Idaho’s budget committee slashed $106.5 million from the upcoming fiscal year’s spending plan over objections that the cuts will hurt public services and ultimately cost the state more in the long run.
Those include a potential layoff at the Commission of Pardons and Parole, cuts to Idaho’s drug and mental health treatment courts and reductions to the juvenile corrections system.
More than 277 full-time positions would be eliminated under the proposal compared to the budget passed last session, some of which had been vacant for some time.
K-12 education, Medicaid, prisons and state troopers were excluded from further cuts.
The latest round of reductions are on top of last year’s round of 3% cuts made by Gov. Brad Little that lawmakers previously voted to make permanent.
“With the process we’re doing now, as much as it causes discomfort, we have a target,” said Rep. Steve Miller (R-Fairfield), a vice chairman of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee.
That base budget, Miller said, can be added to with so-called “enhancement” bills, which could reverse some cuts made by JFAC Friday morning.
“This isn’t the end. This is the beginning and we’ll do the work we’ve been sent here to do,” said JFAC co-chair Sen. Scott Grow (R-Eagle).
But enhancement budgets have had trouble getting enough support to pass through the House and Senate, let alone getting out of committee.
“There’s nothing that says these … fixes that we’re supposed to do will ever make it to the floor,” said Sen. Kevin Cook (R-Idaho Falls).
Cook said by passing these cuts, lawmakers are “gambling millions” to potentially save thousands of dollars if prospective enhancement budgets don’t become law.
They also could result in lawsuits in some cases, according to Senate Democratic Leader Melissa Wintrow (D-Boise).
Federal law requires certain staffing ratios in correctional facilities, including juvenile detention centers, which are on the chopping block.
“If we go below those ratios, we’ll probably be in court and it’ll be a pretty ugly headline and these are kids that need help and they need support from staff,” Wintrow said.
Similar concerns were raised about cuts to the state public defender’s office, which has faced issues hiring enough attorneys to represent indigent defendants as required under the U.S. Constitution.
Democrats, who hold a small minority of seats in the Idaho legislature, renewed their call Thursday for lawmakers to use one-third of Idaho's rainy day funds to help balance the budget. Both Republican leaders and Gov. Brad Little have declined to support such a plan.
These cuts still need approval from the House and Senate, as well as the governor’s signature, to become law.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
