BOISE, Idaho — Republican senators largely sided with democrats in voting down Senate Bill 1375 (SB-1375) on Thursday.
SB-1375 serves as the appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) and the State Independent Living Council (SLIC).
In total, the bill would allot nearly $5.7 billion towards programs and offices under the auspices of DHW and SLIC, including everything from state psychiatric programs to Medicaid administration.
During his introduction of the bill, Sen. Kevin Cook (R - District 32) stated that the 3% budget cut recommended by Gov. Brad Little, as well as the 2% cut recommended by the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, were both baked into the bill and that no further recissions would be added.
In total, the appropriations bill would cut the salaries of approximately 90 full-time employees. Those positions would either be eliminated or restructured within DHW and SLIC.
"This is the granddaddy of all of your appropriation bills that you'll hear this year," said Sen. Cook as he introduced the bill for debate.
Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld (R - District 24) began the debate by announcing her intention to vote no on SB-1375, calling the bill unsustainable.
She was followed by Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D - District 19), who emphasized that the proposed rate reduction to Medicaid coverage would negatively affect the state by making it harder to attract the best and brightest medical professionals to Idaho. She went on to explain that many assisted living facilities have been forced to turn away prospective patients due to the reductions in Medicaid coverage rates.
"Physicians all over the state have been emailing us. I mean, I've got letters 5 inches high here, probably 500 letters about the impacts of these rate reductions on services, but physicians are saying, 'I'm not gonna be able to afford to keep as many of these patients, so I might have to start turning more Medicaid patients away,' which means if they're sick, they're driving them to the emergency room, which is a much higher cost of care." - Sen. Melissa Wintrow
"You might save 1 penny today, but we're going to pay $1 later for every penny we save," said Sen. Wintrow.
Wintrow cited the impacts of the rate reductions, noting that recent cuts led to the elimination of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams. She said that closure resulted in the deaths of four former clients since December.
Wintrow went on to explain that the cuts would negatively affect youth safety and permanence (adoption), mental health services, and other programs.
Sen. Jim Guthrie (R - District 28) then delivered a sometimes searing speech, chastising his fellow lawmakers for tax cuts that he claimed are one of the main causes of the current budget deficit.
"Today's financial pain, in my opinion, is in large part self-inflicted," said Sen. Guthrie during debate. "So in a strong economy last year, we spent, and we gave over $450 million of tax relief along with other spending decisions, all before setting a revenue number. I will note that for the record, I voted against over $300 million worth of tax cuts last year."
Guthrie went on to explain that the impacts of the proposed cuts "will have impacts to real citizens." He added, "We are tightening the belts of Idaho citizens, and the feedback from my constituents is that they are not happy about it."
"The calls I get about the Medicaid cuts have been nonstop since summertime," said Guthrie. "As the cost shifts, we'll shift that cost to higher treatment ERs, mental health services, law enforcement, eventually insurance rates going up for all of us."
In his closing remarks, Sen. Guthrie noted the bipartisan nature of the appropriations bill at hand: "You know this issue gets painted as a conservative liberal issue. It's really a human issue."
Ultimately, the SB-1375 failed to pass the Idaho Senate. The bill received 10 yes votes and 25 nays.
SB-1375 will now be held in the office of the Senate Secretary.
