Tax cut headed to Idaho governor's desk
Idaho senators signed off on a $253 million income tax cut Tuesday in the face of falling state tax collections.
House Bill 40 would cut Idaho’s personal and corporate income tax rates from 5.695% to 5.3%, along with other benefits for retired veterans and those who purchase gold and silver.
The Idaho Division of Financial Management released preliminary tax collection data for February, which show declining revenue for a second month in a row.
Year-to-date collections are down about $57 million from projections, including a 3.4% dip in sales tax revenue.
Sen. Joshua Kohl (R-Twin Falls) said if there is a recession, lawmakers should cut their way through the budget to make up the difference instead of holding off on these tax cuts.
“If there is hard economic times coming for the people of Idaho, the best thing this body can do is cut as many taxes and fees for them as possible,” Kohl said.
Sen. Kevin Cook (R-Idaho Falls) ultimately supported the bill.
But he said lawmakers should not be making significant budget decisions before the legislature has agreed upon a revenue figure for the upcoming fiscal year.
Cook said legislators are treating the annual practice as an afterthought.
“Kind of like it’s a thorn in our side. It’s something that kind of bugs us. It’s become a formality rather than a fiscal priority,” he said.
Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) co-chair, Sen. Scott Grow (R-Eagle), said he expects JFAC to set a roughly $6.4 billion revenue target Wednesday, though he said that wasn’t a guarantee.
In January, the committee rejected two proposals related to revenue projections, shelving the issue while it set budgets.
Aside from the lack of an approved revenue target, the eight state senators who opposed the bill pointed to economic uncertainty coming from the federal government.
Specifically, they cited the Trump administration firing tens of thousands of federal workers and imposing tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico, which went into effect Tuesday.
Grow said the effects from these actions are temporary.
“Sure, [the tariffs are] having a hit right now. I would expect them to have a hit right now, but right now isn’t 18 months from now,” he said.
House lawmakers passed the legislation last month.
The bill surpasses Gov. Brad Little’s proposed $100 million for tax cuts by more than 250%.
Last week, Little told reporters Idahoans should expect an “economic shock” due to the Trump administration’s significant layoffs and ongoing governmental reconstruction.
The governor will have until next week to decide whether to sign the bill, let it go into law without his signature, or veto it.
Trump directs expansion in lumber sales from national forests
The Trump administration aims to increase logging on the nation’s public lands.
An executive order directs the U.S. Forest Service to streamline timber sales on national forests.
The order calls for plans to sell trees faster, even if that means threatening forest wildlife with extinction.
Lawyer Kristen Boyles with the nonprofit group Earthjustice in Washington state said executive orders are not the law of the land.
"There are laws that tell the president and tell his agencies how public forests need to be managed," she told KUOW public radio. "And they need to be managed for multiple uses, not just timber only for private gain."
Boyles said her group will be watching as federal officials come up with plans for increased logging in the months ahead.
A spokesperson for the timber industry in western states welcomed the new direction for the Forest Service.
The industry group says national forests have been mismanaged and over-regulated.
Whitworth, WSU expand access to health sciences programs
Whitworth and Washington State Universities are expanding a long-standing agreement that gives their health sciences students access to the others’ programs.
For example, Whitworth undergraduate nursing students have, for years, taken classes through WSU’s program.
Whitworth Health Sciences Dean Mike Ediger says his students will now also have access to WSU’s pharmacy, nutrition and exercise physiology, and dietetics programs. He says WSU students will benefit too.
“Whitworth is guaranteeing 10% of our seats in our graduate doctoral programs in physical and occupational therapy to qualified WSU students, so we’re showing local students that they have a direct pathway into our doctoral programs," he said.
Ediger says the goal is to build a more robust workforce pipeline for the region’s health providers.
“Both schools want to attract great high school students to our undergraduate programs, show them that we have direct, guaranteed pathways into our graduate programs, and then, hopefully, that means they’ll stay local and fill workforce needs into the future," he said.
Ediger says the arrangement will take effect this fall.
New Medicaid reform bill advances in Idaho legislature
Coeur d’Alene state Representative Jordan Redman is trying again with plans to reform the Medicaid program in Idaho.
Past attempts this session to rein in the program’s costs have failed.
So Redman changed his proposal. He removed a cap on the number of people who can be enrolled. He deleted a three-year limit on benefits for people considered ‘able-bodied.’ He added co-pays for recipients and work requirements for adults in the program.
“We wanted to see 20 hours of either work, training or volunteer service. I believe there is so much dignity in work and trying to help people make that next move and, with this expansion population, we’re talking about able-bodied adults," Redman said.
His proposal ran into stiff opposition.
Sandpoint family physician Scott Dunn says the accountability provisions would put unreasonable reporting requirements on program enrollees.
“This bill would create complex bureaucracy and red tape, which does not serve Idaho, but is an attempt to disqualify up to half of enrollees as we can see in states like Arkansas, who have already tried this," he said.
A similar experiment in Georgia cost taxpayers there more than $86 million. Much of that has gone to consultants, according to the investigative news outlet ProPublica. Thousands of Medicaid enrollees in Arkansas lost coverage before a judge blocked the work requirement in 2019.
Redman’s bill cleared the House Health and Welfare Committee on 13-2 vote, including that of Republican Rep. John Vander Woude, who co-sponsors the bill.
“I think we can learn from a lot of the other mistakes that other states have made, even in the work requirements," he said.
The bill now goes to the House floor.
WA federal representatives have mixed response to joint congressional address
Members of Washington’s Congressional delegation are reacting to President Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night.
Eastern Washington Republican Rep. Michael Baumgartner said he’s optimistic about the administration’s direction and applauded Trump’s use of executive action to strengthen border security and reduce government spending.
"The impact speaks for itself: small business optimism is surging; families are finally seeing relief from skyrocketing costs; and critical investments in American energy and infrastructure are creating opportunities for workers across the country," Baumgartner said in a statement.
The 12-month inflation expectations have risen since Trump’s inauguration, according to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index. And many economists predict that Trump’s use of tariffs will actually result in higher costs for American buyers.
"President Trump promised to deal with consumer costs and inflation, but we got no ideas tonight on how he’s going to make life more affordable for average Americans. Instead, he’s proposing things that will increase costs," Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell said in her own statement.
Cantwell also raised concerns about Trump’s plans to make cuts to programs like Medicaid and reduce staffing at the Social Security Administration and the National Weather Service.
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Reporting contributed by James Dawson, John Ryan and Doug Nadvornick.