Legislators wade into hot topics at Town Hall

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Nine local legislators delved into controversial budget cuts and hot topics at a Town Hall this weekend at College of Eastern Idaho.

"Systematic change in a big state government with a $5 billion budget is not an easy thing to do," said Rep. Marco Erickson, R-Idaho Falls.

The cuts, education and housing prices were among the controversial subjects discussed Saturday.

You can watch the full Legislative Town Hall in the video player above.

Senator Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, was the only legislator present who serves on Idaho's powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which sets state budgets. He emphasized his concern with the JFAC's across-the-board recommendation to implement one and two percent cuts on all agencies.

"We do need to do some cuts, and I am for cutting, and most businesses can take a 5% cut somewhere in there," Cook said. "They can take it, but doing it across-the-board is the wrong way."

Rep. Barbara Ehardt noted the Legislature's decision to conform to the One Big Beautiful Bill tax cuts this year, not next year.

"One of the major problems that we've also run into is the conformity bill... [Governor Brad Little] only did conformity from 2027 on," she said. "We had decided to do it with 2026 because that's what our President ran on. People are expecting no tax on tips, no tax on all the different things."

Senator Mark Harris noted that some budgets have been cut deep – especially the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).

"As we're hearing, there are problems with these budgets," Harris said. "... The money that comes from the ITD to the locals, to the counties, to the cities, has been cut. From the last I heard, $110 million, which is a 25% cut, which is fine until somebody hits a pothole. And then who do they call?"

Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen warned that some cuts are short-sighted, saying that $10 saved to the state could end up costing property tax payers $100 down the road.

“What people don't realize is the cut of $10 on the state actually ends up being the biggest tax increase you've ever seen on property tax holders, because they will be left holding the bag for mental health issues or indigent care issues- all kinds of problems,” she said.

Rep. Erin Bingham, R-Idaho Falls, noted that while state revenues and state expenses have increased in recent years, it is important to factor in population growth and inflation to determine whether the state has a revenue problem or a spending problem.

“We went to the budget office and we asked, we said you give us the expenses for the last 20 years, adjusted per capita for inflation, and when we did that, we noted that in the last 20 years, the state expenditures have only gone up 0.4% per year,” Bingham said.

Lawmakers also discussed education and housing in the state.

“How do we create a situation in Idaho where our public schools are the schools of choice?” said Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, who chairs the Senate Education Committee.

Rep. Mike Veile, R-Soda Springs, who previously served as a school district trustee, highlighted the high test scores achieved throughout his district - particularly by a cluster of charter schools.

“I just want our public school districts to also have some of those shackles taken off so that they can do something different, so that they can try things, and so that they can innovate," Veile said.

Rep. Josh Wheeler, R-Idaho Falls, addressed housing costs, as a member of the Idaho House Business Committee.

“We have undersupplied our inventory of housing for long enough... the majority of people are qualifying for around $320,000 for a mortgage on their home, and the median price for housing here in southeast Idaho is $430,000," Wheeler said. "That's a more than $100,000 gap that we're asking our first time homebuyers or our kids to make.”

The event was sponsored by the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber, Bonneville County Republican Committee and College of Eastern Idaho.

A second Town Hall will be held at 7 P.M. on Saturday, March 21st at the College of Eastern Idaho's Health Care Education Building.