BOISE, Idaho — Republican lawmakers are ready to hit the ground running into the 2024 Legislative Session with polished bills ready to hit the committee rooms, according to House Majority Caucus Chair Rep. Megan Blanksma (R-Hammett).
Though, a top priority on her mind is to run a fine-toothed comb through one of the largest agencies in the state - The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW). Blanksma is concerned about the efficiency of the program pointing to an overwhelmed foster care system as evidence.
"Try to make it more friendly for families to work through the system when they need to try to keep them out of that system, if at all possible," Rep. Blanksma said.
Efficiency also relates to money. Lawmakers, after multiple failed attempts, approved IDHW's Medicaid budget to the tune of $4.5 billion near the end of the 2023 Legislative Session.
"Right now, it's so completely bloated that we desperately need to start looking at that," Rep. Blanksma said. "We want to make sure that we're controlling the budget and not letting it get out of hand with that huge influx of federal dollars. It makes things look a little different when they go away."
This concern is not shared by leadership on the other side of the aisle; the federal government buoys the state's Medicaid budget by paying 90% of the cost, according to Senate Minority Leader Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D-Boise). Losing a cost-share with the federal government would take congressional action.
"That's a long process, and it's not that easy," Sen. Wintrow said. "The fact of the matter is, I pay federal taxes and state taxes. I want to see my federal tax money go to work in my state for the betterment of my citizens."
Sen. Wintrow strongly supports investments into Idaho public school buildings along with another round of annual funding for Idaho Launch - a scholarship program to pay 80% of tuition and fees for graduating high school seniors going into in-demand careers. Launch scholarships cap at $8,000.
The first year of the Launch Program received $80 million. Rep. Blanksma sponsored the bill.
"That bill passed by one vote. One less Democrat, and we wouldn't have had the launch program," Sen. WIntrow said.
The democrats expect to play defense on several republican-sponsored bills; that includes another battle over school choice. Sen. Wintrow clearly stated she cannot - and will not - support any legislation that would remove tax dollars from public schools and offer them to a private school system.
Roughly 90% of Idaho kids attend public school, according to Sen. Wintrow.
"If we are doing anything to harm those kids, we're harming our future," Sen. Wintrow said. "The bills that we've seen in the past have no accountability. It's writing a blank check to families and parents, 'Here's your money. Do with it what you will.'"
The 2024 Legislative Session starts January 8th after Governor Brad Little's (R-Idaho) State of the State address.
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