Policy

Losing Streak – Idaho Education Freedom

By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D.

December 7, 2023

Remember last year when education choice was the front-burner issue in the Idaho legislature? Remember when the education establishment was petrified about Idaho possibly creating a true school choice paradigm to help students and families find the best education without having to pay even more for tuition on top of their taxes? Remember when the […]

TAGS: Freedom, Government Schools, Idaho Education, School System

Department of Health and Welfare mistakenly double pays $32 million in benefits

By Niklas Kleinworth

December 1, 2023

According to internal communications within the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the department mistakenly double-paid more than $32 million in welfare benefits and dropped other payments entirely during the month of November. The message notes these issues are part of the challenges many departments are facing with implementing the LUMA system, Idaho’s new integrated […]

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Task force fails to offer solutions for Medicaid as program costs projected to soar

By Niklas Kleinworth

December 1, 2023

The Medicaid Managed Care Task Force released its final report this week detailing how it plans to curb Idaho’s oversized spending on medical welfare. But it offered no solutions, paying no mind to controlling the rampant costs of the program. The task force merely offered to sustain the existing structure of Idaho’s Medicaid program. The […]

TAGS: Healthcare, JFAC, Medicaid, Medical Care

Idaho’s Legislature is more open than ever, but the public is still barred in one key area

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President

November 30, 2023

In March 1972, the Idaho House of Representatives was in the middle of debating the adoption of a new criminal law code when legislative leadership abruptly and unexpectedly put a halt to the discussion. The reason: one of the members, Rep. Wayne Loveless, a Pocatello Democrat, had phoned one of his local radio stations, holding […]

TAGS: Appropriations, JFAC, Legislature

Meet Alex, a kid lost in the cracks of Idaho’s sprawling medical welfare program

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President

November 28, 2023

Boise Democrat Lauren Necochea says this time of year reminds her of “the ways in which we care for one another.” And, she writes, “[O]ne of the best ways we do this as Idahoans is through Medicaid” which “provides necessary care for our children, pregnant Idahoans, seniors who need nursing home care, and both adults […]

TAGS: Medicaid

Director Jeppesen’s retirement from Health & Welfare should not end scrutiny of scandals

By Fred Birnbaum

November 21, 2023

Idaho Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen’s recent retirement announcement followed the previous week’s Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee (JFAC) fall budget review. We can’t be sure that the two are connected, but there were two damaging reports tied to Health and Welfare under his leadership. IFF has covered one of the scandals related to […]

TAGS: Dave Jeppesen, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, IDHW, Jeppesen

Top 6 Reasons Why Idaho’s Lt. Governor Scott Bedke isn’t a conservative

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President

November 16, 2023

Legacy newspaper columnist Chuck Malloy offers up an interesting bit of historical fiction in his latest column on Idaho government and Idaho's lieutenant governor. Writes Malloy, "It wasn’t long ago when now — Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke was part of a House leadership team that was widely viewed as one of the most conservative in […]

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Judicial Council illegally (and once again) hides records regarding Supreme Court appointment

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President

November 14, 2023

Last legislative session, lawmakers frustrated with the process the Idaho Judicial Council deployed to fill judicial vacancies passed a law to change things up a bit. One of those reforms required the council, when it reports to the governor with names of candidates for the court, to “provide to the governor a report summarizing the […]

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Winder abuses office in attempt to silence conservatives

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President

November 13, 2023

Senate Pro Tem Chuck Winder is using his position of power to intimidate and silence legislators with whom he disagrees. For that, he deserves to be investigated for ethics violations. Sadly, that will likely never happen because Senate rules require ethics complaints to go through him, which is emblematic of the authoritarian system devised and […]

TAGS: Chuck Winder, Committee, Idaho Senate

Conservatives got beat in local elections because the system is rigged for leftists

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President

November 8, 2023

There’s been a lot of chatter today about election results from local elections across Idaho. To put it politely, candidates from the “right” got their butts handed to them. Leftists — and leftist-supported candidates — won city council and school board races statewide. Why? Answers follow: These are easy problems to fix. First, there’s nothing […]

TAGS: Boise, November 2023 Election

Tax cuts should be on the table in January

By Fred Birnbaum

November 8, 2023

It has been several months since the Division of Financial Management released the latest data on how much taxes the state has collected. The agency isn’t hiding the data; it was just a function of getting the state’s new Luna software to sync with the Tax Commission. We don’t have all of the numbers because […]

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Little’s Supreme Court appointment of Cynthia Meyer is probably mostly about gender

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President

November 6, 2023

All this time, I put former Attorney General Lawrence Wasden as the odds-on favorite for being added to the state Supreme Court. He was Gov. Brad Little's bootlicking footsoldier, especially during the time of COVID, giving the governor unchallenged authority to unilaterally change laws, spend money without the approval of the Legislature, and ignore the […]

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Policy

Losing Streak – Idaho Education Freedom

Department of Health and Welfare mistakenly double pays $32 million in benefits

Task force fails to offer solutions for Medicaid as program costs projected to soar

Idaho’s Legislature is more open than ever, but the public is still barred in one key area

Meet Alex, a kid lost in the cracks of Idaho’s sprawling medical welfare program

Director Jeppesen’s retirement from Health & Welfare should not end scrutiny of scandals

Top 6 Reasons Why Idaho’s Lt. Governor Scott Bedke isn’t a conservative

Judicial Council illegally (and once again) hides records regarding Supreme Court appointment

Winder abuses office in attempt to silence conservatives

Conservatives got beat in local elections because the system is rigged for leftists

Tax cuts should be on the table in January

Little’s Supreme Court appointment of Cynthia Meyer is probably mostly about gender

Latest Research

Idaho Freedom Index

Policy

Losing Streak – Idaho Education Freedom

Department of Health and Welfare mistakenly double pays $32 million in benefits

Task force fails to offer solutions for Medicaid as program costs projected to soar

Idaho’s Legislature is more open than ever, but the public is still barred in one key area

Meet Alex, a kid lost in the cracks of Idaho’s sprawling medical welfare program

Director Jeppesen’s retirement from Health & Welfare should not end scrutiny of scandals

Top 6 Reasons Why Idaho’s Lt. Governor Scott Bedke isn’t a conservative

Judicial Council illegally (and once again) hides records regarding Supreme Court appointment

Winder abuses office in attempt to silence conservatives

Conservatives got beat in local elections because the system is rigged for leftists

Tax cuts should be on the table in January

Little’s Supreme Court appointment of Cynthia Meyer is probably mostly about gender

Latest Research

Idaho Freedom Index

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