Idaho elected leaders bought into the national tax scheme devised by the MAGA crowd in Washington, DC, to the severe detriment of programs critical to Idaho. It’s as if the Governor and Legislature are unaware that the economic health of the Gem State is highly reliant on proper management of its natural resources or that they must provide for the essential needs of all Idahoans. We don’t fit into the national cookie cutter of the Big Beautiful Billionaire Bill (BBBB), which will increase the Nation’s national debt to an unsustainable $40 trillion. Idaho can’t deficit finance like the federal government and our so-called leaders refuse to raise sufficient revenue to finance important programs.
Rather than carefully considering the essential needs that must be financed, our state officials have chosen to reduce state revenues by $330 million– $155 million for the current fiscal year and $175 million for the next. It could turn out to be closer to $400 million for next fiscal year. That’s on top of $4 billion in tax cuts over the last 5 years.
It is a scandal that water and fire management have been left hanging by Idaho officials. Perhaps they need to get out of Boise to learn that Idaho is facing a serious drought. With scanty snowpack in the mountains and a bleak outlook for improvement, there will likely be renewed fighting over the available supply. Yet, legislative budget writers have cut essential funding for the Idaho Department of Water Resources. The Water Director warned that, “with the stream gauging in particular, you can’t administer a resource if you can’t measure and monitor that resource.” Unless substantial moisture materializes in the next few weeks, administration of the available water resources will be seriously hampered and Idaho’s water warfare will be rekindled.
With little snowpack and dangerously dry conditions in the mountains, there will be a significantly increased fire danger in Idaho. Which makes one wonder why legislators chose to cut funding to fight Idaho wildfires, especially where funding already falls far short and the fire threat continues to grow. The Lands Director said the funding cuts “will cause us to have to cut back the number of acres treated and increase the fire risk across the landscape.” Not only will the fire danger increase, the fire insurance premiums of Idahoans, even in urban areas, will continue to climb.
Funding cuts to programs for mental health services, suicide prevention and child welfare will have devastating effects for vulnerable people. The Health and Welfare Director warned: “We have already cut through muscle, and we are to bone.” Suicide is on the rise in Idaho and the state’s suicide rate is usually among the top ten in the nation. Cuts in Medicaid mental health services have already caused two deaths in the State. Perhaps we should start keeping a body count of deaths caused by the cuts.
Another essential service that will suffer at the hands of short-sighted legislators is the treatment court program, designed to help people swept up in the criminal justice system to address addiction and mental illness. During fiscal year 2025, 636 people graduated from Idaho treatment court programs and 87 participants gave birth to drug-free babies. The treatment program produces big results for a small price.
One essential ingredient of any government is adequate funding to retain qualified and dedicated staff. Based on my 20 years of working in the government, I can attest the great majority are smart, dedicated public servants. Even House Speaker Mike Moyle praised them as “some of the best employees ever.” They deserve to be adequately compensated. Unfortunately, they are not. Their salaries lag significantly behind the market. There is a 14% turnover rate.
Despite the fact that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose almost 3% last year and will likely come close this year, state workers will not receive any pay raise. Additionally, they will be stuck with an estimated 7.3% increase in out-of-pocket costs for health care. With that kind of mistreatment, state employees will keep abandoning the ship of state. The state will lose their expertise and institutional memory.
The $330+ million in tax cuts that the Governor and Legislature granted to some Idahoans, by conforming Idaho’s tax code to the BBBB, might have been just fine in a year when the state could afford them, but we are not there. Eliminating the tax on tips, overtime and the like was not a critical priority. Cutting so many important programs that are essential to the future of Idaho and the well-being of all its people makes absolutely no sense. Idahoans should demand a reversal of the nonsensical program cuts to vital programs or replacement of the elected officials who engineered those cuts.
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