Limited Government | Idaho

Idaho Welfare Report Highlights Government Waste

By AAF | Aug 16, 2024

Last week, Idaho Freedom Foundation put out an article highlighting a major problem plaguing the welfare ‘safety net’ of Idaho, and likely many other states. Able-bodied people are content to cash in welfare programs instead of working.

The article highlights figures in the ‘June 2024 Self-Reliance Program Report’ from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare painted a grim situation for taxpayers. In the report, fewer than half of the able-bodied people participated in work or job training. “Short-term” Medicaid enrollments, including children, pregnant women, and able-bodied adults, overwhelmed that of elderly enrollees.

The report even pointed out the failings of checks on the system requiring people to have work and training requirements for many of the programs. Yet recipients of the programs remained on the books despite missing these requirements not for weeks or months, but even years.

This article highlights a growing concern in numerous states, many of which refuse to self-report the issues in their systems. These systems are bleeding taxpayers while lawmakers push for tax and budget increases.

In response to the growing welfare problem, the liberty movement in Idaho fought to pass a bill prohibiting government entities from establishing guaranteed income programs for people who are not working or undergoing some form of training.

This is just a tiny step in a more significant effort to rein in wasteful spending.

Moving forward, there is talk that the Idaho Legislature may seek to prohibit illegal immigrants from ending up in the state’s welfare system.

Please check out the article at Idaho Freedom Foundation for more information, and visit their website at IdahoFreedom.org.

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