A Closer Look at Failed Priorities and Wasteful Spending in Idaho

A Conversation with IFF President Ron Nate & Tea Party Bob

Podcast Notes by Bob Neugebauer

The Idaho legislative session is approaching its conclusion, and the results are profoundly disappointing for fiscal conservatives. My recent conversation with Idaho Freedom Foundation President Ron Nate exposed how legislative leadership is deliberately blocking critical reforms while pushing wasteful spending programs that contribute to Idaho’s ballooning budget.

The Clown Show Behind Closed Doors

What happens behind the scenes in our legislature would shock most Idahoans. Nate shared a revealing story about the “crow” tradition, where legislators who make failed motions receive a wooden crow figurine. What began as lighthearted tradition has morphed into a political weapon used against lawmakers who challenge leadership.

“It’s a clown show over there,” Nate observed. “The speaker has Thor’s hammer for his gavel, do we take anything seriously anymore?”

This political theater extends beyond symbolic crows. More concerning is how leadership uses procedural maneuvers to block legislation that most Idahoans want, despite Idaho having a Republican supermajority in both chambers (58 of 70 House seats and 28 of 35 Senate seats according to the Idaho Legislature’s official website).

Education Bills: More Money, Same Results

Three education bills passed this week exemplify the legislature’s approach to problem-solving: throw more money at issues without demanding results, despite Idaho ranking poorly in education outcomes nationally.

The early reading initiative began as a $5 million program aimed at improving K-3 reading proficiency. Today, it costs taxpayers $72 million annually with no measurable improvement in reading scores. Now, Senate Bill 1145 would divert some of this money to four-year-olds, effectively creating a pre-K program without explicit legislative approval.

Another bill allocates $35 million for “outcomes-based” education programs – despite the fact that the entire $3.3 billion education budget should already be focused on outcomes. According to the Idaho Department of Education’s 2023 data, only 55% of Idaho students are proficient in reading and 45% in math. As Nate pointed out, “If you’re not getting the job done, fire who’s not doing their job. It should already be outcomes-based.”

A third bill spends $5 million to train teachers in phonics instruction – something that should be standard practice already. Remarkably, this money is prioritized for the lowest-performing school districts, rewarding failure with more resources while ignoring research-backed solutions that don’t require additional funding.

The Chairman’s Drawer: How Good Bills Die

The most important conservative priorities are being blocked not through votes but by committee chairs refusing to hold hearings. The Idaho Freedom Foundation has documented numerous bills stuck in what they call the “chairman’s drawer,” including:

• Grocery tax repeal and Idaho being one of only 4 states that still fully taxes groceries)
• Medicaid accountability measures (HB 138)
• Medicaid expansion repeal
• Constitutional carry on college campuses
• Citizen-only voting protections

These bills aren’t being voted down – they’re being prevented from receiving votes altogether. This undemocratic process allows a handful of powerful legislators to override the will of the majority. According to legislative rules, committee chairs have near-absolute power to decide which bills receive hearings, creating a system where a single legislator can prevent popular legislation from ever reaching a floor vote.

Medicaid Expansion: The Budget-Buster

Medicaid has become Idaho’s largest budget item at $5.6 billion – nearly 40% of the state’s total budget. The Medicaid expansion that voters approved in 2018 (Proposition 2) based on promises it would save money now costs $1.4 billion, a billion dollars over projections according to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare data.

When voters approved expansion, they were told it would cost approximately $400 million, with 90% covered by federal funds. But enrollment has far exceeded projections, with over 150,000 Idahoans now receiving benefits under expansion – about 30% more than forecasted. The per-recipient cost has also ballooned, now reaching approximately $13,000 annually.

House Bill 138 would restore accountability to Medicaid by requiring work reporting and limiting improper payments. Yet Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chair Julie Van Orden refuses to give it a hearing, while leadership pushes a watered-down alternative that would save only $27 million instead of the billion dollars the original bill targets.

The Special Interest Connection

Why would legislative leaders block popular reforms? Follow the money. Senate and house leaders have received substantial campaign contributions from special interests, as documented in Secretary of State campaign finance reports. One such donation was from Bayer, which has House Bill 303 seeking immunity from lawsuits related to its products, including glyphosate-based herbicides that have faced litigation nationwide.

The influence extends beyond direct donations. According to the National Institute on Money in Politics, lobbyist spending in Idaho has increased by over 35% in the past decade, with healthcare, agriculture, and education interests dominating the spending.

Property Tax Reform Stalled While Spending Grows

While the legislature fails to address grocery tax repeal, they’ve also made minimal progress on property tax relief – another top concern for Idaho voters. According to the Idaho State Tax Commission, property tax collections have increased over 75% in the past decade, far outpacing population growth or inflation.

As Idaho taxpayers struggle with inflation and high property taxes, our legislature continues expanding government while blocking reforms that would benefit working families. The disconnect between Republican campaign promises and legislative actions has never been greater.

Until Idahoans start holding their representatives accountable for their voting records rather than their campaign rhetoric, we’ll continue seeing this pattern of broken promises and wasteful spending.