'We're turning one spigot on and another off'

BONNERS FERRY – At a Saturday town hall, North Idaho lawmakers voiced their concerns over state lawmakers’ rush to secure short-term political wins through tax cuts, funding shifts, and program overhauls — moves they say lack a long-term strategy for Idaho’s future stability and growth. 

Tax cuts 

The discussion at the Bonners Ferry Visitors Center began with Idaho House Bill 40, a steep 0.395% income tax cut signed into law on March 6.  

Idaho District 1 Sen. Jim Woodward, one of eight senators who opposed HB40, expressed concerns about the bill, citing its potential long-term fiscal impacts and political motivations. 

As Senate vice-chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, Woodward said he favored a less significant tax cut of up to 0.3% because the state could avoid deficit spending on about $170 million for the fire suppression fund, the Public Education Stabilization Fund and the Budget Stabilization Fund. 

Additionally, the bill includes a tax exemption for bullion sales, which Woodward said mainly benefits one Idaho-based precious metals dealer, Money Metals Exchange, which recently built a 37,000-square-foot depository in Eagle that can store at least $100 billion in gold and silver, more than Fort Knox, the company said in an East Idaho News report. 

"I voted no because I think that the bullion exemption is very political, and I just didn't agree with taking that much out of our revenue stream,” Woodward said. “The bill removes our ability to do some things we typically do to be forward-looking in Idaho.” 

Members of the public asked how the JFAC will balance the budget considering revenue losses from enacting HB40, HB93 — a $50 million school-choice bill, and HB231 — a $50 million food tax credit. 

Woodward said there could be a recission this summer that would slightly lower the spending authority of all agencies, like what was done during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Spending cuts 

Community members expressed how federal spending cuts have impeded local public agencies, particularly the water and fire districts, that rely on federally financed state grants.  

Skin Creek Water Association, for example, received a $25,000 water infrastructure study grant from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality that is currently being held up.  

Similarly, area volunteer fire districts use grant funds for operational expenses — provisions and supplies — from the Idaho Department of Lands. These rural districts also field EMS calls, unpaid, at an increasing rate as the population rises. Reimbursement delays can be extremely harmful, said Kennon McClintock, a member of the Curley Creek Volunteer Fire District and the Skin Creek Water Association, at the town hall. 

“You look at the fires that are going on around the country, with Texas, Oklahoma right now, New York, North Carolina, L.A., we’re not immune up here,” he said. “We can count on Idaho Department of Lands, but our rural fire districts are being tapped out. We live on grants through the year.” 

District 1A House Rep. Mark Sauter said that addressing these challenges with new legislation can be challenging without awareness of upcoming federal cuts. 

“If the feds are going to redo this, then why are we embracing it?” he said. “Whatever we’re working on could be erased with the stroke of a pen.” 

Woodward added that state politicians are embracing Washington’s decisive, fiscally conservative, but “less thoughtful” approach, citing a $50,000 line to support the shared forest stewardship program that was cut from the IDL Enhancement Budget the day before the town hall. 

“Some of those budgetary decisions that are made on the other end of the country are coming into play here, and in our budgeting process, there’s been a little bit of a bandwagon,” he said. “We have some folks who think every budget needs something taken out of it, without going through each line item and asking what this does and how does it play out in a community.” 

Education shifts 

Newly proposed public school budget reallocation bills could provide rural Idaho school districts with much-needed funding support. 

When asked about the progress of securing funding for a Valley View Elementary replacement facility, Woodward and Sauter discussed HB338, a $50 million rural facilities funding bill that advanced to the House floor earlier this month. 

    Idaho Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke, District 1A Rep. Mark Sauter, Boundary County School District Superintendent Jan Bayer, and others tour Valley View Elementary School in Bonners Ferry in November 2024.
  

Rumblings in Boundary County of a rural school facilities bill began in November after Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke toured Valley View Elementary following the district's third failed bond measure to replace the aging school. Bedke expressed his frustration, saying he was "embarrassed being here representing the state of Idaho." 

The proposed bill would allow rural school districts to access up to $5 million for facility projects without requiring state intervention. Any funding beyond that would require state oversight. 

“The downside if this bill gets signed is $50 million doesn’t go a long way across the state,” Sauter said. “I’d love to rally up and say Valley View can get replaced this year, but we’re District 1, and that’s the challenge. I don’t see a refill of that bucket; it’s just $50 million to be used once.” 

Woodward also brought up two Senate Bills, SB1095, to amend teacher pay scale, and SB1096, aimed at creating a school funding formula to fit each student’s learning needs. 

The current funding formula does not offer flexibility for school districts as students with various needs filter in and out. 

Woodward said the Senate has sought to increase teacher pay in the last two budget cycles, but another member of the JFAC “took it hostage,” which is also the hold up with the current bill. 

WWAMI debate 

The Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho medical education program has been the subject of recent political debate due to its long-standing partnership with the University of Washington, an institution scrutinized by some Idaho lawmakers for left-leaning influence in its medical training, particularly abortion procedures. 

WWAMI has been critical for Idaho, the state with the lowest number of doctors per capita, because it provides training for doctors in rural areas, involving both university training and local residency programs, locations where doctors oftentimes go on to practice. 

The state is exploring a new partnership with the University of Utah. Critics are concerned about maintaining high-quality care in rural Idaho if a sudden program shift takes place. 

A community member in attendance was able to speak to both university programs as a former WWAMI doctor who completed residency at the University of Utah. 

"During my training at University of Washington, there were sensitive, politically impacted issues that came up regarding medical care. And consistently, no one forced you to do those kinds of things. Everyone had the option. If you don't feel comfortable with this, you don't have to participate in this part of the training,” he said at the town hall. “And having spent time at University of Utah for residency, there are as many liberal philosophy type people at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City as there are University of Washington. If they think they're going to get a different or more conservative approach, I don't think that's very realistic.” 

Sauter has been working on a women’s health bill to decriminalize medically approved abortions, but he said it hasn’t gotten a lot of traction. House Democrats’ strong position makes it challenging to compromise on the issue, he said. 

"When we did an abortion bill a year ago, the Dems got up before the vote to walk out, because it wasn't enough,” he said. “Most people would say the health of the mother is the exception, and our healthcare providers say that’s the number one thing. If we could address that issue, that would help with a lot of our doctor shortages, closures and lots of other issues. Let’s see if we can make some headway there, and then there’s always tomorrow.”