Idaho Department of Finance requests six examiner and cybersecurity positions; governor backs most but omits two

The Idaho Department of Finance asked the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Jan. 21 for six new full‑time positions and one‑time capital outlay to strengthen information‑technology examinations and investigations, particularly to address rising cybercrime and fraud targeting older Idahoans.

Noah Peterson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the Department requested an ongoing increase of six full‑time positions costing $816,600 from state regulatory funds and $52,600 in one‑time OITS hardware recommended by the Office of Information Technology Services. Peterson said the governor recommended the agency’s requests “with the exception of line item 3,” referring to two Financial Investigator 3 positions requested for the Consumer Finance Bureau.

The requested positions include an IT examiner for the Financial Institutions Bureau (salary at 100% of policy, $121,300), a non‑IT financial examiner ($121,300), two Financial Investigator 3 positions focused on IT examinations (salary grade M, $82,500 each), one securities‑bureau examiner specializing in cybersecurity ($82,500), and a forensic accounting specialist for the securities bureau ($82,500). One‑time capital outlay of $52,600 would buy laptops, docking stations and portable field monitors recommended by OITS.

Patty Perkins, director of the Department of Finance, told the committee the agency is seeing “a huge increase in cybercrime,” and said investigators are working more cases that use crypto and other tools that require specialized technical skills. “We have a particular concern about the elderly population in the state,” Perkins said, describing cases in which older Idahoans were swindled by scammers using telephone and computer fraud.

Senator Wendy Wintrow and Senator Cook pressed for data to justify the new positions. Peterson said some supporting data — for example, FBI figures on cybersecurity damages — are available but not in his prepared packet; he and Perkins agreed to provide the committee with more concrete workload and outcome measures later so the legislature can assess return on investment.

Peterson also gave a fund overview: nearly all Department operations are supported by state regulatory funds (revenues from examinations, assessments, filing fees and forfeitures). He said the mortgage recovery fund and securities investing/training fund are statutorily limited to modest annual administrative uses (the department may use up to $50,000 annually from each of those funds for administration and investor education activities).

Committee members asked how the new positions would change outcomes. Perkins said the department has a small investigation staff and has partnered with Idaho State Police and other agencies; some law‑enforcement partners have procured specialized tools that finance investigators use to follow money flows in complex fraud. Perkins repeated the department’s offer to provide a detailed breakdown of cases, staffing needs and performance measures to the committee.

The presentation also noted recent staffing additions: the department previously added mortgage examiners and outreach roles and consolidated HR functions with the Division of Human Resources, yielding a net gain of two FTPs in 2024. Peterson said the department historically spends more than 90% of its appropriation and that personnel make up nearly 78% of recent expenditures.

The committee did not take a vote during the Jan. 21 hearing. Perkins said the department supports the governor’s recommended budget and looks forward to providing the additional data requested by committee members.

Looking ahead, committee members asked the department to return with concrete, measurable workload data (case counts, outcomes, dollars recovered or referred for prosecution) so legislators can compare results if the positions are funded.

(Reporting note: the Department of Finance presentation and subsequent Q&A were given to the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Jan. 21, 2025. No formal committee action was recorded in the provided transcript.)