Policy

Of Course We Can Afford More Tax Cuts

By Fred Birnbaum

February 4, 2025

Three tax-cut bills — four, if you include an education tax credit bill — are before the Idaho Legislature. And yes, they are all affordable. A Little History Over the past five years, ongoing and one-time tax cuts have reduced the tax take by $4.6 billion, of which about $930 million is ongoing. However, it […]

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Is the Governor’s Office Funneling Taxpayer Dollars into an Anti-School Choice Nonprofit?

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

January 31, 2025

Conservatives who watched Governor Brad Little’s 2025 State of the State address on January 6 were underwhelmed by his “promises made, promises kept,” to say the least — particularly regarding school choice. A large section of his speech focused on education in Idaho, but he explained that his priority, “first and foremost [is] our public […]

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Property Taxes Are Extortion

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

January 28, 2025

“It’s a nice home you have here…” In the movies, it’s called “extortion” — pay us what we require, and nobody gets hurt. But, when the government does the same thing regarding you and your home, it’s called a “property tax.” Nobody truly owns their home when the government demands taxes be paid on it […]

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CRT 2.0

By Samuel T. Lair

January 27, 2025

This article was originally published in The American Mind, a publication of the Claremont Institute In states across the country, left-wing academics and major educational establishments are hijacking the review process for K-12 history and civics curricula. Educators and radicals, in league with one another, are conspiring to turn students against America’s traditional cultural and […]

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Immigration Enforcement: Where the Federal Government Failed, Idaho Can Succeed

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

January 24, 2025

What if someone broke into your house last night, but when you called the police, they were too busy or didn’t care enough to send officers to deal with your situation? You still have the right to protect yourself and your family by kicking the intruder out of your house, even if force is required, […]

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Now It’s Judicial Pay Raises: The Snowball Effect

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

January 20, 2025

Well, we called it. In the past few weeks, key members of the Idaho judiciary wrote a letter, and Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Bevan spoke to the Legislature about the “need” for dramatic increases of 27% to 31% in judicial salaries. Here is what their proposed increases look like: These are outrageous pay […]

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Bannock County Returns Misspent Funds to the State, but Is That Enough?

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

January 17, 2025

As the adage goes, “Where there is smoke, there is fire.” This appears to ring true regarding the misappropriation of public funds between Idaho State University (ISU) and Bannock County. Since the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s last article on the misuse of public funds, ISU has requested that Bannock County return the remaining balance, which they […]

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Sources and Uses of Idaho’s Taxpayer Dollars

By Fred Birnbaum

January 15, 2025

If you’re a state and local taxpayer, have you wondered where your money goes — your income tax, sales tax and property tax dollars? Let’s examine a chart developed by the Legislative Services Office and updated annually. DISCLAIMER: In our review of the budgets, the buckets depicting expenditures on the bottom row do not align […]

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Idaho’s State Spending Briefly Explained

By Fred Birnbaum

January 10, 2025

The Idaho Freedom Foundation has written extensively about Idaho’s budget, and will continue to do so. Numbers and financial analyses can be difficult for people to understand who don’t focus on it. Let’s discuss some of the basics. Let’s start with a few terms from the glossary of the Legislative Budget Book. General Funds “consists […]

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Governor Little is Dodging DOGE in Idaho

By Fred Birnbaum

January 7, 2025

“Idaho was DOGE before DOGE was cool.” That was Gov. Little yesterday in his State of the State address, and subsequent press conference, invoking the now “infamous” DOGE, the Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy led Department of Government Efficiency. Let’s give the governor his due on reducing regulations as a way to increase government efficiency. […]

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The Ancient Myth of Idaho’s Food Tax Credit

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

January 3, 2025

One of the weakest arguments against repealing the grocery tax is that because there is a “food tax credit” on your income taxes, it would be redistribution to leave the credit alone while removing the sales tax on groceries. A few squishy legislators insist on removing both the tax and the credit at the same […]

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Want Limited Government? Control the Spending!

By Fred Birnbaum

December 31, 2024

All eyes were on Congress over the past week as, yet again, at the 11th hour, Congress funded the federal government for several months and averted a shutdown. It’s a good thing Idaho doesn’t approach appropriations bills this way and that we have a drama-free budget every year. Or is it? As U.S. Representative Chip […]

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Policy

Of Course We Can Afford More Tax Cuts

Is the Governor’s Office Funneling Taxpayer Dollars into an Anti-School Choice Nonprofit?

Property Taxes Are Extortion

CRT 2.0

Immigration Enforcement: Where the Federal Government Failed, Idaho Can Succeed

Now It’s Judicial Pay Raises: The Snowball Effect

Bannock County Returns Misspent Funds to the State, but Is That Enough?

Sources and Uses of Idaho’s Taxpayer Dollars

Idaho’s State Spending Briefly Explained

Governor Little is Dodging DOGE in Idaho

The Ancient Myth of Idaho’s Food Tax Credit

Want Limited Government? Control the Spending!

Latest Research

Idaho Freedom Index

Policy

Of Course We Can Afford More Tax Cuts

Is the Governor’s Office Funneling Taxpayer Dollars into an Anti-School Choice Nonprofit?

Property Taxes Are Extortion

CRT 2.0

Immigration Enforcement: Where the Federal Government Failed, Idaho Can Succeed

Now It’s Judicial Pay Raises: The Snowball Effect

Bannock County Returns Misspent Funds to the State, but Is That Enough?

Sources and Uses of Idaho’s Taxpayer Dollars

Idaho’s State Spending Briefly Explained

Governor Little is Dodging DOGE in Idaho

The Ancient Myth of Idaho’s Food Tax Credit

Want Limited Government? Control the Spending!

Latest Research

Idaho Freedom Index

Request your printed copies of the Idaho Freedom Index mailed to you!