Here comes the belt-tightening.
Everywhere but in Moscow…
BOISE – Idaho Gov. Brad Little has asked most state agencies to trim their current budgets by 1% and prepare for more cuts in the coming year.
The Idaho Press reports the request excludes K-12 public schools. He sent a memo to other state agencies late last month asking them to identify another 2% base reduction in their budgets for the coming year.
The Republican governor’s chief of staff Zach Hauge wrote in the memo that the budget recommendation is guaranteed to include continued investments in public schools.
“Gov. Little’s No. 1 priority is education,” Hauge wrote. “He has said it is our moral and constitutional obligation to ensure Idaho students are prepared for a lifetime of learning and eventual careers.”
Alex Adams, Little’s budget chief, said the reductions were a “spending reset.”
“This is not a holdback, when revenue is not sufficient to meet your spending for the year,” Adams said. “That’s simply not the case in Idaho.”