Idaho's budget hole just got a lot worse
Big requests = big problems this year, and even bigger ones in FY27
Gov. Brad Little and state lawmakers are now facing an even bigger hole in the current year’s budget than anticipated. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says it needs another $60 million in support from state taxpayers during the fiscal year that ends June 30, while the Idaho Department of Correction is asking for an extra $11 million.
And those figures already have the governor’s midyear emergency spending cuts factored in.
The new information comes from IDHW’s IDHW's and IDOC's filings with the governor’s budget office, the Division of Financial Management.
Much of the IDHW’s increase, according to the agency, is due to increases in Medicaid utilization and federal requirements for managing the state-federal program that…
