OPINION: Idaho Legislature’s priorities don’t mesh with yours

I asked the artificial intelligence on my phone what would be the top issues for Idaho that the Legislature should address during the 2025 session. The reason I was so curious is that it seems all I have heard from the dominant majority party is how it will address immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion policies, Medicaid expansion and public payments to religious and private schools. I was really looking forward to how those “priorities” coincide with the concerns and needs of rank-and-file Idahoans.

The AI response referred me to the 2024 Public Policy Survey published by Boise State University’s School of Public Service. According to the survey, the top issues were K-12 education funding, jobs and the economy, housing costs and availability, property tax relief and transportation infrastructure. Oh, and more Idahoans surveyed feel that the state was headed in the “wrong direction” than on the “right course.”

So how will the concerns of the citizens and the needs of the state play in the 2025 Legislature? Not well, if you believe the Republican leaders. Their major issue is how to get around the state constitutional prohibition to funding religious schools, not how to improve and fund the public school system that, by constitutional law, is their primary duty.

Article IX, Section 1 states that “The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”

It says nothing about funding private or religious education.

And Article IX, Section 5 is very definitive about prohibiting any public funding of religious institutions or schools. So, why is this a top issue for the Legislature? One only must look at the big money flowing into the primary and general elections, money from for-profit vendors of educational services. The education budget is a big target, and the legislators support those who help and fund them in their elections.

Another top issue on the Public Policy Survey is taxes. There is strong support (as there has been for years) for lowering property taxes and removing the sales tax on food. But how does that happen if there is a need for tens of millions of dollars for private and religious schools? And previous tax rate reductions have been on the income tax, providing the most benefit for corporations and the highest earning individuals.

Updating the Homestead Exemption would help middle class Idahoans. Property tax policy is a state policy, not a “local tax problem” as stated by House Speaker Mike Moyle and his acolytes. Cities, counties and school districts play by the rules set by the Legislature. Your county commissioners and city councilors don’t set that policy.

And addressing the property tax imbalance would help address the issue of housing affordability as well.

Survey responders were concerned about the economy, even though Idaho has been leading the nation is household income growth. Just last month the Department of Labor reported that median income grew at 15%, outpacing every other state. I suspect that the difference between these reports and the impressions of survey respondents depends on where you sit on the income spectrum. If you cannot afford a home or child care expenses, the economy looks worse than the median family income growth indicated by the DOL report.

The private and religious school payment proposals are also focused on helping those with the highest incomes. History has shown that such payments go to families already paying for private education, those who can afford private school tuition.

The grocery tax is regressive. The poor pay a higher percentage of their income than the rich. How does charging lower-income families for necessities such as groceries compare with providing for the private schools used predominantly by the more affluent?

Another proposal has been to repeal Medicaid expansion that the citizens voted for by initiative by almost 2 to 1. Who except the GOP leadership is asking for that? Certainly not the county commissioners who will be forced to pick up the costs for the indigent care or rural hospitals that will see a big hit to their revenues. Rural Idaho residents have trouble enough finding health care. This certainly will not help.

To win elections, especially GOP primary elections in Idaho, it appears necessary to campaign to the right of Atilla the Hun. But the elections are over. It is time to put the political posturing away and look to the way of helping the citizens of Idaho, to fulfill the legislative duty to do the best for the people, not just your donors and Republican legislative leadership.

Rusche, of Clarkston, is a retired physician who served six terms in the Idaho House.