Over the past few months, we have observed extensive and severe cuts to programs and agencies funded by the State of Idaho. These reductions have affected every state agency and program except K-12 education. Many of these programs will struggle to continue operating due to these cuts.
One of the hardest-hit groups will be professionals who provide services to Medicaid recipients. A universal reimbursement rate cut for providers will cause many offices to struggle to find quality providers needed to sustain critical services. Some services, such as transportation and behavioral health services for adults, will be severely limited or cut entirely.
These crucial service cuts will have an impact on our communities. We all have a neighbor, a friend, or a family member who will be impacted. It is easy for people to get angry. I have seen protests, townhalls, and other meetings scheduled to push back against these decisions.
Despite all the anger, pushback, and protests, it often seems people overlook how we arrived at this point. I talk to so many people who don’t understand how we got here. They wonder why we’re experiencing this pain.
We actually don’t need to wonder how we got here. The Governor’s office sent a memo to each agency and program head explaining that, mainly due to the $450 million tax cut, our state now faces a budget shortfall. Keep in mind, the tax cut passed by our legislature was significantly larger than Governor Little said we could afford, even though that didn’t seem to bother him as he signed it into law. It’s also worth noting that most of the benefits go to the wealthiest Idahoans, and according to the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, families with a household income between $55,600 and $146,000 will actually see a net tax increase under the plan.
Yet, in all our anger, we seem to overlook the real people responsible for this issue. The legislators who voted to raise taxes on middle-income brackets to give the wealthy a large tax break are directly to blame for these cuts. In District 33, you can blame all three of them. Every single one of our D33 legislators voted for a tax cut that put Idaho’s budget in the red and is the direct cause of cuts to programs their constituents rely on.
The budget cuts will affect all of us, but some will feel the impact more significantly than others. If we want real change, we need to stop giving our elected officials a free pass.
If your neighbor’s adult son with developmental challenges is losing his peer support, we shouldn’t blame Medicaid; instead, we should hold the legislators responsible, and we must ensure that everyone understands the direct link between our votes and the new challenges our loved ones face.
David Roth is a member of the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee and Idaho’s national committeeman for the Democratic National Committee.