Lawmakers must defend Medicaid, higher ed
Statesman Editorial board
October 11, 2009
Idaho Statesman
Enough is enough, says Tom Luna. The state's school superintendent says K-12 can absorb no additional budget cuts.
Actually, he said recently, public schools will need an additional $20 million to $25 million in the budget year starting July 1, just to handle enrollment growth.
We'll take Luna's word for it. This year, public schools sustained a $109.3 million general fund budget cut - the first such cut in state history. A $60.6 million infusion of federal economic stimulus dollars plugged some of the gap, but not all of it.
Luna is no big spender. He is as conservative a Republican as many of the lawmakers who will sweat over an austere 2010-11 budget. When Luna sounds an alarm that Idaho risks shirking its constitutional obligations on public education, lawmakers will listen. Or, at least, they ought to.
In Luna, public school students have a popularly elected advocate. The same, sadly, cannot be said for the other Idahoans who would be affected by continued budget cuts.
Not Medicaid. The publicly funded health program - all the more critical during a downturn - provides medical care and prescriptions for low-income Idahoans, too often a constituency without a voice.
Not higher education. Enrollment is rising at the state's two- and four-year colleges and universities, but that doesn't seem to be enough to elevate higher ed into a shared, statewide priority. Higher ed is a big issue on and near the state's campuses, and funding cuts are a major concern for university administrators. In the absence of one foremost advocate, higher education seems destined to remain a regional issue beset by parochial infighting.
So who's in a position to look out for Medicaid and higher education?
The job, by default, falls to legislators.
This role should belong to Gov. Butch Otter, but he has dodged it. In his latest round of spending "holdbacks," he attempts to trim 4 percent out of the state budget - taking a somewhat scaled-back 3.3 percent slice from the Department of Health and Welfare, and an unacceptably short-sighted 6 percent cut from the two- and four-year colleges.
(Otter's plan holds harmless the public schools that are under Luna's watch. The governor proposes taking $49.3 million from budget reserves to stave off additional K-12 cuts.)
By circumstance or design, Otter has given legislators an opportunity to put a considerable imprint on the budget. Otter's proposed $99 million cuts will not cover a projected $151.4 million shortfall.
Will legislators stand up for Medicaid patients and Idaho college students? They should. And they can, by pressing Otter to dip into the state's other budget reserves - accounts that would total roughly $225 million, even if lawmakers follow Otter's lead and withdraw $49.3 million for K-12.
The tug of war over the budget reserves is well under way, as illustrated in today's Insight section. Rep. Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, argues against draining the reserves, since no one can predict how long Idaho's economy will continue to sputter. Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise, argues that it's time to invest savings in government services that will help Idahoans weather the recession.
This debate will likely divide Republicans and Democrats. If recent history holds, it could also pit a conservative House against a more moderate Senate.
This debate could define the 2010 session. More importantly, it will affect the thousands of Idahoans who are forced to rely on public health care, or who have decided to seek new job skills by attending college.
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