The Blog at MSPC

Washington already has the highest per-resident debt in the region, owing approximately $15,400 per capita, making it the 11th highest in the nation. While more maintenance and preservation dollars are needed, a significant amount would go to add-ons like bike lanes on highways in lieu of preserving the system that carries the most traffic.

One reason property taxes are a blazing issue in Montana is that the state constitution affords insufficient protection against tax hikes.

We have dozens of policy recommendations for lawmakers to consider. These reforms can be acted on even with the challenging budget situations across the states. Here are a couple of our top recommendations for Idaho, Washington and Wyoming lawmakers

As we prepare for the start of the 2026 Legislative Session in a few weeks in Idaho, Washington and Wyoming (there’s no legislative session next year in Montana), it’s a good time to look back and reflect on the many exciting things that occurred in 2025. Here are just a few that stand out

Ada County officials have significantly increased development impact fees to pay for transportation projects, passing an ordinance to charge

States and local governments across America have collectively accumulated over $6 trillion in liabilities, roughly $5 trillion of which are

Just as low-quality steel will lead to a lower quality chassis of a car, poorly educated American workers will lead to a drop in quality of

During his recent speech at the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho (ATI) conference, Governor Little noted how “C.O.W.s” are one of the state’s current challenges, but also an opportunity.  

The Wyoming Supreme Court made the right decision earlier this month to pause education mandates from Laramie District Judge Peter Froelicher that seemed more like royal decrees. Legislators can now wait until the appeal to his February 26 order is decided in the Wyoming Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case on November 12.

The Tax Foundation's State Competitiveness Index reveals which states are taxpayer-friendly for both individuals and businesses. States are ranked based on income, sales, excise, property, capital gains, corporate, payroll, estate, and VAT consumption taxes.

Roughly three out of four businesses say they’ve been hit directly by the recent sales tax on services or B&O tax increases. More than half are raising prices because of it. The rest are just absorbing the blow and hoping things calm down.

Whether and where to attend college can be a life-changing decision with significant impacts on an individual's future job opportunities and potential debt liabilities. Students, parents, and policymakers all have a vested interest in ensuring the return on investment is worth the considerable expense. 

What comes back from the dead more frequently than Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger? Efforts to impose an income tax in Washington State. Like those perennial terrors, this income tax fixation in the Evergreen State should finally die, too.

This exciting new tax credit was enacted through House Bill 93 to help Idaho families pay for qualified private education expenses.

Calls to abolish the property tax are growing louder across the country as elected representatives respond to constituents' increasing concerns about rising property assessments and tax bills. Wyoming is one of the states currently having this debate. What happens there next could be a lesson for lawmakers in other states.

Moody’s Ratings, one of the major global credit review companies, has reaffirmed its highest credit rating for Idaho while saying the state’s credit “outlook remains stable.”

With a federal government shutdown upon us and even more importantly, ballooning national debt jeopardizing the solvency of Social Security and Medicare in less than 10 years and other basic government functions, states must start preparing for changes in federal support.

Idaho’s top real estate agents are not cashing commissions in Boise—they’re writing tax laws in Olympia. Washington legislators keep raising the cost of doing business so fast that they may as well set up a relocation desk for Idaho.

It is noteworthy that despite the reduction, revenues are still projected to grow overall in Washington, yet there is still a $421 million deficit forecasted. As already occurred in Idaho, the Evergreen State needs to right-size its budget by reducing spending.

Fifty years ago, government shutdowns didn’t exist. But now, each fall, the nation groans as Congress turns one of its most fundamental duties—passing a budget—into a manufactured crisis.