Idaho not seeking help from feds

BOISE -- Governor Butch Otter has cut four percent from the state budget and says there could be more cuts to come.

States across the country are facing similar problems and today 43 governors asked President-elect Barack Obama to help bail out their states.

Idaho is one of the few states that’s not asking for assistance.

Otter says Idaho will pull through hard times on its own.

The governor says our state is no different than an Idaho family who has to look at expenses, income and savings to determine how to get by in tough economic times.

"If it's an emergency loan that we naturally get, if we have a forest fire or a flood which we get, then our Constitution allows for that, but our Constitution does not allow for us to be fiscally reckless as the federal government is," said Otter.

During this second round of budget cuts Otter says this will be a time for Idaho to clean house.

He says each department will have to take a look at their role in government and how agencies can trim wasteful spending.

It’s also important to note that while states like California can ask for help, Idaho does not have that choice.

It’s against the Idaho Constitution to ask for federal financial assistance.

The governor says he doesn't want a federal bailout but if a stimulus package is proposed he will consider that.

"If all we have to do is turnaround to Uncle Sam who is in deeper debt that anyone else, and say go borrow some more money, and go and make some more money, and loan it to me, I don't think that is a reasonable course of action, by the governors themselves," said Otter.

State agencies have until the end of the week to balance their budgets with the governor's latest cuts.

They also have to put an additional two percent in reserve, just in case the governor is forced to call for deeper cuts.