Gov. Little’s $4 billion budget gets the job done without breaking the bank
Expressing a desire to “work on the issue from both ends,” Gov. Brad Little on Monday unveiled a budget that includes money to send another 500 Idaho prisoners out of state while it creates 160 beds in a new Twin Falls Community Reentry Center and another 146 beds at a remodeled building at the state prison in Kuna. That would add capacity for 806 people in the state correctional system. At the same time, Little is proposing about $6 million in new money for what he’s calling a “Connection and Intervention Station” for high-risk, supervised parolees to keep them out of prison plus another $500,000 for community recovery centers.
“Working on the issue from both ends” was a recurring theme Monday. From education and transportation to the grocery sales tax and Medicaid expansion, Little’s proposed budget and State of the State address reflected a balanced approach that will either make everyone happy or make nobody happy.
As for Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, who has championed justice reinvestment in her tenure in the Legislature, she was cheered by Little’s words on adding money to the reentry center and recovery centers and for career-technical education programs for juvenile offenders. But she was troubled to hear that Little’s budget added money to send more prisoners out of state.
“We do have some solutions less costly than to send them out of state,” Lodge said after Little’s address to the joint session of the House and Senate. “I’m glad that we’re also looking at rehabilitation, not just lockup.”
Rep. Rick Youngblood, R-Nampa, who is on the House Appropriations Committee and co-chairman of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, welcomed Little’s balanced approach, especially Little’s call to raise the cap on the state’s rainy-day funds.
“I love it,” he said. “Absolutely all for it. Anytime we can raise the amount of money we put away, I’m all for it.”
He also welcomed Little’s proposal to add $35 million to relief for the state’s grocery tax, rather than repeal the grocery tax altogether, another balanced approach to the budget. Noting that complete repeal of the grocery tax would yield an $80 million to $90 million hit to the budget, Youngblood said he much preferred this approach.
Youngblood said he’s also concerned about sending more prisoners out of state. However, noting that Idaho also houses prisoners in county jails, there’s “no choice,” he said.
He’s looking forward to hearing more from Idaho Department of Correction director Josh Tewalt when he presents his plan forward to JFAC that includes increasing capacity but also reducing recidivism.
Little also called for state agency cuts of 1% this year and 2% next year, while at the same time raising overall spending by a modest 3.75% and stashing away more money into rainy-day funds.
“A budget increase of 3.75? Good golly, I haven’t seen that in the eight years I’ve been here,” Youngblood said, applauding Little’s directive in the fall to cut agency budgets.
The state’s general fund has grown from a low of $2.5 billion in 2010 to $3.9 billion in 2020. Little proposes a budget of a little more than $4 billion.
Although Little didn’t directly talk about property tax relief, he rightly framed increasing K-12 education spending as a way to get rid of supplemental levies that school districts use to supplement their budget and are paid for by property taxpayers.
Little’s balanced approach to the budget offers a good blueprint for legislators to work from, so they can get a lot accomplished and still not break the bank.
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Gov. Little’s $4 billion budget gets the job done without breaking the bank."