Idaho Gang of Eight: A Temporary Fix for a Permanent Problem

January 13, 2026

A Temporary Fix for a Permanent Problem
Our response to the 2026 State-of-the-State Address

By: Idaho Gang of Eight

In the 2026 State-of-the-State address, Governor Brad Little delivered a masterclass in vague platitudes, patriotic nostalgia, and self-congratulation, while offering virtually no concrete solutions to the real challenges facing Idahoans. He spoke at length about “enduring values,” “right-sizing” government, and “fiscal responsibility,” but provided almost no specifics on the structural causes of Idaho’s budget shortfall, education outcomes, or the need for real reform. Instead, the speech kicked the can down the road with temporary fixes, hardly the bold leadership Idaho needs.

Budget Restraint in Name Only

Governor Little’s “Enduring Idaho” plan is presented as fiscally disciplined, but it relies almost entirely on temporary measures. Agencies are told to tighten their belts. The state plans to renegotiate contracts, reprioritize initiatives, find operational efficiencies, and draw on cash balances and interest earnings. These tools may balance the budget in the short term, but they sidestep the bold, structural changes Idaho actually needs.

Idaho does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.

We strongly support the bold income tax cuts enacted over the past five years, which returned a cumulative $4 billion to taxpayers—putting real money back in the pockets of hardworking Idahoans, families, seniors, and businesses while boosting economic freedom and our state’s competitiveness.

But government spending has exploded unchecked during the same period. All-funds appropriations grew by 60% in the last 6 years, far outpacing population growth and inflation. Yet the Governor’s plan proposes no structural reforms: no repeal of ballooning entitlements like Medicaid expansion (which has roughly doubled from ~$670 million in FY 2021 to ~$1.34 billion this fiscal year), no meaningful reduction in agency growth, and no rejection of federal dollars that carry long-term obligations and strings attached.

Calling this “right-sizing” does not change the reality. Temporary fixes delay hard decisions while government continues to grow beyond what taxpayers can sustain.

Education: More Money, Same Results

Governor Little boasts of a 70% increase in state funding for public schools, higher teacher pay, and expanded literacy programs. Yet he offers zero acknowledgment that these massive infusions have failed to deliver transformative results.

Despite unprecedented spending, Idaho’s public schools have produced only modest gains in reading proficiency and continue to lag nationally. The 2025 Education Recovery Scorecard ranks Idaho 30th in math recovery and 38th in reading, with 91% of students in districts still below pre-pandemic math levels and 96% below in reading. Spending has surged. Results have not.

At the same time, enrollment is falling. Idaho’s K–12 public school enrollment declined for the second consecutive year in 2025–26, dropping by roughly 3,000 students statewide. Eight of the state’s ten largest school districts lost students. Traditional districts are shrinking even as funding continues to grow.

Idaho has modest school choice options, but they remain limited and secondary to a system the Governor continues to shield from real accountability. Rather than confront declining enrollment, demand structural reform, or expand meaningful education freedom, the response has been to pour more money into the same failing model.

This is not leadership. It is a more expensive system serving fewer students while delivering the same underwhelming results, all at taxpayer expense.

LAUNCH: A Corporate Welfare Program

Idaho LAUNCH received glowing praise as a Trump-aligned success, but it represents a significant and permanent expansion of state government into workforce planning. What was sold as an opportunity program is now an ongoing corporate welfare program, with recurring costs, administrative growth, and long-term obligations borne by taxpayers.

Instead of letting wages and opportunity guide career choices, LAUNCH puts the state in charge of deciding which jobs matter and which careers get subsidized. The money flows to politically favored industries and well-connected cronies, while taxpayers absorb the risk. This is government planning, not free markets.

Claims of deregulation are similarly misleading. Replacing Idaho regulations with federal ones is not deregulation. It is a transfer of authority.

The Legislature Must Act to Defend Idaho’s Sovereignty

Governor Little repeatedly praised federal partnerships as proof of progress, while ignoring their cost: lost state control, federal strings, and authority shifted away from Idahoans. Strong rhetoric about grit, faith, and freedom cannot substitute for action. There was no call for structural reforms, no clear limits on government growth, and no defense of Idaho’s sovereign authority. That is not leadership.

The Legislature has the constitutional responsibility to restrain government, enforce limits, and demand accountability when the executive will not. To date, it has largely failed to do so.

If Idaho is to remain free, solvent, and self-governing, the legislature must step up where executive leadership has fallen short. That includes drawing a clear line against continued reliance on federal dollars that prop up state spending today while undermining sovereignty tomorrow.

2026 will test whether the legislature is willing to govern Idaho, or manage its dependence.