Gov. Little discusses ongoing matters in state

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - Governor Brad Little believes Idaho is on the right track. 

He says Idahoans can expect a 12% income tax cut as soon as this month, and recently, he signed a key part of his "Leading Idaho" plan into law, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in new transportation funding. 

"It's not going to go as far as we thought it was going to go, but it's still going to go a long ways to helping," Little said. "There's some federal money that's available, but actually what we did in the state last year and this year without raising taxes or fee is going to be significantly more than the federal funding."

But the project is going to take some time. 

"People are going to have to be patient about the orange cones," Little said. "I know pretty soon they're going to be calling them Brad's orange cones."

There is also a deep concern in the legislature with inflation, particularly with gas prices. 

"In Pocatello, we're really close to the refineries in Salt Lake, and we need to get them up at maximum production to bring the cost of fuel down," Little said.

The presence of fentanyl has become a issue in the state. 

The governor has launched "Operation Esto Perpetua," a step that will help law enforcement fight the influx of lethal drugs. 

"What boggles my mind is those pills that look like oxycontin or perocet, or whatever it is, three out of ten of them have a fatal dose," Little said.

And Little believes it's important to take time to process what is happening in the Ukraine. 

"I tell my friends when we argue about some of the little things in the Idaho legislature, think about those poor people in Ukraine who in the last 20 years built a democratic republic in the model of the United States and not of the model of the Soviet Union or Russia, and they're fighting for their very existence," Little said.