office, briefed the committee on the agency’s budget request and related fund activity, noting that the commission is a dedicated‑fund agency and that none of its appropriation comes from the state general fund. Peterson said the commission reverted $4,555,000 last year and that $2,400,000 of that came from the crime victims compensation program. He also summarized enhancement requests and the agency’s use of 12 vacant FTPs to fund positions.

The requests are tied to a multi‑year IRIS (Industrial Commission Redesign Information System) modernization project that Peterson said has received $12,874,000 in one‑time appropriations since fiscal 2021 and now requires contracted technical support: “this is essential support to essentially support the modernization that from the IRIS project,” he said, explaining a $288,000 one‑time request for maintenance contractors after the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) could not provide the work.

Committee members pressed the agency on how IRIS affected staffing needs. Peterson described a staffing gap in the fiscal team and said the target…