A strong state needs strong infrastructure. Roads and bridges connect workers to jobs, products to markets and communities to opportunity. When infrastructure is neglected, the economy falls behind too. And when we fail to stay on top of maintenance today, repairs become more costly in the future.
A newly released seven-year transportation plan from the Idaho Transportation Department shows what Republican budget choices are putting at risk.
This year, the GOP budget cut $275 million from transportation funding, including $165 million for state highways and $110 million for local highway districts. Now, nearly 70 highway projects across Idaho could be put on hold indefinitely as the Idaho Transportation Department braces for the possibility of losing more than $1 billion over the next seven years.
Lauren Necochea. File photo.
Another $1.5 billion in congestion mitigation projects is unlikely to advance through the state’s bonding process. Altogether, nearly $2.8 billion in transportation work is at risk while Idaho keeps growing.
Even after cutting projects, transportation officials are unsure they can keep up with basic safety measures, including pavement preservation, bridge and guardrail repairs, striping, and potholes. That should concern every Idahoan. Two hundred and fifty Idaho bridges are already rated poor or structurally deficient. Delayed repairs don’t save money. They risk small problems becoming expensive failures, with dangerous, disruptive, and costly consequences.
All of this raises the question: If Idaho families, businesses and communities are paying the price for a shortsighted budget, who benefits?
The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy found that state and federal income tax cuts since 2018 delivered $4.5 billion in annual tax reductions, more than Idaho currently invests in health and education combined. The benefits overwhelmingly flowed to the wealthiest. The top 1% received an average tax cut of $111,610, while a family earning the median income received $1,318. Idahoans with the lowest incomes saw an average tax increase of $96.
The center was right to warn that cutting state revenue does not make costs disappear. It shifts the burden to families and communities through higher local property taxes, tuition, fees, and reduced services.
The same failed choices are showing up across the budget. Republican politicians cut $10 million from LAUNCH workforce training scholarships, drained the wildfire suppression fund to zero, and capped therapy visits for children with disabilities. All to cover tax cuts for the richest Idahoans.
A stronger Idaho starts with different choices, and Democrats are ready to make them.
Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.
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