BUDGET: Idaho’s tax cuts causing crisis

Governor Brad Little and the Idaho Legislature have steered the state toward a potential $1 billion budget shortfall. How does this happen in a state long regarded as fiscally responsible and buoyed by strong economic growth?

Over the past four legislative sessions, Idaho lawmakers — often begrudgingly — have responded to voter pressure by expanding Medicaid and increasing funding for public education, measures the governor has consistently signed into law. These investments, while costly, were both necessary and beneficial. Medicaid expansion has strengthened rural health care, reduced pressure on emergency rooms, and saved lives. Increased education funding has enabled long-overdue school repairs and contributed to improved student outcomes. These are core responsibilities of state government, and they serve the broad public good.

At the same time, however, the Legislature has pursued a parallel agenda rooted in conservative fundamentalism: an ever-expanding slate of tax cuts that disproportionately benefit corporations and high-income earners, along with a new $50 million private-school voucher program that may conflict with the Idaho Constitution. Governor Little — once seen as an independent and pragmatic leader — has signed onto this agenda as well, appearing increasingly constrained by pressure from the far right.

The result is a troubling imbalance.

Idaho policymakers have made serious economic miscalculations, but cutting programs that serve the most vulnerable is not the way to correct them. Medicaid saves both money and lives. Public education is not optional — it is a constitutional obligation. If leaders are serious about fiscal responsibility, they should start by reconsidering recent tax cuts and rolling back questionable giveaways, rather than undermining the very services that make Idaho a functional and prosperous state.

REID HARLOCKER

Coeur d’Alene