Critchfield Rejects Budget Committee's Request to Plan for Cuts

Additional new budget cuts would force state to furlough Idaho prison guards, state police

Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee co-chairmen Scott Grow, R-Eagle, and Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, preside over the committee's first meeting of the legislative session on Jan. 13, 2026, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)The state of Idaho would be forced to furlough all commissioned Idaho State Police troopers and more than 1,200 prison staff if the Idaho Legislature enacts additional new bud…

Critchfield rejects budget committee's request to plan for cuts

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on January 29, 2026 By: Ryan Suppe BOISE, Idaho — One day after legislative budget-writers asked state superintendent Debbie Critchfield to plan for cuts to public schools, the first-term Republican delivered her response: No.  “I will not be recommending further cuts to the public schools budget,” Critchfield wrote in a Thursday letter to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee’s co-chairs. “The public sc…

Lawmakers asked Idaho superintendent for budget cut plans. She refused

Earlier this week, Idaho Superintendent Debbie Critchfield received an unexpected letter on behalf of the Legislature’s budget-setting committee asking her to look for ways to cut the budget for public schools.In her response, sent Thursday, Critchfield made clear she wouldn’t do it.“I will not be recommending further cuts to the public schools budget for FY 2026 or FY 2027,” she wrote in the letter provided to the Statesman. “The public schools…

Idaho Public Schools, Medicaid Program now Told to Plan for new State Budget Cuts

BOISE, ID – After they were originally protected from new state budget cuts, leaders of Idaho’s public school system and Medicaid program are being asked by state legislators to submit plans to cut their budgets by up to 2%, a new state budget memo shows. The Idaho Legislature’s new memo indicates a 2% budget cut would represent a $55 million funding reduction for the K-12 public school system, while a 2% cut would represent a $19.9 million cut…