Policy

The Bureaucrats Are First at the Trough: How the Rural Health Transformation Fund Kicks Off With Millions in Grants for Administrators

By Brett Farruggia

July 23, 2026

The first three subgrant opportunities from the federal government’s Rural Health Transformation Fund have been posted. The three grant opportunities are just the first drops of funding in what will ultimately amount to nearly a billion dollars in debt-financed federal money coming into Idaho’s health care system. These funds, part of a five-year, billion-dollar scheme, […]

Spy Cameras Are Flocking To Idaho – Your City Could Be Next

By Eireann Van Natta

July 21, 2026

Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) are sweeping across Idaho and prompting fears that the Gem State may soon become another surveillance state. Some residents, however, are pushing back against police departments using a private company to collect data on Idahoans’ vehicles. Flock cameras, a technology from the Georgia-based Flock Safety company, are ostensibly used to […]

TAGS: +2, $378000, $480000, 100000 Flock Cameras, 2023, 2025, ALPR, Artificial Intelligence, Automated Licence Plate Readers, City Attorney’s Office, City Council, City Council Members, City of Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene, Collection, Combat Crime, Corruption, COVID-19, Customer Data, Data, DeFlock, Dragnet, FISA, Flock, Flock Cameras, Flock Safety, Flock Transparency Portal, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, General Location, Georgia, government spending, Idaho, Idaho Code § 49-1432, Idaho Freedom Foundation, IFF, Irrevocable, Law Enforcement, Legislature, License Plate Numbers, Limited, Machine Learning, Meridian Police Department, Monitor, Motion-Activated, Nampa, People, Per Year, Pocatello Police Department, Police Departments, Positive Rating, Privacy, Privacy Safeguard, Private Company, Proliferation, Proper Oversight, Public and Private Partnership, Royalty-Free, Safeguards, Schools, Senate Bill 1180, State Code, Surveillance State, Tax Dollars, Tort Claims, Twin Falls, Twin Falls Police Department, Tyler Cain, Unanimous Vote, Vehicle Information, Vehicles, Waste, Wilder, Wilder Police Department Chief

BREAKING: DHS Confirm Identity of Alleged Suspect in Boise Greenbelt Assault as Illegal Alien

By Eireann Van Natta

July 16, 2026

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Idaho Freedom Foundation Wednesday that the suspect in the Boise Greenbelt assault and kidnapping case is an illegal alien from Mexico. “Javier Ortiz-Galvan is an alien from Mexico charged with aggravated assault and second-degree kidnapping. He entered the United States illegally at an unknown date and time […]

TAGS: 1 Million Dollar, 287(c) Agreement, 911, Ada County Sheriff, Ada County Sheriff's Office, Agency, Aggravated Assault, Assault, Authority, Biden Administration, Boise, Boise Greenbelt, Boise Mayor, Bond, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, DHS Spokesperson, Female Victim, Flag Poles, Green Card, ICE, Idaho, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho politics, IFF, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Immigration Status, Javier Ortiz-Galvan, Javier Ortiz-Galvin, Kidnapping, Mayor Lauren McLean, Mexico, Ontario Oregon, Oversight, Physically Assaulted, press release, Privilege, Residents, Revoke, Right, Sheriff Matt Clifford, Statement

The Ratchet Only Goes One Way: Boise’s Ever Increasing Property Taxes

By Brett Farruggia

July 14, 2026

A brief history of Boise property taxes reveals only one trend: they are increasing. Property taxes have increased every fiscal year since FY21. The only reason FY21 was spared was due to pandemic-era funding from state and federal sources. In FY22, the base increase was 3%, in FY23 it was 2.45%, and in FY24 it […]

TAGS: $11 Million Tax Hike, $2 Million, $25000, $400000, 1% Additional, 2001, 2015, 3% Maximum, Ban, Boise, Boise Chinese Community, Capital Fund, Development Fee, Erma Hayman House, Federal Sources, Firefighters, Fiscal Restraint, Flagpoles, Forgone Taxes, Forgone-Tax Provision, FY21, FY22, FY23, H842, H959, Idaho, Idaho Freedom Foundation, New Librarian, New Zoo Employee, Open-Space Levy, Pandemic-Era Funding, Percent For The Arts Initiative, Planning and Development Services, Pride, Pride Decals, Property Taxes, SAFER Grant, State Legislature, State Sources, Tax Authority, Whitney Pool, Wraps

PRESS RELEASE: ABORTION INITIATIVE IS ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT

By Idaho Freedom Foundation staff

July 13, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOISE, Idaho–Today, Idaho Freedom Foundation President Ron Nate released the following statement after a radical abortion initiative qualified for Idaho’s November ballot: "There is no issue more important to me, or to Idaho Freedom Foundation, than the sanctity of life. Every right, privilege, and duty of citizenship flows from our most fundamental […]

TAGS: 2026, 2026 Idaho ballot initiative, Abortion, Abortion on Demand, Abortionists, Babies, Ballot, ballot initiative, California, California-Style Abortion, Citizenship, Dobb's Decision, Future Generations, Housing Regulations, Idaho, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho politics, IFF, Minors, Minors without parental Consent, Moment of Birth, New York, November, Parental Consent, Planned Parenthood, Prior Law, Right to Life, Right to live, Roe v. Wade, sanctity of life, Special Circumstances, Supreme Court, Tax Policy

"Becoming Big Brother": Alcohol Ordinance Proposal Sparks Backlash In Idaho Falls

By Eireann Van Natta

July 9, 2026

An Idaho Falls councilman has sounded the alarm over a proposed alcohol ordinance and expressed concerns over how it could jeopardize private property rights. Councilman John Radford posted on Facebook Wednesday that the city council will vote on the alcohol ordinance Thursday, July 9. The meeting is slated to start at 6:30 p.m., and it […]

TAGS: -3 Rating, 2026 legislative session, Agenda, Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Bureau, Alcohol Catering Permit, Alcohol License, Alcohol Ordinance, Alcohol Servers, Alcoholic Beverages, Approved Server Training Program, Big Brother, Business, Certified, Charitable Event Permit, City Council, City Officials, Commercial Establishment, Competition, Consumption, Councilman John Radford, DUIs, Enhance Public Safety, Establishments, Felony, Fines, Idaho, Idaho Code, Idaho Falls, Idaho Falls City Council, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho State Police, June 1 2026, KIFI, Knowingly, law, local government, Meeting Agenda, Misdemeanor, Permit, private property rights, Producing Alcohol, Raise Prices, Regulations, SB 1268, SB1230, Section 4-2-2, Security Persons, Selling Alcohol, Senate Bills

Elections and Their Consequences for Idaho

By Fred Birnbaum

July 2, 2026

Idaho has had one of the longest “Trifectas” among the fifty states. A Trifecta occurs when one party controls both state legislative houses and the Governor’s office. In Idaho, the Republican Party has had a Trifecta since 1995. No state governed by a Democratic Trifecta comes close to the length of time of the Idaho […]

TAGS: $14 Billion, 1992 Presidential Campaign, 1995, 86% Republican, Beautiful Loser, Bill Clinton, Blue-Collar Workers, Budget Appropriations, Commission on Hispanic Affairs, COVID, Cronyism, Cultural Institutions, D.C. Swamp, DEI, deregulation, Eastern Idaho, Election, Factionalism, Fiscal Year 2020, Fred Birnbaum, Free Markets, Governor’s Office, Growth Rate, Idaho, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Illegal Immigration, Incumbent, individual liberty, Main Street, Moderate, New World Order, North Idaho, Political Cognitive Dissonance, Political Movement, Political Vacuum, President Bush, Regionalism, Ronald Reagan, Samuel Francis, Social Conservatives, Soviet-Style Communism, State House, State Legislature, State Senate, State-Funded Child Care, Super-supermajority, tax cuts, Transgener Politics, Trifecta, Wall Street

Coverage vs. Care (Part 2): What Was Lost and Why

By Wayne Hoffman, guest columnist and President-Emeritus, Idaho Freedom Foundation

June 24, 2026

Before Medicaid, Idahoans who needed medical care and lacked the means to pay for it relied on a number of alternatives: friends and family, charitable care from physicians, church networks, mutual aid societies, and community organizations that knew their neighbors by name. Fraternal orders — the Odd Fellows, the Elks, and the Knights of Columbus […]

TAGS: 1920s, 1930s, 1965, Commercial Insurers, Elks, Employer-Sponsored Group Insurance, Families, Fraternal Orders, Great Depression, Idaho, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Knights of Columbus, Local Institutions, Medicaid, Mothers’ Pension, New Deal-era, Odd Fellows, Old-Age Support, Orphanages, Price Controls, Public Welfare, Social Security, Tax Treatment, Voluntary Association, Wage Controls, Workers’ Compensation

Coverage vs. Care (Part 1)

By Wayne Hoffman, guest columnist and President-Emeritus, Idaho Freedom Foundation

June 9, 2026

On Valentine’s Day 1966, Gov. Bob Smylie called a special session of the state Legislature to deal, primarily, with reapportioning the Idaho Senate to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s one-man-one-vote requirement. Back then, there was a senator for each of the state’s 44 counties, and the courts had ruled the arrangement unconstitutional. So when […]

TAGS: 1966, 44 Counties, Administer, American Federalism, Authority, Bureaucracy, Centralized Charity, Disabled, Dual-Sovereignty, Farragut State Park, Governor Bob Smylie, Great Society, Health Expenses, House Bill 14, Idaho, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho legislature, Idaho Senate, Inadequate, Medicaid, Medically indigent, One-Man-One-Vote, Outsourced, Policymakers, Poor, President Lyndon Johnson, Program, Public Assistance, Thomas Sowell, Tradeoffs, U.S. Supreme Court, Unconstitutional

Property Tax Relief Options Explained

By Fred Birnbaum

June 4, 2026

The most important point to understand regarding property taxes is that they are budget-driven. This simply means local taxing districts, which include counties, cities, schools, fire districts, etc., set property tax budgets, and those budgets are the primary driver of property tax payments and the changes (usually increases) over time. Long-term property tax relief requires […]

TAGS: Blind, Budget, Cap, Capitol, Carve-Outs, Circuit-Breaker, Cities, Commissioners, Counties, Disabled Veterans, Eliminated, Exemptions, Fire Districts, Fire Officials, General Reductions, Homeowner’s Exemption, House Bill 292, House Bill 521, Idaho, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho Tax Commission, Increase, Levies, Local School District, Local Taxing Districts, Local Units, Mayors, Offset, Property Tax, Redistribution, Reduce, Sales Tax, Schools, Senior Citizens, Shift, Spending, Spending Growth, State Constitution, Tax Burden, Tax Relief, Taxes

Unconstitutional Programs and the Administrative State: Stopping the 1419 Project

By Brett Farruggia

June 2, 2026

Over the past century, political progressives have built a bureaucratic machine with the goal of undermining our republic. It accomplishes this by making people dependent on government programs and by ignoring the will of the people and their elected representatives, ruling solely through executive fiat. Idaho has long been at the forefront of the battle […]

TAGS: 16.06.12, 1984, 1992, 1997, 2026, Administrative Fiat, Administrative Rules, Aid to the Blind, Aid to the Disabled, Appropriations, Article III, Article VII, Attorney General, bureaucrats, CCDF, Child Care and Development Fund, Codifying, Constitution, Daycares, Director of DHW, Expansion, Federal Dollars, FY26, Greater Boise Auditorium Dist. v. Royal Inn of Boise, ICCP, Idaho, Idaho Administrative Procedures Act, Idaho Child Care Program, Idaho Code § 56-1003(4), Idaho Code § 56-202, Idaho Constitution, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho House of Representatives, Idaho Office for Children, Idaho Supreme Court, IDAPA, IDAPA section 67-5291(2)(a), Independent Statutory Basis, JFAC, Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, legislative intent, Legislature, Medicaid, Medical Assistance, Minnesota, Nick Shirley, Office of the Attorney General, Old-Age Assistance, Potential Fraud Ring, Public Assistance, Rulemaking Authority, Section 13, Section 29, Section 56-202, Senate Bill 1374, Senate Bill 1375, Senate Bill 1419, Senate Bill 1428, Senate Bill 1435, Senator Brian Lenney, Senator Josh Keyser, Social Services, Spending, Stealing Tax Dollars, Treasury

The Property Tax: Expensive and Outdated

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

May 19, 2026

When my dog gets hold of one of her toys, she won’t let it go. The harder I try to take it, the harder she holds on. I’m the same way about the revolutionary idea of eliminating property taxes in Idaho. The more you try to talk me out of abolishing these unfair, misguided, and […]

TAGS: Apartment, Appraisers, Article VII, Assessed, Assessors, Budgets, Cities, Collections, Confiscations, Constitutional Rights, County, County Assessors, Disputes, Economy, Evicted, Fire Stations, Fixed Incomes, Fred Birnbaum, Higher, Homeowners, Idaho, Idaho Constitution, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho Sales Tax, IFF, Income Tax, Increase, Inflation, Lawyers, Libraries, Local, Local Governments, Market Value, Mosquito Control, Payments, Police Services, Product Tax, Property Tax Bill, Property Taxes, Regulations, Rent, Sales Tax, School Construction, School Districts, Section 2, State-Collected Tax, Taxes, Taxing Districts, Unpaid, Unrealized Gains, Use Tax, Values

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The Bureaucrats Are First at the Trough: How the Rural Health Transformation Fund Kicks Off With Millions in Grants for Administrators

Spy Cameras Are Flocking To Idaho – Your City Could Be Next

BREAKING: DHS Confirm Identity of Alleged Suspect in Boise Greenbelt Assault as Illegal Alien

The Ratchet Only Goes One Way: Boise’s Ever Increasing Property Taxes

PRESS RELEASE: ABORTION INITIATIVE IS ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT

"Becoming Big Brother": Alcohol Ordinance Proposal Sparks Backlash In Idaho Falls

Elections and Their Consequences for Idaho

Coverage vs. Care (Part 2): What Was Lost and Why

Coverage vs. Care (Part 1)

Property Tax Relief Options Explained

Unconstitutional Programs and the Administrative State: Stopping the 1419 Project

The Property Tax: Expensive and Outdated

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