Idaho's new governor says he's looking to the future.
In his first State of the State address, Gov. Brad Little highlighted several topics he wants to focus on as the Legislature begins this year's session, items he believes will make Idaho a better place to live now, and for future generations.
Little touched on a lot of crucial topics, but health care and public safety were highlighted as top priorities.
Following the November election, there was a lot of talk about Prop 2, and the implementation of Medicaid expansion.
During his address, Gov. Little talked about maintaining the trust of Idahoans.
After the passing of the voter initiative Medicaid expansion, Little says he will honor the will of the people. He says he intends to work to implement Medicaid expansion using an Idaho approach. His budget proposal reflects doing so with a net-zero impact on the state of Idaho's general fund.
Little says Idaho must also pursue strategies that contain health care costs. The bottom-line is that he will fight for state flexibility and state control to develop Idaho solutions for Idaho families.
“We need spring in our safety net so that there are multiple pathways for the gap population to move off Medicaid and onto private coverage. While making health care available to low-income individuals we should also do what we can to make affordable, accessible, quality health care available to all Idahoans," said Little.
Continuing on healthcare, Little spoke about battling the on-going opioid crisis.
The governor says he will be issuing an executive order on substance abuse to formalize the existing opioid plan, broaden the efforts, directing future resources, and creating non-offender programs for substance abuse.
Little says that makes the most sense because treating addicts and those with mental health problems in prison is expensive and often too late.
Little did address Idaho's prison overcrowding issue. There is no major budget item, like the $500 million in prison expansion some were calling for, but the governor did announce that his budget includes allocating resources to two projects to not just add prison beds, but to help those get the help they need so they can successfully transition back into society.