Industrial Commission seeks staff, maintenance and IRIS support as caseloads and reversions draw scrutiny

The Industrial Commission asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Jan. 23 for a mix of ongoing and one‑time funding tied to continued support for its IRIS modernization project, staffing adjustments and equipment replacements, while lawmakers questioned why the agency reverted $4,555,000 in the last fiscal year instead of using those funds to fill vacancies.

The agency’s budget and policy analyst, Noah Peterson of the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the commission has 130.25 total full‑time positions authorized, with 12 vacancies reported as of August and no new FTPs requested for fiscal 2026. Peterson also summarized recent reversions: “last year, they reverted a total of $4,555,000. The main driver of this was trustee and benefit payments, and that came in at $3,000,000,” of which roughly $2,400,000 was from the Crime Victims Compensation Program.

Why it matters: the requests tie operational staffing to program backlogs and to ongoing support for IRIS, the agency’s paper‑to‑digital modernization. The committee pressed agency leaders on whether reverted balances could instead sustain positions and on the scope and longevity of IRIS maintenance contracts.

Most of the Industrial Commission’s appropriation comes from dedicated funds; none is from the general fund. Peterson identified the commission’s four funds as the Industrial Administration Fund, the Peace Officer Temporary Disability Fund, the Crime Victims Compensation Fund and a Miscellaneous Revenue Fund. He said the crime victims fund is supported by court fines and pays for compensation to innocent victims up to statutory maximums and for program administration.

The IRIS project (an agency modernization to reduce paper dependency) was funded with about $12.87 million in one‑time appropriations from fiscal 2021 to 2025, Peterson said. The commission requested $3.5 million one‑time in FY2025 for development and replacement items and is now asking for maintenance support for that system: “this is essentially to support the IRIS contract ongoing even though it’s a one‑time request,” Peterson told the committee.

Director George Gutierrez told lawmakers that IRIS increased the volume and sources of data available to staff, and that change has shifted work across units: “IRIS did increase our business system efficiency. So, it is taking a lot of the paper shuffling back and forth out of the equation and creating an electronic record that people can see, real time,” he said. At the same time, he said more electronic data has increased the number of matters moving forward into legal or adjudicative workflows.

Staffing and service requests. The commission’s FY2026 request includes 10 enhancement items with $298,200 in ongoing costs and $554,200 in one‑time costs, financed from the Industrial Administration Fund. Key items summarized by the analyst and agency director include: - Senior financial technician (ongoing, $66,500): to reduce delays in the Crime Victims Compensation program; Peterson noted the target turnaround for payments is 30 days but “as a budget submission in August there were a total of 872 outstanding payments and estimated turnaround time was 12 weeks.” - Rehabilitation field consultant for the Twin Falls/Burley area (ongoing, $32,300): agency said the area processes about 35% more cases than the five‑year state average. - Referee (ongoing, $111,600): restore a referee position vacated in 2020; Gutierrez said the average days to issue decisions rose from 90 to 110 days after the reduction. - Reclassification of five adjudication associates (ongoing, $25,500): the agency says IRIS increased the complexity of review work and justifies moving five staff from grade H to I. - Technical records specialist (ongoing, $62,300): to prepare cases for civil litigation and support employer compliance work now producing higher volumes of referrals. - Four replacement SUVs for field staff (one‑time): the agency seeks four vehicles for rehabilitation consultants and investigators; Gutierrez described repeated mechanical failures in aging vehicles with 82,000–98,000 miles. - IT replacement items (one‑time, $104,200) and an IRIS maintenance contract (one‑time request shown as $288,000 in the packet): the maintenance request funds contracted technical support until the Office of Information Technology Services can provide ongoing support.

On reversions and restricted uses: Representative Petzke and others asked whether the commission could use reverted balances to cover personnel requests. Director Gutierrez said most reversions were trustee and benefit payments (payments to victims and peace officer disability benefits) and that the commission lacks unilateral authority to reallocate those trustee/benefit appropriations: “If there’s a path to switch that money from trustee and benefits to other areas of the commission, we don’t have the authority to do that on our own. That would require us to get special approval,” he said.

Lawmakers also asked about IRIS costs and whether the modernization had increased complexity. Senator Cook pressed the agency on why IRIS had raised the skill level for some classifications; Gutierrez explained that electronic records moved some document‑quality and statutory‑compliance review back to adjudication support staff, and the switch of legal work from a dedicated Deputy Attorney General in‑house to multiple attorneys in the AG’s civil litigation division changed how cases must be prepared before referral.

Committee response and next steps: analysts and legislators asked for more detailed breakdowns of IRIS spending, a fleet inventory for vehicle replacement decisions, and documentation about reverted funds. Peterson and Gutierrez said they would provide more detailed evidence of IRIS expenditures and vehicle inventories to the committee. The governor’s recommendation included a 5% CEC increase to commissioner pay (about $22,400) and did not recommend the commission’s contingency enhancement.

The commission stood for questions and acknowledged the committee’s requests for supplemental detail on IRIS contracts, the makeup of reversions, and the rationale and costing for staffing and vehicle replacements.