Idaho is seeing what happens when lawmakers slash first and refuse to take responsibility for the consequences.
Republicans are pushing sweeping cuts to essential services and public safety. These cuts put lives at risk, raise long-term costs, and shift burdens onto counties, property taxpayers, and strained local emergency systems.
Look at the justice system. A 2% cut to the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole “saves” $87,100, but it slows hearings and keeps people incarcerated longer, driving prison costs up by $620,000 annually.
Treatment courts return $2 to $4 for every $1 invested. Last year, 636 people graduated from these programs. Eighty-seven babies were born drug-free to parents in treatment. Still, Republicans are pushing at least an $800,000 cut.
The Department of Lands reports the new budget means fewer seasonal firefighters and less prevention work. Wildfire suppression funds are at $1.2 million, nowhere near enough. When Idaho cannot respond early, fires grow and the costs skyrocket.
Behavioral health is where this turns deadly fast. In under a year, Idaho has eliminated or reduced nearly a quarter of Medicaid’s mental health services, driven by holdbacks ordered by Governor Little. Sheriffs warned this would mean more crises, more jail bookings, and higher county costs. Reports link three deaths to the end of Assertive Community Treatment. Little brushed them off as “hindsight” and “unintended consequences,” while refusing to restore life-saving services.
Seniors are at risk too. Meals on Wheels providers warn cuts would wipe out home-delivered meals for homebound seniors and veterans. Take away meals and wellness checks, and you invite more costly medical emergencies.
I hear from people who are confused. Why end programs that save money? Why eliminate services that save lives? Why cut wildfire prevention when we have fires every summer?
This is what happens with endless income tax cuts for the wealthy, year after year. Households in the top 1% now benefit from these cuts by about $20,000 a year on average. The middle 20% see about $453. Families in the lowest income bracket save just $33. That’s only the impact from the past five years of cuts. These cuts have been happening for decades.
The Republican supermajority gutted revenue to heap tax breaks on the wealthy and now claims there’s “no choice” but to go after investments that keep communities safe and healthy.
And Idaho’s top Republican leader won’t do anything. Governor Little has the power to veto damaging budgets, but he has signaled he will not. And he signed the deep revenue cuts that brought us here, knowing the harm they’d cause. He’s either too much of a coward to stand up for everyday Idahoans or he prefers to cater to political insiders. Either way, Idahoans pay the price.
Onward,
Lauren Necochea
Idaho Democratic Party Chair