Bill Description: Senate Bill 1117 would require the Idaho Division of Financial Management to provide updated fiscal impact statements for initiatives under certain conditions.  Rating: +1 NOTE: Senate Bill 1117 is related to Senate Bill 1047, which was introduced earlier this session. Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity […]

Bill Description: House Bill 102 would allow a recreation district board to submit a petition to the county seeking the district's dissolution under extremely narrow circumstances. Rating: 0 NOTE: The Senate Amendment to House Bill 102 (moved by Sen. Bernt) makes the bill irrelevant. The analysis has been updated and the rating has changed to zero. […]

Bill Description: House Bill 85 would allow the governor to veto an initiative that passed by less than a two-thirds majority.  Rating: +1 Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does […]

Bill Description: House Bill 2 would increase the vote threshold necessary to pass a statewide initiative from 50% + 1 to 60%.  Rating: +1 Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public access to information related […]

Bill Description: Senate Bill 1377 would require individuals who are paid to gather signatures for initiatives and referenda to identify themselves as such when gathering signatures.  Rating: +1 Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public […]

Bill Description: Senate Bill 1150 would require those gathering signatures for ballot initiatives and referendums to collect those signatures in Idaho. Rating: +1 Amendment Analysis: The amendment to Senate Bill 1150 adds the following language, but it does not change the rating: "The provisions of this section requiring physical presence within the state of Idaho […]

Let your voice be heard! Idaho politicians-turned-bureaucrats enrich themselves through a loophole they wrote themselves in the early 1990s. It needs to stop. Now. Will you stand with the Idaho Freedom Foundation as we ask lawmakers to do the right thing and end this lucrative pension scheme? Read our Politician Pension Payoff Actuarial Analysis here. […]

I’m a big fan of small businesses. My parents owned and operated a small business for many years, installing heating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The work was menacingly hard. You’d get up early, and go to bed late at night after schlepping around heavy equipment and tools. Then you’d do it all over again. […]

The goal of Idaho’s Bureau of Occupational Licenses is “to help safeguard human health and property, and to promote the public welfare.” Who can be against that? It’s actually a lot of smoke and mirrors. One such outcome of such regulations is to limit the number of workers and protect those in the respective industries […]

The Idaho Land Board and its duties have raised concerns in recent years over whether the government should be involved with commercial properties, which opponents say puts the public sector in direct competition with private business. The Land Board and the Idaho Department of Lands have said they are only doing what they are charged […]