Idaho
Idaho Legislature’s budget committee delays acting on revenue projection – again – East Idaho News
BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — The Idaho Legislature’s powerful budget committee did not vote on adopting revenue projections for the state budget on Friday as originally planned.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC for short, was originally scheduled to take up a report from the Idaho Legislature’s Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee on Friday.
On Thursday, the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee voted to recommend a revenue projection of $5.8 billion for next year, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. Notably, that revenue target is about $137 million more than the revenue projection Gov. Brad Little issued Monday in conjunction with his State of the State address.
But rather than take action on the revenue committee’s recommendation on Friday, without any public explanation, JFAC leaders started Friday’s meeting about 20 minutes late, pulled back their agenda for the day and removed the agenda item for the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee’s report.
Why is setting a revenue projection important for state budgeting?
Setting a revenue projection is an important and closely watched step in setting the overall state budget because the Idaho Constitution requires the state to pass a balanced budget where expenses do not exceed revenue. In that regard, the revenue projection serves as the upper limit for what can be spent each year in the state budget.
The revenue projection is taking on increased importance this year because Idaho has experienced revenue shortfalls, and both the fiscal year 2026 state budget and fiscal year 2027 budget are projected to run a deficit.
Little and legislators have vowed to avoid a budget shortfall by cutting spending during the 2026 legislative session.
After Friday’s meeting adjourned, Sen. Scott Grow and Rep. Josh Tanner, both R-Eagle, said they wanted to give JFAC members more time to study the revenue recommendation and plan to consider the revenue projection on Monday now.
Last year, some legislators from both political parties criticized JFAC for delaying action on a revenue projection until March 5 – 59 days into the annual legislative session. Last year, legislators waited to set the revenue projection until after they had passed major budgets and tax cuts that reduced revenue.
“This is the wrong way to do our budgets,” Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said last year.
“I believe this revenue projection should have been set at the beginning of the session, and then we work towards that number in everything that we do and the spending and in the tax reductions or the tax cuts,” Ward-Engelking added.
Last week, just before the 2026 legislative session started, Senate President Pro Tem Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, told reporters that Republican leaders were hoping to set the revenue target to base the budget around earlier in the legislative session this year.
“We’ve decided, as majority leadership, to try to do a better job this session (by) really hitting the revenue projection early and to work better with the governor’s office to try to get to that revenue number quickly,” Anthon said Jan. 8. “We’ll see how that goes, but that is the goal.”
JFAC is scheduled to reconvene at 8 a.m. Monday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.
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Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A simmering dispute between Idaho’s top elections official and the U.S. Department of Justice escalated this month after federal officials warned Secretary of State Phil McGrane about possible prosecution tied to non-citizens voting in Idaho.
The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month threatening McGrane with prosecution. The warning came amid a broader conflict between the Trump administration and McGrane, whom the administration has sued over his refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls to the federal government.
Idaho’s chief of civil litigation, James Craig, responded on July 10. In a letter first reported by the Idaho Statesman, Craig pushed back on the federal warning, writing, “Insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken,” and asking the department to “stop threatening your friends in Idaho.”
Craig also requested that the lawsuit against McGrane be dismissed and criticized the Justice Department for sending its letter directly to McGrane rather than to the Idaho attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office said the state has already referred 15 cases of possible non-citizen election violations to the Justice Department but is not aware of any of them being prosecuted. Craig’s letter ends by asking the department to do so.
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