HAYDEN, Idaho — Gov. Brad Little visited Hayden on Monday to hit some of the highlights from the first 100 days of the legislative session. He says he achieved about 99% of what he wanted to get done with his 'Idaho First' initiative, a broad swath of legislation and investments.
He says the first big achievement so far this year was the expansion of his Launch program, which provides grants to students looking to pursue career-technical education. That $80 million dollar funding for in-demand careers, plus $330 million for public education, represents a huge increase in public education funding that also increased starting teacher pay to more than $47,000.
“When I first got this job we were in the bottom 10% for starting teacher pay. With what the legislature adopted this year, my proposal, we’ll be close to the top ten," the governor said.
Infrastructure was another piece of the governor's 2023 plan, including continued work on a stretch of I90 in North Idaho.
“From the Washington State line to Coeur d’Alene, that’s one of our big projects that we had the bond for," he said. "To expand that road so the congestion at rush hour isn’t what it is.”
The governor says work will continue for the next couple years to fix the last two-thirds of Idaho's deficient bridges.
The governor also touted legislation moves to ease property tax burdens on Idahoans, which he says may also help with more local education funding.
He said he's worked to reduce the taxes for things like water and sewer so local voters may feel more inclined to support property taxes for local school levies and bonds, like two that failed in the Coeur d'Alene School District earlier this year.
Though, not every move in Boise has been celebrated.
In March, Bonner General announced it would close its obstetrics services, citing the state's strict abortion laws.
Governor Little did not directly address whether laws he's signed, making Idaho the state with the strictest abortion restrictions, have driven doctors out of state.
He said Bonner General is in a "unique" position, as a rural hospital providing costly delivery services. He also said Idaho has committed to training and keeping nurses and other healthcare staff in the state.
“In my tenure we’ve increased substantially the number of positions we have to get doctors to come here and practice in Idaho," he said.
KREM 2 News asked the governor about those abortion laws, specifically the so-called "abortion trafficking" law which prohibits adults from taking minors across state lines to get an abortion without parental consent; Washington Governor Jay Inslee urged Little not to sign it.
When asked whether there were concerns of how it could impact interstate relations, Little said he hadn't yet had a chance to respond to Inslee.
“We’ll have a response shortly," Little said. "I don’t believe he understood everything about it so we’ll be talking about it later this week."
Little said he'll respond to Inslee's letter with "correspondence."
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