Budget and immigration; local lawmakers answer constituent questions about legislative season
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IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho legislature is in full swing, but local legislators still took time to answer constituent questions during a townhall meeting on Saturday night.
Around 100 local constituents and other local leaders filled a large meeting room at the College of Eastern Idaho, where legislators from Districts 32, 33 and 35 sat down to discuss the most pressing issue of the state’s budget and the cuts planned to save money.
Budget
One of the biggest topics of conversation among legislators was the state’s budget and the budget cuts to statewide programs.
Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, spoke about the cuts, saying he believes the state does need to make them, but that state leadership has approached them the wrong way.
According to the Idaho Capital Sun, the cuts the state is facing at the moment are due to a revenue shortfall, leading Idaho Gov. Brad Little to order a 3% cut to all state agencies last fall.
RELATED | Idaho Legislature’s budget committee chairmen defend new cuts to state services
Cook said it was earlier in the 2026 legislative session that the co-chairs of the state’s Joint Financial Appropriations Committee issued a letter to all agencies, calling for an additional 1% to 2% cut for this year and 2027.
“You would never do that in your personal life. You would never do that in your business,” Cook said.
He said that a bill is coming before the Senate that will mandate a 1% cut to state agencies, which he believes will hurt the state and its constituents if it passes.
Rep. Marco Erickson, R-Idaho Falls, focused on how cuts made to the state’s Medicaid programs and how it has resulted in the death of three Idahoans.
“They did this in November, which is when they made a few big cuts in the behavioral health space. Three people have died already,” Erickson said. “I remember telling the governor that was going to happen. I said, I’ve worked in this field a long time. I saw these people. I know what happens with their medications, but they’re not having support.”
Other perspectives on the budget issues came from Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, who blamed tax cuts made in previous years for the current deficit.
“What we have happening now is a consequence of poor leadership last year from those in leadership in the House,” Mickelsen said.
Her main concern is that the cuts being made are shortsighted, as they will cause a tax increase for constituents who will have to pay more to sustain the lost programs.
“That’s why we have to be responsible in this space,” Mickelsen said.
Rep. Michael Leman Veile, R-Soda Springs, who is serving his first term in the legislature and was appointed to fulfill the seat left by Kevin Andrus, said that his hope is that these cuts can drive efficiencies in the programs. But he has concerns about costs being transferred to counties or cities.
One item proposed for cut was eventually retained after legislators from District 35 collaborated to save it was the Bear Lake Regional Commission.
Rep. Josh Wheeler, R-Ammon, said this commission would have been defunded by the budget cuts.
He said that this commission, while folks in Idaho Falls may not really care or even know about it, manages 50% of Bear Lake.
“We would have literally been giving up our water rights and our voice in that local community, if we had made that decision until the local representatives
had their voices heard,” Wheeler said.
Immigration
Part of the townhall revolved around a question involving the use of E-Verify for state and local government and contractors.
RELATED | Idaho bill would require state, local government and public contractors to use E-Verify
According to the Idaho Capital Sun, the legislation was proposed by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, to require the use of E-Verify, a federal program that verifies individuals’ authorization to work in the U.S.
Wheeler said there are two versions of this bill that the House Business Committee is looking at this session, one from Harris and another from Rep. Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston, that’s House Bill 700.
He said that the issue with the HB 700 is that it’s overly broad, while Senate Bill 1247, which passed the Idaho Senate, would be a trial run on goverment entities, rather than affect everyone.
“One of the biggest concerns you hear when you talk about E-Verify is that it is not a particularly dependable system,” Wheeler said. “It’s important that we have this debate about, okay, what challenges does that open us up to.”
Wheeler said that this hopefully leads to a path that complies with President Donald Trump’s push for immigration reform.
Mickelsen also supported this stance that there needs to be immigration reform, but that there has to be appropriate conversations to solve the issue.
Earlier last year, InvestigateWest reported that Mickelsen was at the heart of a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on her business, Mickelsen Farms.
RELATED | Right-wing Idaho activist targets Idaho Falls legislator with calls for ICE raids
“Anytime we try to have thoughtful conversations about this particular issue, then people get harassed online, get threatened, get ICE called on their businesses, and things like that. The reality is, if we have a workforce issue, we need to secure our borders, absolutely, which President Trump has done a great job of,” Mickelsen said.
She said that employers in Idaho have to stop being vilified, as there is only a certain amount of information that can be obtained when hiring an employee on an Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.
“We are not allowed to go ask additional questions; our business would be turned into the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor,” Mickelsen said. “When we vilify employers because they’re following the law the way that it’s given to them, we have to be very careful.”