Policy

How to Judge a “Maintenance Budget” in Idaho

By Brett Farruggia

March 5, 2026

Returning to Fiscal Sanity after COVID Last December, Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) released a Conservative Budget Plan for Idaho. The plan returns sanity to Idaho’s budgets and reverts government to a reasonable baseline after the explosion of COVID-related spending. Specifically, the plan brings state agency budgets to pre-COVID spending levels (allowing only for inflation and […]

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Why the Fight Over $15 Million in Budget Reductions?

By Fred Birnbaum

March 4, 2026

Idaho is about two-thirds through the current budgeting year, Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). Adjustments to the budget are now underway in the Legislature. Recall how the governor observed a softening of revenues during the early part of last year and issued a “hold-back” through Executive Order 2025-05 of three percent to all agencies except public […]

TAGS: Budget Reform, Executive Order 2025-05, fiscal responsibility, FY26, government spending, Governor’s Hold-back, Idaho Fiscal Policy, Idaho legislature, Idaho Political News, Idaho Republicans, Idaho state budget, JFAC, Legislative Budget Process, Medicaid Provider Cuts, Per Capita Spending Idaho, Right-sizing Budget, S1331, Senate Bill 1331, State Spending Trends, Trustee and Benefit Payments

Marxism and Western Tradition: Identifying the Proper Role of Government

By Rachel Hazelip, M.A.P.P.

February 20, 2026

The Idaho legislative session is in full swing, and as lawmakers debate particular issues like education, parental rights, bodily autonomy, judicial reform, regulations and licensure, and budgets, they are actually engaging — often implicitly — in the age-old philosophical dispute about the proper role of government. Lawmakers are daily confronting the question: who should shape […]

TAGS: Alexis de Tocqueville, American Founding Fathers, Boise Statehouse, civic virtue, civil society, consent of the governed, constitutional republic, federalism, Federalist Papers, historical materialism, Idaho budget debates, Idaho education policy, Idaho legislature, Idaho politics, individual liberty, James Madison, John Locke, judicial reform, Karl Marx, Limited Government, Marxism vs. Capitalism, moral authority, natural law, parental rights Idaho, political philosophy, proper role of government, Second Treatise of Government, Self-governance, separation of powers, social order, state sovereignty, state vs family, The German Ideology, Western constitutional tradition, William Blackstone

The Grasping Hand of the Welfare State: Medicaid and Rural Health Transformation

By Fred Birnbaum

February 18, 2026

The Idaho House recently passed House Concurrent Resolution 25, calling for an Article V Convention to propose a federal Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA). Legislators who supported the BBA bemoaned the lack of fiscal discipline in D.C. Yet, less than a week later, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee passed Senate Bill 1264, calling for about […]

TAGS: Article V Convention, Balanced Budget Amendment, BBA, Cost of Medicaid in Idaho, federal deficit, federal funding, Federal Grants, Federal healthcare spending per capita, fiscal discipline, government overreach, Governor Brad Little, House Concurrent Resolution 25, Idaho DOGE Committee, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho legislature, Idaho Medicaid expansion, Idaho Rural Health Transformation Fund, IFF, Impact of OBBA on state budgets, legislative oversight, Medicaid reform, national debt, OBBA, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Repealing Medicaid expansion in Idaho, RHTP, Rural Health Transformation Program, Rural Healthcare Idaho, Senate Bill 1264, Senator Kevin Cook, Senator Lisa Murkowski

Idaho schools paying $1.2 million per year for IEA/NEA dues

By Maxford Nelsen

February 4, 2026

Guest Column by Maxford Nelsen, Director of Research and Government Affairs, Freedom Foundation Unlike some other functions of state government, Idaho’s constitution requires the legislature to “maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” It is not surprising, therefore, that roughly half of the state of Idaho’s budget — about $2.8 […]

TAGS: Boise School District, Education, IEA, NEA, Twin Falls School District

Mad Max Hits the Rockies: It’s a Gas War

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

January 30, 2026

Here we go, Idaho — it looks like we have a trade war on our hands. Utah lawmakers want to shift their gasoline tax to out-of-state consumers, like us. That’s right, in an effort to cut their own gasoline tax in half, Utah lawmakers (including their Speaker of the House) are hatching a plan to […]

TAGS: fuel, gas, gas tax, Utah

Babies Need Heroes

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

January 23, 2026

This weekend is your annual opportunity to March for Life. Across the country and in Idaho, millions of God-fearing, loving, patriotic, and compassionate Americans will take to the streets to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Babies need these heroes, but they truly need the extra measure of heroism from their mothers, who […]

TAGS: Adoption advocacy, Advocacy for the voiceless, Boise events, Choose Life, Choose motherhood, Community events Boise, Crisis pregnancy support, Idaho Capitol rally, Idaho March for Life, Idaho pro-life rally, Julia Davis Park event, March for Life, March for Life 2026, Michael Willetts story, Motherhood as heroism, Pro-life activism, pro-life Idaho, Pro-life inspiration, Pro-life movement, Protecting the unborn, Reluctant hero, Right to Life, Sacrificial love, Support adoption, The Soldier Harvey Andrews, Unborn children

Idaho Freedom Foundation Calls for Investigation into University Defiance of Landmark DEI Ban

By Idaho Freedom Foundation staff

January 21, 2026

BOISE, ID — The Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), in partnership with the Goldwater Institute, is sounding the alarm on blatant attempts by Idaho’s higher education establishment to circumvent Senate Bill 1198 (S1198), or the Freedom from Indoctrination Act; the nation’s most comprehensive ban on mandatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) instruction: In a formal letter […]

TAGS: 90 percent rule, academic freedom, academic indoctrination, Attorney General Raúl Labrador, Boise ID, Boise State University, critical theory, DEI ban, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, education reform, Freedom from Indoctrination Act, Goldwater Institute, higher ed accountability, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho higher education, Idaho law, Idaho legislature, Idaho State Board of Education, Idaho State University, legislative intent, mandatory coursework exemptions, psychology coursework, public university investigation, race and sex discrimination, Ron Nate, S1198, Senate Bill 1198, social justice in education, social work curriculum, university compliance, University of Idaho

Federal Tax Conformity for Tax Cuts Should Happen Now

By Fred Birnbaum

January 21, 2026

Why are Idahoans being told to wait for Trump’s tax cuts? At the beginning of each legislative session, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) adopts — or attempts to adopt — a three-year revenue estimate: the current fiscal year and the two upcoming — in this case, an update for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), FY27, and […]

TAGS: car loan interest deduction, EORAC, Federal tax conformity, FY26 revenue projections, Idaho economic outlook, Idaho Fiscal Policy, Idaho General Fund, Idaho Governor budget, Idaho Income Tax, Idaho legislature, Idaho revenue forecast, Idaho spending growth, Idaho standard deduction, Idaho state budget, Idaho tax cuts, JFAC, Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, OBBB, One Big Beautiful Bill, overtime tax reduction, social security tax deduction, tax deduction for tips, Trump

Governor Little’s Budget Proposal Leaves the Heavy Lifting to the Legislature

By Fred Birnbaum

January 13, 2026

Let’s start with the good news: Governor Brad Little is not raiding the state’s budget stabilization fund (also called the “rainy day” fund) to balance the budget. On top of that, at least some measure of state conformity, or matching tax cuts, to Trump’s federal tax cuts is included in his budget proposal — although […]

TAGS: balanced budget requirement, fiscal discipline, FY26 budget, FY27 budget, government accountability, Governor Brad Little, Idaho budget, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho Fiscal Policy, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho General Fund, Idaho legislature, Idaho tax cuts, In-demand Careers Program, rainy day fund, state budget analysis, state budget proposal, state revenue forecast, state spending cuts, taxpayer spending

School Choice for All Idaho Families

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

January 8, 2026

A local left-leaning podcast host had me on his show recently to talk about, among other things, Idaho’s new school choice opportunity — the Parental Choice Tax Credit (PCTC), which passed in 2025. He asked how in the world Idaho’s school choice could be “held accountable” if there were no mandatory testing or other state […]

TAGS: education accountability, education freedom, education spending Idaho, education tax credits, Idaho education reform, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho income tax credit, Idaho Legislature education, Idaho school choice, Idaho tax deduction 2025, microschools Idaho, Parental Choice Tax Credit, parental rights in education, PCTC, private school choice, public school funding Idaho, school choice expansion, school choice incentives, school competition, school vouchers Idaho

Questions Come as Twin Falls School District Protects Teacher’s Explicit Content Instead of Children

By Rachel Hazelip, M.A.P.P.

January 1, 2026

For any reasonable individual, protecting children from people who engage in sexual deviance and celebrate political violence should be a no-brainer. Yet the events that unfolded in Twin Falls, Idaho, involving one concerned mother and substitute teacher, leave us wondering. On October 1, 2025, Cierra Clarke — a substitute teacher and parent of a 1st […]

TAGS: Cierra Clarke, educational ethics, Homeschooling Idaho, Idaho education news, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Moms for Liberty Idaho, Parental Rights, parental vigilance, protecting children, public school vetting, Rock Creek Elementary School, school administration controversy, school board accountability, school district transparency, substitute teacher dismissal, teacher certification Idaho, teacher conduct, Timothy Hafer, Twin Falls Idaho, Twin Falls School District

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Policy

How to Judge a “Maintenance Budget” in Idaho

Why the Fight Over $15 Million in Budget Reductions?

Marxism and Western Tradition: Identifying the Proper Role of Government

The Grasping Hand of the Welfare State: Medicaid and Rural Health Transformation

Idaho schools paying $1.2 million per year for IEA/NEA dues

Mad Max Hits the Rockies: It’s a Gas War

Babies Need Heroes

Idaho Freedom Foundation Calls for Investigation into University Defiance of Landmark DEI Ban

Federal Tax Conformity for Tax Cuts Should Happen Now

Governor Little’s Budget Proposal Leaves the Heavy Lifting to the Legislature

School Choice for All Idaho Families

Questions Come as Twin Falls School District Protects Teacher’s Explicit Content Instead of Children

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