(UPDATED, 11:54 a.m., to correct impacts on Idaho college students.)
President Trump’s budget proposal would place an undue burden on Idaho’s budget, as the state continues to dig out from the effects of the Great Recession.
That’s what the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy said Tuesday, in a first-day analysis of Trump’s 2017-18 budget.
“Idaho simply cannot afford to absorb the costs we would incur if a version of this budget is approved by Congress,” center director Lauren Necochea said. “If the Trump budget were enacted, many of Idaho’s public efforts from providing access to health care to continuing the restoration of education funding would be jeopardized.”
Idaho public schools would take a $16.1 million hit if the Trump budget passes, the center estimated. Idaho received $264 million in federal education dollars in 2016-17.
The Trump budget would cut the U.S. Department of Education budget by $9 billion, a 13 percent decrease. The budget would zero out federal teacher training grants and funding for before- and after-school programs.
The impacts go beyond these two programs, the center said Tuesday. Idaho would lose funding for special education and Title I programs for high-poverty schools. Idaho college students would stand to lose $1.2 million in federal work-study funds, a 50 percent reduction.
The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that analyzes state budget issues.
More reading from Tuesday: Details about the Trump education budget, and reactions. State superintendent Sherri Ybarra’s about-face.
