Idaho braces for billion-dollar budget blow as conservatives warn spending is out of control

Idaho is weighing its options to get its fiscal house in order.

The state faces a $58 million deficit for the current fiscal year and that number rises to anywhere between $600 million and $1 billion for fiscal year 2027. This is because the state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, says the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF).

“Idaho does not have a budget problem, we have a budgeting problem,” said IFF President Ron Nate at press conference on Monday.

The Idaho Fiscal Policy Center estimated that the state lost roughly $4 million in revenue due to a series of tax cuts over the last few years. But IFF is arguing that there are plenty of areas where the state can make cuts rather than taking more money out of Idahoans pockets.

Slashing Spending

IFF is proposing $1.9 billion in cuts to next year’s state budget, according to the Idaho Capital Sun.

The bulk of these cuts would come from ending Idaho’s Medicaid expansion program, which was passed in a 2018 ballot initiative. However, opponents say the program simply costs too much and the legislature has made efforts to repeal it.

IFF also wants to make $166.5 million in cuts to the state’s public school support budget.

Last month, Governor Brad Little instructed state agencies to cut spending by 3 percent, but made an exception for K-12. IFF thinks public schools should be held to the same standard.

“If we’re really in a fiscal deficit, we should be cutting back across all agencies and programs. There should be no exemptions from any agency or program, especially unmerited ones,” said IFF policy analyst Brett Farruggia.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Seattle Red on 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.