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Policy

A Roadmap for Ending Property Taxes

By Fred Birnbaum
September 23, 2024
Governor Little recently issued a press release claiming that since assuming office in 2019, his administration cut taxes paid by Idaho residents by $4.6 billion — cumulative through 2025. This figure includes income tax cuts, property tax reductions, one-time rebates, an increase to the grocery credit, a childcare deduction, and a reduction in unemployment taxes. […]

How Idaho Could Become a Paragon of Financial Liberty in 2025

By Niklas Kleinworth
September 19, 2024
Amidst national debate and despite advancements in over a dozen other states, Idaho’s lawmakers have a long history of rejecting sound money policy. But that could all change in 2025. Rising prices, growing surveillance, and reduced financial access gave rise to Idahoans’ concerns for their savings, privacy, and livelihoods. Now is the time for Idaho […]

Over a Dozen States Recently Adopted Sound Money Policy — Idaho Isn’t One of Them

By Niklas Kleinworth
September 18, 2024
As Idaho struggles to pass sound money policies, 13 states — including several neighbors in the west — were successful. This legislation includes defending digital asset rights, banning central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and getting gold on the balance sheet. While sound money became mainstream in the presidential election discourse, states are leading on these […]

Political Games Leave Idahoans’ Finances (and Liberties) Vulnerable

By Niklas Kleinworth
September 16, 2024
Politicians are playing games with your money. I am not just talking about tax dollars but your very ability to bank, save, and transact. Idaho politicians had the opportunity in past legislative sessions to defend residents’ financial liberties, but they fell short. Today, Idaho still lacks the sound monetary policies to guarantee a stable, constitutional, […]

Unregulated School Choice Works Best for Children and for Private Schools

By Scott Yenor
September 10, 2024
Recent primary elections have brought the national momentum behind school choice to Idaho. The Gem State has yet to adopt universal school choice, but 2025 looks like the year for the Legislature to adopt either an education savings account (ESA) or an educational tax credit policy. Some may be tempted to oppose school choice from […]

DEI Takedown Olympics: Idaho Left Behind as Red States Work to Dismantle DEI

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.
September 9, 2024
A handful of red states are working to dismantle racist diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in education and government that often and ironically discriminate against some groups of students while favoring other groups of students.  But Idaho is trailing the pack.  States like Texas, Florida, and Utah have taken steps in recent months and […]

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Needs to be Replaced with Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence

By Fred Birnbaum
September 4, 2024
The late British novelist and author George Orwell understood how language could be twisted to invert its meaning and camouflage intentions. “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a […]
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Legislators Must Rein-In Bureaucratic Spending on Idaho Child Care Programs

By Niklas Kleinworth
September 3, 2024
This article originally appeared in Reason magazine on August 28, 2024. The original post can be viewed at Reason.com. Projections show the Idaho Child Care Program — known as the ICCP — has a nearly $16 million budget deficit due to bureaucrats over-expanding eligibility and overpaying for benefits. As conservatives rightly respond with cuts, more […]

DEI Working Group: Another exercise in futility?

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.
August 28, 2024
Last week, Idaho House Speaker Mike Moyle sent invitations to a few legislators to serve on an eight-member Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Education Working Group. It's unclear who will lead the group and who else will serve on the panel. Please forgive the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) for not falling over ourselves with […]

Idaho left behind as education choice advances nationwide 

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.
August 16, 2024
Red states across the country are rushing to free their youngest residents from the confines of broken public school systems.  But not Idaho. At least, not yet.  Nationally, 11 states offer universal education choice accounts for students, allowing state education dollars to follow students to private schools and other options best meeting student needs. Louisiana […]
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School Choice 2025: Nero, Ford, and Friedman

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.
August 14, 2024
In my 30-plus years of policy analysis and 10-plus years of public service, I’ve noticed one problem and its solution have stood out as the most frustratingly simple, yet near impossible to accomplish, at the same time. The problem: Idaho’s public school system lacks the incentives for efficiency and excellence. Grown-ups know it, parents are […]
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Setting the education choice gold standard for Idaho

By Fred Birnbaum
August 13, 2024
A child only gets one chance to secure a good educational foundation. When a child enters kindergarten or the first grade, parents should expect the best educational options to fit their needs. In the United States, this historically meant that more affluent families could decide whether to send their children to public schools or to […]
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