Idaho lawmakers back long-sought suicide prevention funding

BOISE – Long-sought state funding for Idaho’s suicide prevention hotline and for the state’s suicide prevention plan won overwhelming support from the Legislature’s joint budget committee on Friday.

Idaho had the 9th highest suicide rate in the country in 2014, 46 percent higher than the national average. Washington ranked 22nd.

“The loss of life due to suicide can be classified as nothing less than catastrophic right now,” said Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, “and we need to do something about that.”

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted 17-1 in favor of a budget for public health services that includes $971,100 in state funds and four new positions to carry out the state’s suicide prevention plan.

The plans calls for a new coordinated approach to suicide prevention in Idaho, from $223,000 a year in ongoing funding for the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline to funding for youth programming, a public awareness campaign, training and more.

The bill still needs passage in the House and Senate and the governor’s signature to become law, but budget bills rarely change once they’re set by the joint committee.