(Boise, ID) Idaho’s 2025 legislative session begins today in Boise, setting the stage for weeks worth of debates about state budget priorities, immigration policies and public funding for private education proposals.
In keeping with tradition, Idaho Gov. Brad Little will kick off the first day of the annual legislative session by delivering the State of the State address at 1 p.m. Mountain time in the House Chamber.
The State of the State address is like Idaho’s version of the State of the Union address. Governors use the speech to build support for their budget and policy proposals, which they must work with the Idaho Legislature in order to enact.
“We always have a theme, and this one is going to be talking about keeping promises,” Little said Friday during the Idaho Press Club’s legislative preview event at the Idaho State Capitol.
As usual, Little didn’t reveal specific details he plans to announce in Monday’s speech in advance. Instead, during Friday’s preview event with the press corps, he spoke about themes and priorities, as well as his eagerness to work with President-elect Donald Trump.
“My top priority always is and always will be education,” Little said.
Little and legislative leaders suggested that spending and budget requests will be scrutinized and reigned in.
Little said almost all of the federal stimulus and COVID-19 money for Idaho has been spent or obligated and won’t continue to flow.
“We’re in good shape here in Idaho,” Little said. “We had such a great run. But, you know, the federal money is all gone. Or all but gone. And the money that was stuffed into the economy has kind of run through the system, but we’re still in really good shape.”
Idaho House Speaker aims to reduce taxes during 2025 legislative session
House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, was even more direct. Moyle said reducing taxes continues to be his top priority and he said legislators will work on the income tax, sales tax and property taxes during the upcoming legislative session.
Moyle said he also favors additional budget changes, and believes the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee should be empowered to take a zero-based budgeting approach. Instead of starting with the previous year’s budget at the basis and adding new spending requests from there, Moyle wants budget writers to be able to remove some existing or ongoing items from state budgets, or even start at zero and require state agencies to justify each expense.
“I would like to go back through some of those budgets and take them a few at a time and go from bottom to top,” Moyle said. “There’s stuff in there I think that could come out of there. And the more that we can be responsible with the taxpayers’ money, the better off we are. These budgets the last few years, especially with the influx of the COVID money, got out of control. And it’s time to bring them back where they need to be in my opinion.”
Little will also release his fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations on Monday. One of the only requirements for the Idaho Legislature each year is to pass a balanced budget where expenses don’t exceed revenues.
Legislative leaders continue to push for options to use taxpayer dollars for private education
Moyle and Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, said they will continue to push for a bill that would allow public funds to support private and religious education.
Idaho Education News has reported that multiple bills are likely to come forward this year. Although the Idaho Legislature has not been able to pass a major private school choice bill over the last several legislative sessions, Idaho Education News reported that election defeats in 2024 may pave the way for a bill to pass this year.
On Friday, Den Hartog spoke in favor of a proposal to create a refundable tax credit, which would allow families to collect a refund for educational expenses, including for tuition at a private school or private religious school.
“One of the ways that I think about (accountability) is, you know, is the parent satisfied with the education that their child is receiving?” Den Hartog said. “You can have a school that is fantastic academically and meets all of the targets and all of the marks, and your kid is getting bullied, and you need a different option.”
Den Hartog said the tax credit is similar to an unsuccessful tax credit bill from 2024, and would not include requirements for state oversight of academic curriculum or standardized testing at private schools.
Moyle said he likes the proposal because the “money follows the student,” not the education system.
But Democrats vigorously opposed those proposals. Democrats said the tax credit won’t even provide enough money for low-income families to pay for private school tuition and will instead be given to families who already have children enrolled in private schools. Democrats also worried providing funding to pay for private school tax refunds would come at the expense of other programs in the state budget, like public schools or health care.
“When we talk about vouchers – tax credits – whatever we want to call them, the same outcome is there,” Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said. “It’s competing for resources in the state budget… This Legislature continues to choose not to fund and invest in things. We see it in public defense, we see it in our state employees, we see it in health care, we see it in housing, we see it in child care. And these are vital services that can help Idahoans.”
Little, Republican legislators support Trump immigration and deportation policies
In December, Little signed a public statement saying he is “fully committed” to supporting President-elect Trump’s immigration and deportation policies.
When reporters asked Little on Friday how he would balance his commitment to Trump’s deportation program while supporting agriculture and dairy industries that rely on undocumented workers, Little said one solution is to qualify dairies for the H-2A program. The H-2A program allows workers to enter the United States legally to perform agricultural work, but it is temporary or seasonal in nature.
“The dairy issue would be solved real easy by just having them qualify for the H-2A program where there are a lot of operators in Idaho that have got H-2A operators, you know, a legal program, sitting right next to them,” Little said.
According to the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, 90% on-dairy jobs are filled by foreign-born labor. The Idaho dairy industry generates about $10.7 billion in total sales and created about 33,000 jobs, according to the association.
Moyle also expressed support for Trump’s immigration and deportation policies.
“There is a lot of support to do something to help the dairies, but I’m afraid if the dairies can’t come to the table and help find a solution, they are going to get run over,” Moyle said.
Moyle said the Idaho House is likely to put forward several immigration-related bills this year, including one related to the online e-verify system that allows employers to verify the eligibility of employees to work in the United States.
Moyle also expressed support for other proposals.
“I think that you’ll see one similar to one that came out of the House last year, where if an illegal alien gets caught breaking the law, they go to jail, they go home,” Moyle said.
Moyle also discussed a potential bill allowing law enforcement or the state to impound vehicles driven by undocumented immigrants who do not have insurance.
While Little didn’t discuss his own priorities in great detail, Little did predict that a bill the Idaho Family Policy Center promises to introduce this year to require the Bible to be read in all Idaho public school classrooms could face scrutiny or even challenges under the Idaho Constitution.
“To mandate it I think is going to be a lift given the language in our Constitution,” Little told reporters.
Legislative sessions generally last for about 80 to 90 days, although there is no requirement to adjourn by a certain date.
This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.