Idaho Gov. Little has plenty to brag about without having to pander to the far right | Opinion

In his State of the State address Monday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little was correct in touting that what Idaho is doing is mostly working: Fewer regulations and lower taxes have created a business-friendly environment, which has led to continued growth and continued increase in state tax revenues, even while cutting tax rates for most Idahoans.

Idaho’s income growth is the fastest in the nation (though still 40th overall), and our economy is one of the strongest in the nation.

“I can confidently stand before you for the sixth straight year and say — the state of our state is strong, stronger than ever before,” Little said. “What we’re doing is working.”

At the same time, particularly, over the past three years, Idaho has made necessary investments in public education (raising teacher pay so that Idaho now ranks 10th in the nation), transportation and public safety.

Little highlighted more such investments in what are the necessary and proper roles of government, including, notably, a $2 billion investment in school facilities, which the Idaho Statesman has been highlighting with ProPublica over the past year.

“Folks, we can do better,” Little said, noting that he visited a school where raw sewage was seeping under the cafeteria. “The can we’re kicking is getting heavier and we’re running out of road.”

We support his proposal, for which Little received a standing ovation Monday.

Little also proposed $25 million to build a state mental health facility for those deemed dangerously mentally ill, people who are now being housed in state prison.

Little proposed doubling the funding for school advisers and establishing a new Statewide Student Behavioral Health Initiative for suicide prevention, an issue this editorial board has been highlighting in recent weeks. He proposed new water projects, funding for the Idaho Launch scholarship program and plans to try to increase the number of physicians in Idaho, which is last in the nation in physicians per capita.

At the same time, Idaho has wisely been putting money into rainy-day reserve funds to weather any downturns in the economy, and Little is proposing more.

“We must continue to lead the nation in fiscal responsibility, tax relief and strategic investments to keep up with record growth,” Little said.

Little is right: What Idaho has been doing under his watch is generally working well.

So why, then, did he feel the need to pander to the far-right legislators sitting in the House chambers, those who were likely seething at the prospect of any government spending? They would prefer to hear the governor say he’s cutting public education funding, cutting state spending across the board, funding school vouchers and canceling Medicaid expansion.

And yet, Little made several nods in an apparent attempt to appease the far right, as if to say, “See, I’m really just as extreme as you all are.”

He felt the need to mention that Idaho banned critical race theory, introduced political indoctrination with an ideological history curriculum and banned diversity statements. He bragged about cracking down on a homeless encampment. He even proposed money in his budget to provide state troopers to help out at the Idaho-Mexico border — whoops, U.S.-Mexico border — once again, this time under the guise of combating human trafficking.

We find it ironic that Little invoked the spirit of the late former Republican Gov. Phil Batt, who, at the age of 86, championed Adding the Words to the Idaho Human Rights Act — something this Legislature and Little will never do. Meanwhile, Little bragged during his speech about Idaho’s ban of transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sports, and Little signed the big-government bill to criminalize doctor-approved medical care for transgender youths.

During his speech, he included a video of House Speaker Mike Moyle complaining about the economy under President Joe Biden — an economy that is quite strong — and he even gave U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher time to complain about federal government spending.

Little, himself, with a straight face, took a swipe at “the feds.”

“Unwilling to put the time and safety of Idahoans — and the maintenance of our state’s roads and bridges — at the whims of the feds, in Idaho, we have taken control of transportation,” Little said in a prerecorded video played during the address. “Instead of looking to Washington, D.C., to solve our problems, we are funding known gaps with no new taxes and providing long-term funding for long-term needs.”

Forget the fact that Idaho will happily take $445 million in federal highway funding this year, and that billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief money poured into the state to help prop up Idaho’s economy and budget.

All of this, we suppose, was to try to appease the extreme faction that has seized control of the Idaho Republican Party and represents the 100,000 or so people who voted for Ammon Bundy for governor.

But why?

Little has plenty of good, solid, fair reasons to brag about the state’s performance during his time in office. There was no need for him to pander to those in his own party who don’t support the policies that made Idaho successful in the first place.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Mary Rohlfing and Patricia Nilsson.