Narrator: Presentation of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television is made possible through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho.

By the Friends of Idaho Public Television and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Melissa Davlin: Governor Little's State of the State address is just around the corner, and the press got a sneak peek at his policy priorities.

And as always, lawmakers have their own ideas about how the session should go.

I'm Melissa Davlin.

Idaho Reports starts now.

Hello and welcome to Idaho Reports.

This week, Governor Brad Little and lawmakers give us a preview of the upcoming legislative session.

Associate producer Logan Finney discusses issues with jail facilities across the state with members of the Idaho Sheriffs Association.

Finally, House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma joins us to discuss proposals on maternal health and Idaho LAUNCH.

But first, let's get you caught up on the week.

The state Board of Education has approved requests from College of Western Idaho and College of Eastern Idaho to add a small number of four year bachelor degrees to their lineups.

The request divided the state board during a December meeting with some board members expressing concern that the programs would create unnecessary competition with the state's four year public higher ed institutions.

Still, the majority of the board ultimately voted yes.

The colleges now need approval from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and the US Department of Education.

On Friday, Governor Brad Little swore in Idaho's newest Supreme Court justice, Cynthia Meyer.

Justice Cynthia Meyer: I, Cynthia Casey Meyer.

Gov.

Brad Little: Do solemnly swear.

Meyer: Do solemnly swear.

Little: That I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Idaho.

Meyer: That I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Idaho.

Little: And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of Supreme Court Justice.

Meyer: That I will faithfully discharge the duties of Supreme Court justice.

Davlin: Meyer replaces Justice John Stegner, who retired late last year.

She previously served as a district judge based in Kootenai County.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Raul Labrador asked the US Supreme Court to act on the federal government's lawsuit against the state on its near-total abortion ban.

In 2022 the US Department of Justice sued Idaho over the ban, saying it violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Act of Labor Act or EMTALA.

If the state prosecutes doctors who perform abortions in emergency situations to preserve the health of the mother as opposed to the life of the mother.

Labrador's request comes a day after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a similar case out of Texas.

That panel said EMTALA does not cover abortion.

In November, voters in Ada County narrowly turned down a request to fund a $49 million bond to expand the jail, even though 65.8% of voters signed on to the proposal.

The bond needed 66.7% or two thirds.

In other words, it failed by less than 1%.

During Thursday's legislative preview, lawmakers were asked about their thoughts on the two thirds requirement to pass bonds.

Rep. Lauren Necochea: That two thirds threshold means that a minority of voters is making the decision on whether or not our kids can have adequate school facilities.

That it doesn't make sense.

And it's, I think, really frustrating when voters see something that they want that they really want to have happen.

65% of them can come out and vote for something and it still fells fails and they can't get that that investment that they want for their communities.

House Speaker Mike Moyle: I don't support lowering it at all.

I don't think it's a wise move.

I would remind people that there was a day inIdaho, if I'm not mistaken, where to vote on bonds and levies, you had to own property.

And I think that the reason that our founding fathers put the two thirds in the Constitution was to protect those taxpayers that don't get to vote, but still get to pay the taxes.

Davlin: Recently, associate producer Logan Finney sat down with Caribou County Sheriff Adam Maybe, Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphreys, Payette County Sheriff Andy Creech and Ben Wolfinger, the jail inspector for the Idaho Sheriffs Association, to discuss the implications of not fully funding jail facilities and their proposals for finding more funds.

Logan Finney: We'll start with you, Sheriff Creech.

Can you tell me what is the situation like in Payette County?

What does your jail look like today?

Sheriff Andy Creech: We have a 69 bed jail that we manage there and we've recently failed our inspection this last year because overcrowding.

We're expecting that we'll probably fail it again in the next year as well, for the same reason.

About 25 to 30% of my inmates are state inmates that we're waiting for the state to pick up and move.

And that's pretty consistent every day of the year.

We're just trying to manage our facility and starting to look for possible growth because we've outgrown our jail.

It's over 20 years old and it's time to be looking for an expansion.

Sheriff Len Humphries: It poses a problem with our insurance company, it poses a problem with outside agencies that will take opportunities to file lawsuits.

It's an area that none of us want to be in, especially taking care of the inmates that are in house.

We want to make sure that they're all treated properly and have the needs met, that are necessary for their positions where they're at in the jails.

Ben Wolfinger: I think, too, that is no different than in your house.

If you're overcrowded in your house, tensions get a little bit, you know, high and and people snap a little bit and they snap at each other and same thing happens in a jail when you're overcrowded.

I mean, everybody needs a little bit of their own space.

Well, then you get inmate on inmate assaults.

So you may get an inmate on staff assaults.

So, I mean, there's a risk factor, a physical risk factor that goes with that overcrowding issue as well.

So, you know, having enough space for everybody is very important.

And we have to make sure that we we maintain the rights of these people.

We have to understand that that in our county jails, 70 to 80% of those people are pre adjudicated.

So they're innocent until proven guilty.

And we have to preserve those rights for their to be safely held.

And that's very important.

One of the options that comes up is a local option sales tax, which is a funding mechanism where a local jurisdiction could add a little bit to the 6% sales tax that Idaho charges keep those funds locally.

Finney: That was an option for a period in the the roughly the 2000s that Kootenai county and Nez Perce county used.

What what sort of conversations do you hear from lawmakers when the counties pitched this idea to bring back a local option sales tax?

Wolfinger: Well, I was I worked for Kootenai County for almost 38 years and I was there as the jail commander when we did that in the early 2000s.

So we're very familiar with that.

And it worked very well.

And we found that we paid the jail off quicker than we expected.

The sales revenue was actually underreported.

Unfortunately, lawmakers don't want to talk about, you know, another tax.

And we're not asking them to levy a tax.

We're asking them only with this local option sales tax, to give the local community the option to vote for it.

And that's and make let the loca You know, it comes back to local control is the best control.

And that's all we're asking for, is that ability to have the local people decide whether or not they want to pay for it through a sales tax.

And all the people that come to those communities to who buy things in those communities to help pay for that as well.

Finney: Sheriff Maybe in your area, do you think that's something that voters would be interested in?

Sheriff Adam Mabey: I think it's something that they'd want to take a look at and see if that is an option that they'd be willing to go with.

A lot of people are getting more supportive of law enforcement now, and as long as it's very specific focus on what that tax would be used for, I think there'd be a lot more support coming our our way.

Davlin: We have much more with the sheriffs online.

You can find that extended conversation on the Idaho Reports YouTube channel or wherever you listen to podcasts.

During the Thursday Idaho Press Club Legislative Preview, Governor Little and Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke highlighted the Idaho LAUNCH program, which the legislature approved last year.

The program offers $8,000 in grants to graduating Idaho high school seniors for training for certain in-demand careers.

The idea was to create more skilled workers for higher paying jobs, while convincing Idaho students to settle in the state instead of leaving.

Little: Lieutenant Governor and I and Wendy have been all around the state multiple times talking about LAUNCH, and you know, awareness was very, very low when we first started.

But we've all struggled with our go on rate in Idaho and it's been a goal of mine.

And I've constantly said, but we got to talk about those high paying often viewed as career technical jobs.

That's where the delta is to get us from the high thirties into the high fives or sixties.

Lt. Gov.

Scott Bedke: You know, life has happened in a lot of ways to these alternative high school students.

And they were, you know, and I went in with some stereotypes, okay, let's just put it that way.

And they were laid back and they were hey show me.

You know, I'm glad we're out of class, but who's this guy?

Kind of an attitude that I had there.

And so we kind of got the ice broken and we started going through the list of of programs that qualify.

And as soon as they as soon as one kid heard the program that he said, So do you mean to tell me, raised his hand, finally.

And you mean to tell me that I can use $8,000 to go to a diesel mechanic's program?

Over here at the Eastern College of Eastern Idaho.

And I said, Yeah.

And then another one.

How about cosmetology?

Davlin: In the last few months, more than 12,000 Idaho High School seniors have submitted or started applications for LAUNCH grants.

The state had expected just 7,500 applicants.

Despite the enthusiasm, some Republicans are still skeptical and the program still needs funding for the upcoming year.

Sen. Lori Den Hartog: Will it actually work like we said it was going to work?

And at this point it's probably just too early to tell.

And and we don't do a great job at the state, honestly, evaluating programs and trying to decide whether or not we should keep something If we tried it and it didn't work.

We usually continue things into perpetuity and that can be a difficult place to be.

It's harder for us to to cut programs and things once they get started.

Moyle: When you hand somebody something for free, some do a good job with it, right?

They utilize it.

They make the benefit the best of it, and they use it to their benefit.

Some not so much because it was free.

They don't care.

I know that there's a clawback provision in the bill and I hope that there are some changes made to the bill to make sure that those who don't take this opportunity and use it to the best of their ability, that the state has an opportunity to pull those revenues back and give them to somebody else that does and will use those to their benefit.

Davlin: We'll have more on LAUNCH with Majority Leader Blanksma later in the show.

House Speaker Mike Moyle said he plans to pursue more tax cuts this session, while House Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea cautioned against making cuts while some state programs are hurting for funds.

Moyle: You will see tax relief, at least on the House side, and it will include, I believe, two things I think you’ll see us work on the income tax side.

And I think you'll see us work on the property tax side by expanding the moneys that we provide and make available for facilities on public schools.

Necochea: If we just send more revenue out the door in tax cuts that favor, you know, revenue cuts that favor the wealthy and well-connected again, that's not going to help families who want to send their kids to a great school and know that LAUNCH grants will be available for them.

Or for, you know, Idahoans who rely on Medicaid, whether they're kids, seniors or people with disabilities, they need to be able to know that those services are going to be adequately funded and that we'll have a strong, reliable Medicaid program.

That, you know, income tax moves one way at the top rates and and sales tax and sales tax goes up.

is what is what we've seen, you know, it went from 5% to 6% and now we have an income tax rate that's lower than our sales tax rate.

And when we make these permanent changes, it's just very hard for working families to grab back the kinds of policies that benefit them.

So I would hate to see things happen that are very hard to reverse in this building that benefit the people who need it the least.

Moyle: We have a flat tax rate in Idaho, so when you adjust income tax rates down, it affects everybody.

I'd also caution her a little bit that what better way to help Idaho families than to give them back some of the money that we've taken from them forcibly.

Idaho still is on the upper end when it comes to income tax relief.

And we know that there's still concerns about property tax relief.

So what better way to provide property tax relief than to send it back to those parents who have children in school or paying property taxes for school buildings?

Why not help them?

Davlin: Also during the preview, the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee told reporters to expect substantial changes to the legislature's budget setting process this year.

Those changes include shorter public hearings, a cap on spending increases and separating out maintenance budgets from additional requests.

Sen. C. Scott Grow: We are setting spending limits this year ourselves, overall spending limits.

And then we'll work with each of our working groups to encourage them to stay within those limits so that we make sure that we don't have these large increases we've had in the last couple of years with spending.

Now part of that obviously has been all the federal money that's been coming in that we referred to a minute ago.

In fact our money is pretty well run out at this point.

So we're going to be back to normal.

Our revenue projections are going to be more in line with prior years prior to the pandemic.

Davlin: Other topics that came up during the Idaho Press Club legislative preview included libraries, Medicaid and transportation.

Similar themes to previous legislative sessions.

But one recurring topic on Thursday was women's health, including expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage, revisiting exemptions to Idaho's abortion ban, and reinstating the Maternal Mortality Review panel, which Idaho disbanded last year.

That makes it the only state to not have a committee reviewing information on women who die during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth.

In a post Roe v Wade world, preserving access to birth control has also become a concern for some Idahoans, especially after a handful of Republicans have expressed interest in banning some types of contraceptives, including morning after pills and IUDs.

This week, producer Ruth Brown spoke with Kelley Packer, board member for the recently created Idaho Contraceptive Education Network, about the group's goals.

Kelley Packer: There are some that think that contraceptives, certain contraceptives, the morning after pill, to be specific, can terminate pregnancy.

And it does not it does not terminate life.

It keeps life from happening after, you know, any type of sexual intercourse.

But it doesn't terminate the life.

And it's still so very important for women to be able to have their say in what works for them.

Davlin: You can hear more with Kelley Packer on the Idaho Reports YouTube channel.

During the legislative preview, Governor Little was asked whether he supports limiting access to certain types of contraception.

He said no.

Meanwhile, some lawmakers are still concerned about a lack of exemptions in Idaho's abortion ban for health threatening pregnancies, as well as Medicaid coverage for new mothers.

Sen. Melissa Wintrow: I think it's so important that we reinstate that committee.

And because I think, too, in the face of all these abortion bans that we see in our state, we're the only one that doesn't have that committee and its essential to understand and be able to predict and respond to why there is increased mortality.

We've seen doctors actually leaving our state and having a very difficult time in recruiting new physicians.

And I think that has been in direct response to some of the policies of criminalizing physicians for giving medical care according to a parent's supervision and oversight, as well as the strict abortion bans that our state has to deal with.

We've seen headline after headline of Moms in Crisis Pregnancies leaving our state for care.

Moyle: Those discussions are still going on.

It's really hard, though, when you've got people that are entrenched on each side and nobody wants to work together.

There's been more movement, though, to work together this last summer as those discussions have carried on.

So we'll find solutions to them.

Sometimes when you have a difficult issue like that, it takes time to find those solutions to though, and we'll get there.

You're just going to have to give them time.

Davlin: Joining me to discuss those ongoing talks is House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma.

Thank you so much for joining us Majority Leader Blanksma.

You've had proposals over the last year to address a lot of these issues on tweaking the abortion ban, on Medicaid coverage for postpartum women.

Let's start let's start with that Medicaid coverage proposal.

Last year, you had a bill that would have expanded that coverage from about 2 months to 12 months, it didn't get a hearing.

Are we going to see that proposal again this year?

Rep. Megan Blanksma: Well, it didn't get a hearing just because we weren't sure that we can move it.

So we want to make sure that whatever proposal that we've got.

And so that was kind of an informational everybody know that this is out there, that we can do this and this could be a help.

And so this year, we've got a couple of tweaks to it where we're kind of shopping the proposal.

One of the things about Medicaid, and the speaker discussed it a little bit yesterday, is we we want to control the growth.

We don't want this ballooning budget for Medicaid.

And so we need to find offsets for anything.

And so, of course, expanding coverage for pregnant women is going to cost money.

That's how things work.

And so we want to make sure that we can we can expand that in a fiscally responsible way.

So, yes, that there will be some component of that bill that that comes back.

And we'll we'll see what form it takes.

Davlin: So what does that look like when you are expanding coverage but you have costs in mind?

How do you how do you square that?

Blanksma: Well, we're looking at, you know, efficiencies within the program.

There are some different funding sources that we've talked about.

We can get in the weeds on that.

If you're if you really want to.

I mean, there's insurance premiums where we could get some of the money there.

There's also a discussion because we use hospital assessments for some funds.

There's millennium funds.

And how I mean, there's different pots of money.

There's also efficiencies within the Medicaid system.

And one of them we're looking at is dental.

Right.

And so we we increased coverage to cover adult dental.

It's a very low use program, like less than 25% actually use the program, but it amounts to several million dollars.

And so we're kind of looking at that if do we need to continue to offer that coverage when we could be using it for what I would argue, to be a more successful component of Medicaid in protecting pregnant women?

Davlin: And that's certainly something that we'll keep looking in to.

Blanksma: That's right.

So we're still negotiating.

Davlin: Absolutely.

Do you get the impression that with those negotiations that people are more open to that expansion?

I, expansion is a loaded word when we're talking about Medicaid.

Blanksma: It’s a very loaded word, yes.

Davlin: But that specific program with maternal coverage, are people more open?

Blanksma: I think that with the current legal condition in the state of Idaho, we're looking at ways to bolster the family.

Like any way we can bolster the family, that's what we're looking at.

So you're talking about pregnant women and coverage under Medicaid.

But that's not the only thing we're looking at.

Right.

So we're looking at a package we will probably roll out next week of different concepts to really support Idaho families, because that's what we need to do.

That's what we're here to do.

And so I know they're we're talking about how can we improve the foster care system.

Obviously, we clearly have a problem there.

We're talking about what we can do as far as adoption to make it easier for folks and make this a friendly environment for that.

We're looking at, I know discussions about the maternal mortality review panel have come up.

That one is frustrating to me because the data is still being collected.

It's not going into a void.

We're just looking at a different system to review that data.

So that's going to be on the table.

So we're looking at a multifaceted attack to try to bolster Idaho families.

Davlin: With the Maternal Mortality Review panel, so, the way it's set up right now is the state does collect that data.

The review panel that legislation allowed the panel to analyze it and look at it.

What different form might it take with this new proposal?

Blanksma: What, and this is, again, all of this is still within negotiation, so don't take it as if it's law at this point in time.

Davlin: Of course.

Blanksma: But the data is being collected.

It just has to be reviewed.

And I think that one thing as a Republican, I guess we want to make sure that things are streamlined and we're not having additional bureaucracies.

And that was one of the reasons that we did sunset that panel, was because it was just it was one more bureaucracy.

I think we found a landing spot for review of the data because in the end, what we want is a review of the data, not another panel.

And I think that that's getting lost in some of the loaded language that comes from the other side.

And talking about devastation because you haven't you don't have this panel anymore.

The data is still being collected.

It's how we process the data.

And that should be the target, not just creating more panels.

We want to process the data.

Davlin: Understanding that this isn't law yet of course, in your talks so far, when you take away that layer of bureaucracy and add it to, you know, an existing committee or something like that.

Is your caucus more receptive to that idea?

Blanksma: The ones that I have spoken to, yes.

Now, keep in mind, we haven't even gaveled in for the new year, so there's folks are just starting to filter into town.

And so we're going to get those proposals vetted and start moving on them.

But, yes, there's been there's been a good reception to just including it as a data review with another group.

Davlin: How about tweaking the existing exemptions, the narrow exemptions to Idaho's abortion ban it’s the source of litigation, it's been the source of concern for people on both side of the aisle because the existing ban, as you know, only covers death, potential life threatening complications and not necessarily health threatening complications.

Has your caucus been discussing exemption exemptions in that way?

Blanksma: The exemptions, no.

That hasn't been part of the discussion that I have been a part of.

And I can only speak for myself.

And what I can tell you, though, is that instead of focusing on that, what we're trying to focus on is recruitment and retention of physicians and medical care providers.

Because, again, what what is the end goal?

What is what is the what is the problem that we're trying to solve?

And I think that is where that's the problem we're trying to solve.

We want physicians to come to the state of Idaho.

We want physicians to feel comfortable practicing here and how do we address that issue?

And so there's been I've been in multiple meetings.

We've talked to local hospitals, we've talked to some of the pro-life groups, and everyone is focusing on that particular issue.

Davlin: There's that issue, and then there's also the issue of women who have high risk pregnancies, who are concerned about whether or not they would be able to get care if something goes wrong and isn't necessarily life threatening at this point, but they may need a hysterectomy or they may need, you know, massive they may experience massive blood loss before they're at death's door.

What would you say to those women who are worried about their high risk pregnancies?

Blanksma: I think that if we're going to trust our physicians.

Right, that that's what we do.

That's, you choose your doctor because you trust your doctor, Right.

And I think that people are forgetting that.

So you're putting trust in a doc.

So what I want to make sure is that the doc feels good about providing standards of care.

And I think the current statute allows for that.

It's just making sure that docs don't feel threatened.

Because they know what the standard of care is.

And when you go to your doctor, you expect them to provide a standard of care.

It's just making sure that they don't they aren't afraid of the boogeyman.

And I think that's the problem that we've got right now is that we need to have people really understand what the statute says.

Davlin: We only have about 2 minutes left.

I did want to ask you about LAUNCH.

You sponsored LAUNCH in the House last year, and we heard on Thursday about how the governor and lieutenant governor view it as a big success.

It narrowly passed the House.

Are we going to see some changes or growth in that program this year or proposals to do so?

Blanksma: I think that we're looking at the rollout to see what happens.

I mean, there have been concerns on multiple levels on how it's going to get rolled out.

I know we've had discussions over the summertime to make sure that the program is very strictly applied to what is in statute and that we don't go beyond statute.

I think, so, I think we're looking at the roll out and we'll see what happens.

I am hopeful that it's successful.

I think that this is the one thing that addresses graduating kids that we've never talked about.

We've never talked about these kids that don't want to go to four year schools.

And the state has provided money for four year schools.

It funds four year schools.

It focuses on this imaginary go on rate that just includes four year degrees.

And this is the first time that we've given an opportunity to these kids to do training other than a four year institution.

And that's what has me excited, is that these kids that get left behind, this is an opportunity.

So we'll be watching to make sure that it's successful.

Davlin: You heard concerns that this is a government handout from your own speaker.

Blanksma: Right.

Davlin: What would you say to your fellow caucus members who have those concerns?

Blanksma: Well, I think that they don't understand.

I think once they see what the program can really do for kids, a lot of the the frustration will go away.

Because this isn't about, you know, handouts.

This is about successful people and really what we want to do for the state of Idaho is provide as much opportunity for our residents as we can.

And it's not a handout.

What we've got in LAUNCH is not a handout because, again, there's a goal that if you don't achieve the goal, it's not free money.

So I think that we just need to see what that rollout looks like.

And I, I, I've been in high schools where we've talked about LAUNCH.

Lieutenant governor's been with me on some visits.

And those kids get excited.

The ones that want to be welders, that want a CDL.

Davlin: We’ll have to leave it there.

Hey, thank you so much.

And thank you for watching.

We'll see you for the state of the state on Monday, 1:00 Mountain Time, Live on Idaho Public Television.

Presentation of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television is made possible through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho.

By the Friends of Idaho Public Television and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.