We expect our state government to handle money responsibly. That means when a fund is projected to run dry within a year or two, lawmakers don't just shrug and keep the checks going out. But that's exactly what happened on July 17th, when the Governor Housing Committee voted to hold Governor Brad Little's $54,600 annual housing stipend exactly where it is — even knowing the fund backing it won't last. And they almost couldn't even hold the vote because two of the four committee members didn't bother to show up.
I'm not saying the governor shouldn't have a place to live. But Idaho families are watching our state budget get squeezed, and we have a committee that nearly lacked a quorum rubber-stamping an executive perk that its own funding source can't sustain. That's not responsible governing — that's kicking the problem down the road for someone else to deal with. When that fund runs out, it becomes our problem as taxpayers. Either we scramble to refill it, or we have a budget fight nobody planned for, all because the committee didn't want to make a hard call.
I'm asking you to take this up before it becomes a crisis. That means pushing the committee — or bringing it to the full legislature — to either establish a sustainable funding source for this stipend or freeze it until one exists. Constituents shouldn't find out mid-budget-year that we owe money nobody saved for.
Please act now to fix the governor's housing fund before Idaho taxpayers are left covering a bill no one planned for.
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