BOISE, ID – A divided Idaho Senate voted 18-17 on Monday to pass 4% budget cuts for most state agencies and departments for the current fiscal year 2026.

Senate Bill 1331, which is also referred to as the fiscal year 2026 Idaho budget rescission act, reduces overall state funding by $192.7 million – including $131.3 million for the general fund portion of the state budget. It also reduces 110 full time positions across state government.

Sen. Scott Grow, a Republican from Eagle who serves as the co-chair of the Idaho Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, said the cuts are necessary in order to meet the Idaho Constitution’s requirement to pass a balanced state budget every year.

Grow said there is ongoing revenue uncertainty, as well as additional budget pressure created by conforming retroactively to the federal tax cuts championed by President Donald Trump in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“In summary, this bill takes difficult but necessary steps to balance this budget for this fiscal year,” Grow said.

The cuts included in the bill are projected to leave the state with an ending balance of about $45 million at the end of fiscal year 2026 on June 30, Grow said.

The fiscal year 2026 cuts are the first of two installments of state budget cuts being debated this legislative session. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, has also passed 5% that are being built into the fiscal year 2027 maintenance of operations votes.

Idaho Senate sharply divided over process leading to budget cuts

The fiscal year 2026 state budget holdbacks passed the Idaho Senate by the narrowest of margins.

All six Democrats in the Senate opposed the cuts, while the Republican leadership team was split over the budget cuts. Senate President Pro Tem Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, and Assistant Majority Leader Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, both opposed the cuts. However, Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, and Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene, supported the cuts.

Several agency directors and state officials have warned that the Idaho Legislature’s additional budget cuts for fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027 would cut essential services and core programs too deeply.

The Idaho Legislature also applied the full budget cuts to the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, even though Gov. Brad Little exempted the AG’s office from the initial 3% cuts because the attorney general is a separate elected constitutional officer that is not part of the governor’s office.

Several Idaho senators from both parties argued Monday that the across-the-board budget cuts for fiscal year 2026 are not transparent and not a responsible way to balance the state budget.

Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, said the additional across-the-board cut from the Idaho Legislature was arbitrary and lazy. Instead of cutting all agencies by the same amount, Bernt challenged legislators to instead take a detailed look at all individual programs to see where cuts are most appropriate.

“I don’t want it to seem like I’m against cutting when we need to cut,” Bernt said. “However, what I’m against is, when we do cut, I believe that we need to do it in a responsible manner. I believe that we need to take a scalpel to these budgets, not necessarily a certain number across the board.”

Because all of the cuts for all state agencies, departments and programs are rolled together in a giant 50-page bill, Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, said it is impossible to actually see what is being cut for each program.

“Again, to be very clear, I know we need to cut; we need to balance our budget,” Cook said. “But shoving these cuts into a single 50-page bill isn’t smart, and it’s not transparent.”

“If you took that bill home and somebody at your town hall says, ‘Why did you cut that?” and you opened that bill and tried to find it, you’re not going to find it,” Cook added. “You’re going to be clueless. Bills should be transparent. You should be able to look at them and read them and say, ‘Oh, this is where it was, yeah, right there. That’s the cut; that’s how much it was cut.’”

What happens next in Idaho’s budget setting process?[

The fiscal year 2026 budget cuts head next to the Idaho House of Representatives for a vote.

Grow told members of the Idaho Senate that the fiscal year 2026 cuts were only the beginning of the budget process. JFAC has also passed 10 new fiscal year 2027 maintenance of operations budgets that include 5% across-the-board state budget cuts for most agencies and departments. Those 10 maintenance of operations budgets still need to go before the full Idaho Senate and Idaho House of Representatives for votes.

Additionally, JFAC is also considering budget enhancements that would add back in some of the funding that is being cut for fiscal year 2027.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.