If you're interested in state politics and policy coverage in Idaho, do I have a deal for you! 😇💞

Trump administration sues Idaho election official to force him to turn over sensitive voter data • Idaho Capital Sun The U.S. Justice Department sued Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, seeking to force him to turn over sensitive voter registration data.

The U.S. Justice Department sued Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane on Wednesday, and asked a federal judge to force him to turn over the full voter data, which includes partial Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. #idpol

@christinalords.bsky.social of @idahocapitalsun.com shares this photo from Boise. @statesnewsroom.com #nokings

This year, state lawmakers are pushing for deeper, across-the-board state government spending cuts — including to Medicaid disability services — after approving years of tax cuts that have reduced the state’s revenue by more than $4 billion. From @pfannyyy.bsky.social :

You got this thang, Mama! 💪

McGrane wrote the DOJ revealed in a separate federal lawsuit filing that sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, were shared from federal systems “to unauthorized persons.”

“That development reinforces the importance of careful stewardship of sensitive voter information."

thanks for such a thoughtful response!! I think all of this applies. I'm gonna go talk to my yoga mat about this and come back with a better attitude. :)

Books on zen, mantras, interviews with people in high pressure situations dealing with stress, yoga videos, all welcome.

Zuiderveld voted against the funding after criticizing the Idaho Military Division for not finding somewhere else to cut. “Where could they have cut besides that?” Zuiderveld asked. “...To me it feels kinda like we are being gaslit because they are angry they have to cut on a lot of these things.”

Soon after the cuts were announced, providers and the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association warned the cuts would risk public safety, and providers said the cuts would drive up other costs even more. And. Eastern Idaho crisis centers are seeing demand spike after the cuts. From @pfannyyy.bsky.social:

“A youth bill of rights is extremely concerning to me,” Rep. Burgoyne said. “Currently, children don’t have rights, because all their rights are vested with the parent, and I think it’s extremely important that we keep those rights with the parent.”

988 ended his call. Now an Idaho teen is pushing for a fix to state’s parental consent law. • Idaho Capital Sun An Idaho teen had his call to the 988 hotline end because of Idaho's parental consent law. He's now urging lawmakers to change the law.

As a minor under 18 who didn’t have parental consent to get treatment, the hotline operator told him they had to end the call due to an Idaho law passed in 2024. #idleg #idpol

Legislative notebook: Budget committee sends funding cuts to full Idaho House, Senate floors • Idaho Capital Sun This week, we did something a little differently than we ever have before at the Idaho Capital Sun. After spending the last five years, day in and day out, covering as many Idaho legislative committee...

Here's a crash course on what the 5% state budget holdbacks advancing in the #idleg will mean for you and your families based on the dogged reporting our @idahocapitalsun.com staff busted out this week. What we found is that these cuts could affect nearly every Idahoan in some way. #idpol

Water Supply Snow Water Equivalency

And here's where you can check the weekly snow maps idwr.idaho.gov/water-data/w...

Not great, Bob. droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/S...

Meanwhile, the fire suppression fund IDL relies on to fight fires is nearly empty. The IDL director said there's about $1.2 million in the wildfire suppression fund. That isn't enough to even pay for the state’s up-front contracted aircraft costs, let alone pay the bills for an entire fire season.

New 1% and 2% budget cuts that the Idaho Legislature’s budget committee approved for most state agencies on Feb. 6 could force the Idaho Department of Water Resources to cut funding for 15 of the 93 stream gages funded through the department’s trustee and benefits program.

The Idaho DEQ still has not recovered from budget cuts implemented in response to the Great Recession of 2008, Director Jess Byrne told us.

“For perspective, funding for statewide water monitoring today is less than 50% of what we spent on the same activities 20 years ago,” Byrne said.

And the 1% drawbacks would mean $14,000 in cuts to statewide coordination for school resource officers.

“These cuts increase the risk to safety of juveniles and staff and decrease recidivism reduction and prevention efforts statewide,” Dowell wrote in a letter to JFAC.

Juvenile Corrections Director Ashley Dowell said the agency would need to cut a range of prevention services to carry out JFAC’s cuts.

The 1% cut for this year would mean $350,000 in cuts to developing and improving Youth Assessment Centers, which help minors before they enter the justice system.

“Our only option is to reduce our staff,” Starr said in an interview. “Because we just don’t have a big operating budget to start with.”

Meanwhile, these cuts would also affect the Juvenile Corrections system and the State Public Defender Office as well.

The figure assumes that 20 more people per month would remain incarcerated if the agency laid off a single parole hearing investigator next year, out of the agency’s 37-person staff that handles nearly 7,000 parole hearings each year. About 81% of the agency’s budget is for personnel.

We're continuing our #idleg state budget cuts coverage all week, and I wanted to draw your attention to this one. Pardons and Parole Executive Director Christine Starr told the Sun the estimate of $620,000 in more prison costs as a result of parole and pardon cuts is conservative.

“Considering...budgetary constraints and the Tax Commission’s ongoing efforts to support the Legislature and Governor, we recommend full transparency by including these estimated administrative costs in the fiscal note for this year’s conformity language. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.”

New info that our Laura Guido tracked down today: The tax commission previously estimated it would cost the agency an additional $555,000 this fiscal year to conform to the changes for the current tax year. That cost wasn't included as part of the bill, and may require a supplemental budget request.

Idaho Tax Commission anticipates long delays in issuing tax refunds if budget cuts go into effect • Idaho Capital Sun Amid proposed budget cuts, Idahoans could wait months for tax refunds, while the state might incur large interest payments due to the delays.

We're continuing our state budget cuts coverage this morning. "Idahoans could wait months for their refunds, while the state would be on the hook for millions in interest payments due to the delays, according to a memo to lawmakers from the Idaho State Tax Commission." #idleg #idpol

Thank you so much for always being such a champion of our work! I really appreciate you sharing with your peeps, as always 😃

Thank you so much for sharing! 💞

One more budget post out of me today and I'll quit my yappin' (at least until tomorrow): Wolff told legislators if they implemented Little’s plan and restored funding for $13 million worth of cuts made last week that Idaho would still end fiscal year 2027 with an estimated surplus of $184 million.