FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2023
Boise, ID —
In response to the Governor’s State of the State yesterday, IDGOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon issued the following statement:
I extend, again, heartfelt congratulations to Governor Little for winning re-election. After the upheaval of the last several years, the people of Idaho were keen to hear Governor Little’s vision for his second term. Many are now disappointed in what was offered in the State of the State address.
While the Governor is right to emphasize education as a pathway to economic prosperity, his embrace of teacher’s union policy objectives — including a vast increase in spending without increased accountability metrics — is deeply disappointing. Idaho is not Colorado. And yet, the Governor’s vision for the next four years sounded no different than the vision offered by Colorado’s incumbent progressive Democrat governor. These policies do not benefit students. Much like the failed remote schooling policies pursued during the COVID-19 pandemic, the policies that Governor Little is advocating exist to benefit unions, not to educate students. Unsurprisingly, then, the State Legislature’s leading Democrats have all publicly acclaimed the Governor’s address and offered their full support for his agenda.
Some might dismiss these concerns as an unnecessary rebuke. But our concern is not about being seen to rebuke Idaho’s Republican Governor but rather to stand with the people of Idaho, who have made it clear that they want policies consistent with conservative principle. It’s worth noting that, all across the Union, Republican governors are boldly reshaping education: expanding parental authority over spending and curricula; enhancing teacher training; modernizing facilities; and reining in abuses among regents, superintendents, school boards, and unions. If Republican governors can push bold reforms in Florida or Virginia or Missouri, the same can be done in Idaho, as well.
Idaho Republican primary voters sent a clear message with unprecedented turnover in both houses of the legislature this cycle. And our delegates at the Idaho Republican Party convention made education reform, including education savings accounts, a priority in the Republican Party platform. We encourage the Governor to work less with Randi Weingarten and more with the Idaho State Legislature to advance conservative policies that will benefit all of Idaho’s children.
Dorothy Moon
Chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party
