I am struck by the juxtaposition of two good editorials in Idaho newspapers Sunday.

The Lewiston Tribune offered a damning critique on the health of Idaho universities — which are struggling with budget cuts because, in the apt words of opinion editor Marty Trillhaase, "Higher education remains the Idaho Legislature’s target of least resistance."

Meanwhile, The Times-News in Twin Falls weighed in with a thoughtful warning that the state can no longer ignore the funding crisis facing the Department of Correction, the agency "in the business of keeping bad people from harming honest citizens."

In Lewiston's higher ed editorial, Trillhaase says the effects of a 20 percent general fund budget cut are visible upon close examination:

You see it in the programs that are no longer offered. Administrators start balancing budgets by eliminating the courses that attract fewer people. With each round, academic diversity is narrowed.

You see it in the students who aren’t at school. In a state that struggles to introduce its young people to the promise of a college degree, the prospect of carrying heavy student-loan debt all too often becomes an insurmountable obstacle.

A few highlights from The Times-News' editorial:

The (Department of Correction) is managing 500 more offenders now than it did in 2008, with $28 million less in funding. ...

(Correction Department Director Brent) Reinke's budget for 2010 was cut by 14 percent, to $169 million, from his original 2009 spending plan, forcing him to eliminate 44 positions and order employees to take four to 12 days of unpaid furlough. He's now looking at shifting positions from state to other funding sources, among other measures. ...

But frugality and creative management are showing signs of reaching their limits at IDOC, which after all is primarily in the business of keeping bad people from harming honest citizens.

Reinke told the Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this month that the furloughs and other money-saving moves the department has been making are "not sustainable" for continuing to appropriately manage the inmate population. The state has 7,338 prisoners.

Legislators should take Reinke's warnings seriously.

There are no right and wrong answers. Instead, we get a pretty good glimpse of the extremely difficult budget decisions that will confront the 2010 Legislature.

Because it isn't just colleges vs. prisons. Job creation and research vs. law and order. An agency with a built-in student, parent and alumni constituent vs. an agency that locks away a constituency of convicts.

No, it's a choice between higher ed, prisons, public schools, Medicaid and the many smaller functions of state government. And a question of priorities. Should Idaho cut these budgets further? Or withdraw from reserves? Or wring out some $15 million by reneging on a scheduled installment of phased-in grocery tax relief?

The complexities of these budget decision are just starting to come into focus — for lawmakers and taxpayers alike.

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