Idaho Gang of Eight: Budgets Are in Bloom

March 22, 2026

Budgets Are in Bloom
Planted over years. Now the bill is coming due.

By: Idaho Gang of Eight

Spring has arrived in Idaho.

The days are getting longer, the trees are starting to bud, and the legislative session is entering its final stretch. Around here, that can only mean one thing:

Budgets are in bloom.

In the last six years, Idaho’s state budget has grown by roughly 60 percent. That far outpaces both inflation and population growth. It’s not like Idaho families suddenly had more money to spare. Government just kept growing.

Now the bill is coming due.

At the start of the session, there was reason for cautious optimism. Lawmakers are getting set to approve cuts to maintenance budgets totaling $812,997,400, a step in the right direction.

But there’s an old saying that still holds true:

When the legislature is in session, hold onto your wallet.

Those cuts will be wiped away by budget enhancements totaling $861,975,700, which is almost a $50 million increase from last year’s budget. And they aren’t done yet.

The legislature talks about restraint, but the numbers tell a different story.

So What’s the Legislative Plan?

What happens when the legislature doesn’t actually cut spending at all?

The FY26 supplementals and add-ons have already wiped out over $150 million of the rescissions.

Enhancements for FY27 have consumed the rest of the maintenance reductions, and then some.

And when it’s all said and done, the FY27 budget will be larger than FY26.

So what is the plan?

Hope for stronger revenues?

Assume the economy will hold?

Keep adjusting around the edges while spending continues to grow?

That’s not a plan.

Real change means aligning ongoing spending with ongoing revenue, not one-time money or moving dollars between categories. It means stopping the pattern of growing government faster than inflation and population.

Without that, nothing changes.

We’ll be back in the same position next year, likely in a deeper hole.

A Different Approach

There is one group of legislators in the building that has been consistent from the beginning.

The Gang of 8 has been clear:

We warned about the spending.

The spending continued.

A budget shortfall is the result.

Overspending today leads to painful cuts tomorrow. That is what Idaho is facing now.

For two years, the Gang of 8 warned that a 60 percent increase over six years was unsustainable. Instead of slowing down, the Legislature accelerated spending.

Now the bill is coming due.

Responsible budgeting would have avoided this position. Instead, decisions are now being made under pressure.

The Gang of 8’s approach remains simple:

• No new federal money
• No new employees
• No more budget increases

Because if spending continues to outpace inflation and population, the outcome is predictable.

Borrowed Money, Real Consequences

The “Rural Health Care Transformation Act” is how this keeps happening.

The funding comes from a $50 billion federal fund added at the last minute to the “Big Beautiful Bill” to secure a key vote in the U.S. Senate.

To get the money, states must agree to federal rules, program structures, and ongoing compliance.

We’ve seen this before, in 2021, ARPA funds were called what they are—borrowed from our grandchildren.

This isn’t free money. It’s borrowed money, with interest. A debt handed to our kids.

The national debt has reached $39 trillion. Inflation has followed. Idaho families are paying for it.

And now we’re being asked to do it again.

We won’t put our children in shackles to sustain it.

Watch the Debate

David lays this out clearly on the floor.

Watch his remarks here.

This is the result of years of unchecked spending. Idaho can change course now, or be forced into harder decisions later.

Which way Idaho?