Taucer letter: Federal funds

Thank you, Bill Dentzer, for your revealing recent article in the Statesman, “How much federal funding comes to Idaho.” Your research makes it apparent that, contrary to the stated contention by the Idaho Legislature they do not care to accept additional money to help expand Idaho’s struggling Medicaid program simply because Idaho “doesn’t want to increase Idaho’s dependency on federal money, or expand our national debt.” No, from Dentzer’s excellent review of Idaho’s budget,on the contrary, it seems that Gov. Butch Otter and Company simply do not want to accept more federal money on behalf of the poor. Economic development, yes, of course; Idaho highways and transportation, yes; waste management, yes; agriculture, certainly; species management, absolutely. But for Idaho’s working poor who struggle to secure even minimum access to health care services through an underfunded Medicaid program, not so much. By all means, Mr. Dentzer, your article deserves Pulitzer consideration.

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 12:37 AM with the headline "Taucer letter: Federal funds."