Sadly, we told you so
Monday, we gave a rundown of what Gov. Brad Little should say and what he likely would say in his annual State of the State address for Idaho. Unfortunately, we got very little of what he “should say,” and we were mostly correct on what he “would say.”
The speech was 90% platitudes about big government, 5% rambling and awkward jokes, and 5% something—anything—resembling a conservative thought. In a word: disappointing.
In a brief but rambling address filled with contradictions, the governor repeatedly said he “kept promises” about government programs he has championed. But gave very few details of what those promises meant for Idaho families, businesses, and taxpayers. He prided himself on funding and expanding government agencies and programs, and he highlighted various state workers (firefighters and state troopers) who benefited from the added funding.
It was a State of the State speech typical of a big-spending governor. Later in the day, the governor released his budget recommendations and—to no one’s surprise—he wants to increase general fund spending by a whopping 7.4% for the next year. That comes on the heels of a 55% budget increase in the last five years! You’ll want to check out IFF’s own Fred Birnbaum detailing how the governor’s budget is over the top.
The governor did not mention the outrageous pay increase proposals for legislators (22% set by the Citizen’s Committee), judges (27% recommended by judicial advocates), and state employees (5% proposed in the governor’s own budget). He just tiptoed around those little elephants in the room with his big spending plans instead.
He is out of touch. As we said Monday, the 2024 elections told us Idahoans want lower taxes, less wokeness in schools and government, protection of rights, true school choice, immigration reform, less reliance on the federal government, and shrinking—instead of growing—state government budgets.
Instead, our governor did a lot of what we thought he would do. He offered an extremely limited version of school choice, no mention of repealing the grocery tax (something he has wanted/promised to do since before he became governor), a vague offer of help to President Trump in deporting illegals (but only if it doesn't harm the dairy farmers’ bottom line), more programs for housing, job training (like Idaho Launch), transportation, water, and more cybersecurity spending. And despite demanding accountability for private education, he promised another $150 million for a public school system that has shown zero improvement in the past 16 years but has enjoyed more than a tripling of its budget.
The governor praised the BSU Women’s Volleyball team for its stand against encroachments by men into their sport and locker rooms. But there were no references to curbing the ideology that led to women fearing for their safety - namely LGBT indoctrination in elementary and higher education.
Finally, the governor completely ignored the issues of protecting Idahoans’ rights and privacy regarding sound money, getting our out-of-control state budget back on a conservative path, repealing Medicaid expansion and controlling public health costs. He said Idaho is a DOGE (department of government efficiency) state, but didn’t mention cracking down on any of the waste, fraud, and abuse that IFF has exposed this past year alone in Idaho, namely the childcare grants, Luma, and county spending of state funds.
Monday, we said we would love to be proven wrong in our pessimistic predictions about what the governor might tell Idaho. Sadly, we were proven mostly right.
Two little rays of hope
The governor wasn’t off base on everything, just almost everything. We found two bright spots we might help him with.
One is school choice. The governor wants to spend $50 million on a limited and highly regulated school choice program mainly focused on special needs children and low-income families. It’s good to help those groups, but we can do more. While the governor may want a mini-school choice plan with strings, the Legislature could put him to the test by passing a robust bill with no strings attached and no possibility of it impacting homeschool families. There is reason to be hopeful about legislators passing a meaningful school choice bill.
True school choice needs to be generous (so families can truly benefit), universal (so all families may use it), and free of onerous regulations (so it isn’t strangled in the crib). School choice delivered through a well-designed refundable education tax credit can save Idahoans’ tax dollars, produce better education results, and take the burden off a broken and expensive public school system. Families, children, teachers, and schools will all benefit from education choice done right.
The other spot of sunlight from the governor was his brief reference to tax relief. The governor wants to lower some tax, somewhere, by up to $100 million. That’s as specific as he would go. Perhaps we could encourage the Legislature to make good on that, but do it five to ten times better. How about repealing the grocery tax (as the governor supported in the past) while also making meaningful cuts in property taxes and income taxes? Idaho’s government has lived like a hog for too long. We need to reverse the 55% growth in spending we have seen the last five years; Idaho families need the money more than the government does.
