Tight budget set for AG’s office, but flexibility added

After much debate, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget for the Idaho Attorney General’s office for next year that cuts state general funds by 1.1 percent but reflects an overall increase in total funds of 2.2 percent. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden warned earlier that continued cuts in his office’s budget are endangering the state’s legal representation. Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, offered a substitute motion with the same figures, but offering the attorney general “lump sum” authority, meaning he could shift funds from one area to another to cope with the budget crunch. “He is basically the people’s lawyer,” Jaquet said. “I think he needs the ability to be able to move his budget around.”

Rep. Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, who made the original proposal, said, “They are very short in terms of being able to meet their obligations right now.” Jaquet’s motion passed on a 13-7 vote. The budget, which still needs House and Senate approval and the governor’s signature to become law, cuts $182,200 from the office’s special litigation program, but does include funding for an additional attorney in the Medicaid fraud unit; nearly three-quarters of the funding for that comes from federal funds.