Lt. Gov. McGeachin criticizes governor over stay-home order

BOISE — Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin has sent a three-page letter to Gov. Brad Little, urging him to declare all businesses in Idaho “essential,” allow all to open for business as soon as his current stay-home order expires April 30, and offer immediate, emergency tax breaks to boost the economy.

“A dark narrative is emerging on social media that if you are a non-essential worker than (sic) you are not important,” McGeachin wrote in her April 17 letter. “The use of this language only seeks to divide us and not unite us.”

McGeachin noted that her own family business, since it was “declared to be non-essential,” is failing to generate thousands in payroll, income and sales taxes. McGeachin and her husband, Jim, own and operate an Irish restaurant in Idaho Falls and automotive stores in Boise and Idaho Falls, according to her official bio as the state’s lieutenant governor, a part-time position.

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