POCATELLO — Gov. Brad Little visited Pocatello on Tuesday and heaped heavy praise on the state he leads, especially when comparing Idaho to places like California, Washington and Oregon.

Much of what the governor spoke about in the Gate City dealt with the many economic trends that make Idaho the envy of many other states as well as initiatives he’s quarterbacked to improve Idahoans’ lives.

But he couldn’t help but point out that Idaho’s government has smartly avoided the disastrous course being followed by nearby states that have taken a soft stance on crime and are reeling from massive populations of homeless people.

“If you go to Seattle or Portland or San Francisco and see what their streets are like, the decriminalization that they’ve done in the drug business, it’s no wonder I’m going to have to build a wall around Idaho and make California pay for it,” Little said.

That remark was part of Little’s Tuesday morning speech at the Idaho State University Alumni Center during the Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce Governor’s Breakfast event.He touted Idaho’s awesome recovery after the COVID pandemic as well as the state’s resiliency in maintaining a strong workforce and preventing unemployment, which is currently under 3 percent statewide.Little also mentioned that Idaho’s individual income growth of just over 9 percent is the best in the U.S.

He also referenced the millions of dollars that have been appropriated to deal with deferred maintenance work across the state to finish numerous road and other infrastructure projects including Pocatello’s Ross Park water slide replacement.Over the course of the past two years more than $1.5 billion has been invested in these projects, Little said.

In terms of education, Little said the state has increased its investment in K-12 schools by over 16 percent to ensure that Idaho’s children are receiving the best instruction in the best schools.

“In this economy, people are going to vote with their feet,” Little said during his speech at ISU.“Young people in particular are going to want to go to states where they got good schools. There’s a lot of things you can do. But if you want to retain families and recruit families, having a great K-12 system is one of the most important parts of it. That was an investment that I along with all my legislative partners have done and it’ll make us much more competitive.”

Additionally, Little said he aligned along bi-partisan lines to make the Idaho LAUNCH initiative a reality. The program provides graduating Idaho high school seniors interested in high-demand college trade programs with around $4,000 annually for two years to help assist them in completing the programs.About $80 million in state funds were used for the initiative and it’s been positively received by many of Idaho’s Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Little said.

Little also spoke of the importance of parks and recreation.“This year we put $100 million into parks because again we know that the people that are in Idaho and the people who want to stay in Idaho want to have the best possible outdoor recreation opportunities,” Little said. “A lot of that $100 million is to address the backlog and maintenance that we have in our parks so it’s a first-class experience. But they’re also putting in more campsites and more boat docks.”

One of the main focuses near the end of Little’s speech at ISU was adolescent behavioral health.Previously if a teen was experiencing a mental health crisis, they would be taken to either a hospital or the police station, Little said.With the opening of a Pocatello facility called The Village, there are now more options for juveniles and their families, Little said.Following his speech at ISU, Little attended Tuesday morning’s ribbon-cutting for The Village, located on North Fifth Avenue in the former Robert Allen car dealership building.The Village will help evaluate juveniles’ needs on an individual basis and provide the resources necessary to help improve their lives. Such facilities have been strategically placed around the state, many of them next to rehabilitation and recovery sites, Little said.

During his visit to Pocatello, Little also compared and contrasted Idaho with Washington state, Oregon and California, especially in regard to illegal drug use and homelessness. Little likened the stances of the other states to “crime coddling,” referring to places like Seattle that have decriminalized drug use.

Little jokingly said there are “about three” homeless people in Idaho, though the number is closer to just under 2,300. However, Washington and Oregon rate in the top 10 states for homelessness while Idaho is close to the bottom 10 nationwide.

For Little, the issues of homelessness, substance abuse and behavioral health are all closely tied together as is the importance of providing juveniles with the help they need before they become adults.

“These homeless problems are all either behavioral, health or substance abuse,” Little said. “So that’s why it’s so important for us to get our arms around these people to try and help them to get them back into society and protect them from themselves.”