BOISE, Idaho — On Monday afternoon, Governor Brad Little announced a new property tax relief plan that would use $200 of the $1.25 billion given by the federal government as part of the CARES Act.
With over a billion dollars left over after the new plan, KTVB dived into how the Gem State is using that federal funding and found that much of it has yet to be allocated to anything.
Gov. Little's property tax relief plan sets aside $200 million that would cover the pay of public safety employees, such as firefighters, police, and EMS. In turn, counties and cities would need to cut or lower property taxes, which would then give Idahoans some tax relief during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Our focus is to support our communities, police and fire, ems personnel and ensure no reduction in public safety during these unprecedented times." Little said during his press conference.
For the rest of the $1.05 billion in federal aid, $100 million will go towards another of Gov. Little's recovery plans, which would give people returning to the workforce a $1,500 check so they have an incentive to no longer rely on unemployment benefits.
"$1,500 for going back to doing your job to help those businesses who are struggling having a hard time getting some of those employees to come back," Little said.
Another $57 million is set aside to cover state agency expenses, like overtime for employees at the Idaho Department of Labor, money for Idaho's jails and prisons so they can enforce social distancing measures and funding that health districts can dip into for COVID-19 testing.
Little also set aside $300 million for small business grants. "Up to $10,000 for those small businesses that weren't receiving help from the federal government," said Senator Brent Hill, who was also at Monday's press conference.
That leaves Idaho with about $600 million in federal funding to use, but Gov. LIttle doesn't have a set plan on how to allocate that money.
"If we don't use it, I will sweep it into the unemployment fund," he explained.
Gov. Little added that the reason he would add that money to the unemployment fund is because of how hard hit it has been after thousands of unemployment claims were filed since the coronavirus pandemic began.