Idaho watchdog office preparing report on effectiveness of state’s troubled Luma business system

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) – Idaho’s independent Office of Performance Evaluations is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to its study of the implementation and effectiveness of Luma, the massive new state business system that is tied to all state agencies and state employees.

In February, the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Legislative Oversight Committee authorized the Office of Performance Evaluations to undertake study of Luma, from the initial conception of the program to its current implementation.

Launched in July 2023, Luma is a cloud-based business system that centralizes all of the state’s budget, procurement, payroll, human resources and financial management systems for all state agencies. Luma replaced a pair of old state business systems that state officials have said outlived their useful life and were vulnerable to security threats, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

But since its rollout more than a year ago, a series of data entry and technical errors have again and again been attributed to Luma. For example, a nonprofit agency said it wasn’t paid by the state for months, state officials were unable to produce official comparative revenue reports and the state treasurer was unable to distribute interest payments to state agencies for several months, the Sun previously reported. In addition, the Idaho Freedom Foundation first reported that the state double-paid more than $32 million in duplicated Idaho Department of Health and Welfare transactions.

OPE to look at creation, training for Idaho’s Luma business system

Ryan Langrill, interim director of the Office of Performance Evaluations, said his office was directed to make the Luma study its top priority.

“So we have taken an all-hand-on-deck approach to the study,” Langrill said Friday during a meeting of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee.

For its study of Luma, the Office of Performance Evaluations will look at multiple factors, Langrill said. The office will look at the Idaho State Controller’s Office’s decision making in creating and implementing Luma, including training. The office will also study how Luma is helping or hurting state agencies’ ability to carry out their missions and offer guidance.

Officials have conducted more than 60 interviews, conducted surveys, reviewed contracts and spoken with industry experts in other states for the study, Langrill said.

The study is expected to be released in October. The forthcoming study will be separate from a Legislative Services Office audit of Luma that was released in June, which found the system lacked a range of information technology controls for data validation and security.

“Our goal is to identify what went well and what didn’t and to offer recommendations for future large scale IT projects,” Langrill said.