Gov. Butch Otter's budget recommendation calls for ISP to have a 20.7 percent increase in general funds from the state next year, but that equals out to a 1.9 percent reduction overall. Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, just asked ISP Chief Jerry Russell, "If you had to take a 7 percent reduction," in general funds - does the agency have have priorities set out "so you can lop off, say, a whole service out of your organization to meet that requirement?" Russell responded, "Yes. Now if I can follow up on that." He said during the course of zero-based budgeting, the department has laid out all its costs and all its priorities. "With 7 percent, we're looking in the neighborhood of 30 officers additional that I would lose," he said. "So when you talk about prioritizing, yes, we've done it. Yes, I know what the impact would be. ... It would take me up to roughly 51 percent loss since 2009. Bottom line, it would be devastating as far as services." That ranges from patrolling highways to doing criminal investigations. "Every part of the agency would be negatively impacted," Russell said.

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