TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Gov. Brad Little stopped by the College of Southern Idaho Thursday to discuss the 2021 legislative session.
Despite it being the longest session in the state's history, Little said he was pleased to have been able to have signed a historic tax relief bill into law.
This bill would provide Idahoans $220 million in immediate one-time income tax rebates and $163 million in ongoing income tax relief. Little was also excited to have been able to hit multiple goals of his "Build Idaho's Future" strategic plan.
Although the dominant topic of conversation was the legislative session, the other item on the agenda addressed Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin's announcement she will be running for governor.
Related: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin announces run for Governor
“We always, almost always have contested races, particularly for governor," said Little. "We’ve got a lot of Republicans in Idaho and there’s quite a divergence out there. So that’s to be expected.”
In her announcement, McGeachin was critical of the Governor's response to COVID-19. Although Little did say he would do some things differently, overall, he feels he made the right decision for all Idahoans.
“With the information, we had at the time, a year ago. We very delicately said we have to keep people safe but we’ve got to get the economy open," said Little. "We opened up faster than almost any other state”
When asked if he would run again, Little did not give any clear indication of what his decision is at this time. Little said right now he is focused on the tasks at hand.
Related: Legislative Session in Recess: How it got here
"With all of these things that we just talked about, they’re in front of my mind for me," he said. "And that’s what I’m going to continue to work on.”
Little said he also wants to focus on what is important to guarantee a bright future for Idaho.
"Now we can go back to what we were working on before," said Little. "Economic prosperity, education, behavioral health.”
