Little on Tuesday announced the disaster emergency declaration would end April 15, according to a news release.
New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently removed mask recommendations for most people in the majority of the state, including the Treasure Valley. Little in the news release said the April 15 time frame provides “an important bridge” for hospitals and health care providers to plan for the transition.
“We’re hopeful the recent decrease in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths means we are on a downward trend with the pandemic,” Little said in the release. “For weeks, we have been closely examining the needs within Idaho’s health care system with an eye toward ending the public health emergency declaration as soon as possible.”
Little’s emergency declaration provided federal funds
In March 2020, Idaho and many other states declared an emergency, which allowed the state to access funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, activate the National Guard to increase health care capacity and perform other functions to help alleviate the strain on the state’s health care system, according to the release.
A total of $257 million in funds have covered costs related to pandemic supplies like ventilators, personal protective equipment and vaccine distribution that local and state budgets would otherwise have had to pay for, according to the governor’s office.
The move comes as the omicron wave wanes in Idaho, and as state lawmakers consider a resolution that would attempt to bypass the governor and end the disaster declaration.
In the release, Little took pains to emphasize his efforts to combat federal attempts to increase vaccination rates by instituting mandates while also noting how his declaration did not “violate or restrict any rights of Idahoans.”
Last year, Little joined other states in suing the federal government over vaccine requirements for employees of large private businesses, federal contractors and health care workers.
Declaration ‘never violated’ rights, Little says
While the declaration has been in place, Little has faced significant blowback from other state leaders who have seen his efforts to ease the effects of the pandemic as an example of government overreach.
His critics include Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who has fiercely criticized the declaration and is Little’s most prominent opponent in the Republican primary in May. Little has not declared a run for reelection but is actively campaigning and has raised more than $1.5 million, according to the Idaho secretary of state’s office.
“End the state of emergency,” McGeachin said at a rally supporting demonstrations by right-wing trucker convoys, one of which rolled through Boise on March 2.
In 2020, when Little closed bars and imposed a stay-at-home order in the pandemic’s early days, McGeachin openly flouted and resisted his rules.
The opposition to the governor’s actions has also extended to the Legislature. On Monday, Idaho House Republicans passed a concurrent resolution that would end the emergency declaration if it also passed the Senate.
In Tuesday’s news release, Little said “only the governor can lawfully end an emergency declaration.” A similar resolution to end the emergency declaration failed in the House last year.
“The emergency declaration never violated or restricted any rights of Idahoans, never put Idaho on lockdown, and never allowed for mandates for masks or vaccines,” Little said. “These are the facts.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 2:30 PM.
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