There’s already plenty to talk about – including a push for a federal balanced budget. This week, we get reactions to Gov. Brad Little’s state of the state and proposed budget. Mick Mulvaney, former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, and former US Sen. Larry Craig discuss a proposed federal constitutional amendment that would require Congress to pass a balanced budget. Then, Dr. Jaclyn Kettler from Boise State University's School of Public Service gives her take on the first few days of the legislative session.

Kevin Richert from Idaho Education News, political science professor Stephanie Witt from Boise State University, and administrator Alex Adams from the Division of Financial Management provide commentary after Gov. Brad Little's 2024 State of the State address.

Gov. Brad Little delivered his 2024 State of the State Address on Jan. 8, the first day of the legislative session. The speech focused on budget priorities for the upcoming session, including fully funding Idaho Launch and an ambitious proposal to help fund local school buildings.

Associate producer Logan Finney examines the implications of not fully funding jail facilities. Caribou County Sheriff Adam Mabey, Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries, Payette County Sheriff Andy Creech, and jail inspector Ben Wolfinger from the Idaho Sheriffs Association discuss the state of Idaho's aging county jails, how being a recreation destination plays into the issue, and a policy pitch that would help counties to pay for jail construction.

The session is just around the corner, and the press got a sneak peek at the priorities. This week, Gov. Brad Little and lawmakers give us a preview of the upcoming legislative session. Associate producer Logan Finney discusses issues with jail facilities across the state with members of the Idaho Sheriffs Association. Finally, House Majority Leader Rep. Megan Blanksma joins us to discuss proposals on maternal health and Idaho Launch.

Association of Idaho Cities executive director Kelley Packer joins Ruth Brown to discuss the upcoming 2024 legislative session, as well as some of the bills in the works relating to property tax budgets, city annexation, and water rights.

Three Republican women - former state Rep. Kelley Packer, former state Rep. and Senate candidate Laurie Lickley, and former Senate candidate Tara Malek - in December founded the Idaho Contraceptive Education Network. The group's goal is to educate Idahoans about contraception and how it is different from abortion.

In the lead-up to the 2022 election, Raul Labrador campaigned on the promise that he would be more aggressive in defending state sovereignty. After nearly a year in office, we checked in with him about his challenges to state agencies, ongoing abortion litigation, and his approach to his job as Idaho’s chief legal officer.

It’s been nearly a year since Idaho’s new constitutional officers were sworn in, including Attorney General Raúl Labrador, the state’s first new attorney general in more than two decades. We visited Labrador at his capitol office this week to discuss his first year as Idaho's chief legal officer, his outlook on the job, and the high-profile cases his office is currently litigating.

Idaho is unique in many ways, but it unfortunately stands out in one policy area. It's the only state that still uses its prison system to house certain mental health patients — those whose condition a court has deemed "dangerously mentally ill" — even though they have committed no crime. ProPublica reporter Audrey Dutton joins Logan Finney this week to discuss this particular prison unit, the civil rights concerns that accompany it, and how debates over the practice stretch back decades at the Idaho statehouse.

Read Audrey's reporting: https://www.propublica.org/article/idaho-keeps-some-psychiatric-patients-in-prison-ignoring-decades-of-warnings-about-the-practice