As Idaho heads into the 2026 legislative session next month, the state is staring down a projected budget shortfall, and the debate over how to fix it is already heating up.
At the same time, funding for several behavioral health programs is being cut or eliminated, prompting warnings from law enforcement that the consequences won’t just show up on a balance sheet but in jails, emergency rooms and neighborhoods across Idaho.
Lawmakers also have to decide whether to follow recent federal tax changes, a move that could further reduce state revenue.
Today we’re asking a simple but consequential question: how does Idaho balance its budget without shifting the costs onto communities and public safety?
Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke, Bonneville County Sheriff Sam Hulse, who is also the immediate past president of the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association and House Minority Leader Rep. Ilana Rubel joined Idaho Matters to talk more.
