Make Idaho ‘English only’ state, poll says

BOISE – Idahoans overwhelmingly favor an “English only” policy for the state, according to this year’s Boise State University Public Policy Survey.

That’s not all: They also think the state should help pay for health insurance for those who can’t afford it, believe libraries are “very important,” and although they have strong concerns about growth, they mostly think the state is headed in the right direction.

“This is very fresh data,” said BSU professor Stephanie Witt, director of the school’s social science research center. “We were in the field as recently as 10 days ago.”

The annual statewide survey asks Idahoans for their views on an array of questions, some of which are the same from year to year to track trends, and some that change.

The English-only question was a new one that yielded a surprising result.

The survey found that 70 percent of Idahoans said they agreed that the state should adopt an English-only policy, and the number was even higher in North Idaho – 75.4 percent.

“I just was surprised it was that high,” Witt said. “I know it gets a lot of traction.”

Witt said the survey also included some other surprises. One was that 42 percent said they favored building drug and mental illness treatment facilities while only 20 percent backed building another prison to deal with Idaho’s burgeoning prison population. An additional 11 percent wanted to review and release some prisoners, and 9 percent backed the use of house arrest.

“We see some support for some other solution than building another prison or harsher sentences,” Witt said.

Here are some of the survey’s results:

• Sixty percent of respondents said the state is “headed in the right direction,” down from 63.6 percent last year. Historically, the highest number agreeing with that statement came in 1999 at 80 percent, while the low was in 2002 at 57 percent.

• Education was identified as most important issue facing Idaho today, followed by jobs, wages or the economy; and then growth. But those figures were different in North Idaho, where jobs, wages or the economy was the top choice, followed by growth and then education.

• Asked if their property taxes are too high, about right or too low, 52 percent said they’re about right, up from 44.9 percent last year. The state has enacted major property tax relief measures since last year, including an increase in the homeowner’s exemption and a shift of a large chunk of school funding from property tax to sales tax.

• Answers were split over whether cities and counties are adequately keeping up with growth, but more North Idaho respondents said they’re not, 47 percent, compared to 38 percent statewide.

• A large majority, 62 percent, said additional public funds should be used to help provide health insurance to people who can’t afford it.

In North Idaho, that number was even higher, at 70.8 percent.