Idaho, other red states beat their chests over economy, but success comes at a cost
Idaho Gov. Brad Little this week on LinkedIn posted an essay from the Republican National Committee’s website titled, “Red states lead the way on jobs.”
The essay, using newly released data from the Labor Department, shows how states led by Republican governors led the nation in jobs recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the top of the list is Idaho, with a COVID-related job loss of 79,600 but a subsequent increase of 91,100, for a 114.4% job recovery rate.
Little has much to celebrate.
“Republican-led states are leading the way in getting Americans back to work,” Little wrote in his post. “Idaho now has more jobs than when the pandemic hit. Years of fiscal conservatism, swift action during the pandemic, few COVID restrictions, responsible allocation of federal relief dollars, and our relentless focus on cutting red tape are the reasons Idaho’s economy is catapulting ahead of other states right now.”
Idaho is followed by a string of Republican-led states: Utah, Montana, South Dakota, Arkansas, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Alabama, Nebraska and South Carolina in the top 10. Indiana and Mississippi come next before you even hit a Democrat-led state.
If those states’ names sound like they belong to another list, you’d be right.
Those are also among the states with the highest rates of COVID-19 infections.
South Dakota, Utah and Tennessee have the third-, fourth- and fifth-highest rates in the country. Nebraska and South Carolina are Nos. 9 and 10. Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana and Idaho are all in the top 20.
In fact, eight of the top 10 states with the highest COVID-19 infection rates and 15 of the top 20 are led by Republican governors.
Further, half of those red states in the top 10 of job recovery also make the top 10 list for COVID-19 infection rates.
It makes sense, as Republican governors tended to eschew the strict public health mandates and shutdowns that Democrats favored. Those measures helped the economy but also led to greater spread of the coronavirus.
Idaho’s success stands out even among other red states. Not only is Idaho tops in job creation and low unemployment, Little announced last week that the state government is expected to have an $800 million budget surplus, the highest ever.
But it’s important to understand the circumstances of Idaho’s economic success.
As the Idaho Statesman previously reported, Idaho’s economy benefited from a series of factors, both fortuitous and planned, that put the state in a kind of sweet spot to weather the pandemic.
Idaho’s economy is heavily reliant on such sectors as construction, food manufacturing and agriculture, all of which were declared essential services and continued as normal — or even above normal during the pandemic.
Not to be overlooked — or underestimated — is the $1.25 billion Idaho received from the federal government in coronavirus relief money.
Idaho’s $1.25 billion payday represents about 16% of the state’s total $7.944 billion budget. By comparison, the state of Nevada also received $1.25 billion in relief money, but that’s only 5% of its $26.4 billion budget.
This doesn’t even count other direct federal relief dollars that went straight to Idaho businesses and individuals to help prop up our economy.
Idaho seems to have threaded that needle of maintaining its economy without quite hitting crisis standards of care. But even though Idaho was in the middle of the pack for COVID-19 infection rates, the Gem State still had a higher rate than most blue states, such as Vermont, Oregon, Washington, California and Massachusetts.
While it’s fine to beat your chest about economic success, it’s equally important to recognize that those successes come with a price.
Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, editor Chadd Cripe and newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members J.J. Saldaña and Christy Perry.
