State budget writers invoke recession concerns amid cuts, sparking disagreements

A Republican lawmaker is criticizing Idaho’s top budget writers after they claimed on television that 26 states are in a recession — a figure they could not immediately source as legislators debate spending cuts and whether to tap the state’s rainy day fund.

The co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee made their stance clear in a roundtable discussion last week on Idaho Reports, but one data point they shared didn’t sit well with a representative from Shelley.