Idaho Democratic leaders say Republican-led cuts are an ‘unbelievable mess’

Idaho Democratic leaders railed against the state Republican supermajority at a news conference Friday following the end of the legislative session.

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, and House Minority Leader Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, criticized their Republican colleagues for prioritizing tax cuts over good governance.

“This was not good government at any level,” Rubel said. “And it hasn’t been for some time. This session will lead to long term suffering across the state, but we were set on this path by years of previous irresponsible revenue cuts that were designed to leave us unable to pay our bills.”

State Republican leaders had unofficially planned to hold a post-session news conference just before the Democrats at the same location in the Capitol.

But Friday morning, less than an hour before both parties were expected to give remarks, word came that the Republicans wouldn’t be there. Rubel said they were “in hiding.”

“We were told, as of yesterday, that they were planning to be here, and then this morning, shortly before, we were told they weren’t,” Rubel told reporters in the House fourth floor lounge. “I wouldn’t want to stand on this record either. This is appalling. We are in an unbelievable mess that they created.”

Lawmakers spent the session, which ended Thursday evening, attempting to carve out millions of dollars in cuts after slashing $450 million in revenue the year before, mostly in tax cuts, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.

Some of the cuts drew significant opposition. Hundreds piled into the Capitol earlier in the session to protest cuts to Medicaid.

Lawmakers made cuts to higher education, Meals on Wheels for seniors, home disability care and water quality monitoring. Idaho budget writers also pulled back $14 million in federal grants to expand the state’s child care assistance program over concerns of widespread fraud linked to violations in Minnesota.

“These families absolutely need the help,” Rubel said. “But I was told the state is now broke and can’t afford to fund it, no matter how desperately needed these services were.”

Wintrow said that their party, rather than the Republican Party, had been advocates for local control and government transparency throughout the session. She said the more likely a bill was to run into public opposition, the more eager her Republican colleagues were to bypass public hearings or neglect to give advance notice.

She noted a bill that went through the Senate Health and Welfare Committee with about half an hour of testimony.

“When I went back to look at the records, there were over 200 people in opposition and only eight people in support of that bill,” Wintrow said. “So 95% was in opposition, yet it was rammed through quickly and right out to the floor. There was a formal complaint that was sent to leadership in both chambers and the governor, saying, ‘This isn’t right. This is not the people’s house anymore.’”

Rep. Steve Berch, D-Boise, said during the news conference that the only budget that wasn’t a target for cuts was the $50 million lawmakers appropriated last year to fund private school vouchers. Parents can claim up to $5,000 in refundable tax credits for private or home-school expenses.

“That budget was protected,” Berch said. “They made very clear that public education is in their crosshairs.”