TFTN: Guv Chose Wrong On Surplus

When it closed the books on fiscal year 2011 on June 30, the state of Idaho had $85 million more than it anticipated. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter had two options with part of that money: He could have expanded the grocery tax credit or he could have called a special session of the Legislature to restore some of the draconian cuts lawmakers made in Medicaid earlier this year. The governor chose the former. He chose wrongly. “My preference would be … restoring some of the current programs we have cut,” Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, told The Associated Press. “Health and Welfare would be a high priority”/ Twin Falls Times-News . More here.

Question: Do you agree that the budget surplus should have gone to deep cuts in Medicaid?