We are now less than two weeks away from the start of the first regular session of the 68th Idaho Legislature. Before the session begins on Monday, January 6, 2025, I wanted to take a moment and lay out my own priorities for our lawmakers. This is my baseline for the coming year, the metrics I will use to determine if the session is a success or a failure.
Earlier this year, I laid out a succinct summary of my political principles:
The purpose of government is to protect life, liberty, and property, and a safe, healthy, and fulfilled society must be founded on the eternal truths of God that built Western Civilization.
What does that mean with regards to policy?
- Protecting Children: Ban abortion as strictly as feasible, protect children from harmful materials, and ensure a functional public school system by allowing money to follow the student.
- Protecting Resources: Ensure equitable access to water and provide cheap, reliable energy, with nuclear as the future. Remove government regulations that make housing and resources expensive, while protecting them for future generations.
- Reducing Taxes and Spending: Minimize government spending, as every dollar spent is taken from taxpayers.
- Enforcing the Border: Use every resource to expel those here illegally and punish businesses that knowingly hire them.
- Eliminating DEI, CRT, and Radical Gender Theory: These programs aim to divide and destroy, and must be removed from the public square.
A few months later, I asked you to give me your priorities, which I then shared with readers. Most everyone wants to see spending cuts, traditional values protected, illegal immigration dealth with, school choice, and tax relief.
Finally, last week, I walked through the results of the Idaho Poll sponsored by Mountain States Policy Center.
Based on all of this — my principles, your feedback, and the results of the poll — I’ve come up with a list of items I’d like to see addressed this coming year. When the session adjourns sine die in late March or early April, I will use this list to determine how successful our lawmakers were in accomplishing our priorities.
Eliminate DEI
- The State Board of Education has already instructed public colleges and universities to eliminate DEI programs. The Legislature must give this initiative some teeth, passing laws against such anti-American discrimination. I will carry a resolution to this effect at the Idaho GOP Winter Meeting next month. I’d also like to see action against DEI in public schools as well as businesses that contract with state government.
Cut Spending
- Government spending will naturally go up due to inflation and population growth, but the increase over the past decade has far outstripped those factors. The maintenance budget process has created a framework to allow for real spending cuts, and I expect the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to be more strict with state agencies requesting more money. Will this lead to the first real reduction in the state budget in living memory? I mean a real reduction, counting federal money and transfers. We shall see.
Cut Taxes
- Tax cuts are the flip side of the fiscal coin along with spending cuts. Idaho’s income taxes are currently much higher than surrounding states, so those need to continue coming down. Property taxes are levied at the local level, but people still expect the Legislature to take more action to relieve property owners of that burden. Finally, a large majority of Idahoans want to see groceries exempted from the sales tax. I expect either a full repeal or an increase in the food tax credit this session.
Regulatory Reform
- DOGE — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — is all the rage right now, and everyone wants to jump on the train. Gov. Brad Little is taking credit for reducing red tape in Idaho, along with many in the Legislature and even the bureaucracy. There will be a lot of noise around cutting regulations this session, but I want to see real improvements, not simply consolidating words or deferring to federal rules.
Immigration
- A year ago, the McClure Center estimated that there were 35,000 illegal aliens employed in Idaho. The lobbyist for the Idaho Dairymen’s Association estimated that 70% of workers in that industry might fail an audit of their guest worker documentation. It’s time to enforce the law and remove those who are here illegally. It’s also time to put to rest this notion that we need foreign workers to “do the jobs Idahoans won’t do”.
School Choice
- Even Gov. Little and Supt. Debbie Critchfield are on board with some sort of school choice legislation, which means we’re likely to see a watered down bill with broad support. Let’s do better. Let’s get a tax credit or ESA bill that provides something near what Idaho taxpayers spend per student — $8,500. Let’s make sure that homeschool families have the opportunity to take advantage of this program without them worrying about future government intrusion into their educational choices. Let’s get it done.
State Sovereignty
- From the Bureau of Land Management ignoring widespread opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Farm to the federal government’s mismanagement of forests leading to terrible wildfires, it’s clear that we need local control of our own backyard. I’m not sure if that means somehow taking control of federal lands, or working out a better deal with Washington DC to manage them. Either way, something needs to be done. We must also protect the Snake River Dams. We also need to start weaning ourselves off of federal funds, which compromised 40% of our state’s budget last year.
Sound Money
- Gov. Little vetoed a bill last year that would have allowed the state treasurer to invest a portion of the state’s holdings in silver and gold. I want to see that bill come back with a veto-proof majority. I also want to see protection for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as protection from any future central bank digital currency.
Personal Liberty
- We need a ban on mask mandates. We need an anti-SLAPP law. We need strong protections for our constitutional rights, with an enforcement mechanism when governments violate them. Teachers and school staff should have the right to carry concealed in public schools.
I believe this list is entirely achievable, and I hope you will join me in urging our lawmakers to act on these priorities. I will not only report on the session but also testify in support of these priorities whenever possible. After the Legislature adjourns, I will revisit this list to assess whether or not the year was successful based on these metrics.
This could be a momentous year for Idaho’s residents. I’m sure you’ve sensed the vibe shift in our nation over the last year. Let’s harness that momentum to foster lasting freedom and prosperity in the Gem State.
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About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
