The Blog at MSPC

Washington continues to rack up poor rankings as one of the most unaffordable states in the country. A recent report shows the Evergreen State as the 5th most expensive state in the United States.

Local governments across the country are engaging in a slow-motion seizure of private property rights—but in Idaho, lawmakers just put a stop to it.

Despite a massive hydroelectric advantage, Washington will continue to become more expensive due to its energy tax and regulatory policies, while Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are likely to see the cost curve bend with their support for bringing more nuclear power online.

The growth of Idaho and Montana’s largest counties is not happening in isolation. It is part of a broader rebalancing across the West—one driven by policy, affordability, and opportunity.

Idaho homebuyers have few attainable choices in the existing marketplace. These proposed policies deregulate the housing restrictions that are barring new entrants, creating more attainable choices in the marketplace.  

The data suggests that the consequences are measurable—in dollars, in jobs, and in opportunity.

The people of Washington must now consider a question once familiar to Americans: what recourse remains when government refuses to listen?

With one single vote, lawmakers have decided to defy legal precedent, blow up the state’s business climate, and deny citizens their right of referendum. A trifecta of bad policy that firmly signals “Choose Washington” is a slogan and strategy of the past.

HB 583 establishes a clear statewide standard for short-term rentals (STRs), ensuring that local governments cannot impose arbitrary restrictions that effectively prohibit homeowners from renting their property.

A new policy analysis released today by the Mountain States Policy Center raises questions about Idaho’s licensing requirements for journeyman electricians, finding that the state requires additional classroom hours that are not required in several other states with which Idaho maintains license reciprocity.

The reality today is that policymakers are making it increasingly harder to thrive and innovate within the ever-increasing tax and regulatory burden. The numerous economic reports are a loud warning that, unless a course correction is made, more entrepreneurs will be looking elsewhere to do business.

The Fast Track Permits Act is a great start to making housing more affordable and attainable in Wyoming. And in coming years, legislators should continue to find ways to allow more people across the income spectrum to enjoy home ownership and build generational wealth.

Idaho’s regulatory stewardship is impressive, but there is always room for improvement. HB 539 offers these favorable reforms that protect the role of the legislature and limit the ability of the executive branch to go overboard with the definition of an ‘emergency.’

Now Washington state legislators want to take this experiment statewide, arguing that a new 3-cent sugar-sweetened beverage tax will improve health outcomes and fight hunger. It sounds noble. It sounds decisive. And it’s deeply disconnected from reality.

Wyoming just took an important step toward modernizing how work and benefits fit together. Lawmakers have introduced Senate File 41, a bill that would authorize the creation and use of portable benefit accounts for independent contractors—accounts that can pay for benefits like health insurance and retirement, without affecting a worker’s classification.

The appeal is obvious: if prices are too high, force them down. Unfortunately, economics doesn’t work that way — and decades of evidence show that interest-rate caps, however well-intentioned, end up hurting the very people they’re meant to help.

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

History is rarely kind to policies that treat property rights as expendable. Housing affordability will not be achieved by suffocating peaceful uses of private property, but by expanding supply and allowing markets to respond to demand.

Good headlines don’t make good policy — especially when the real effects rip through the labor market and everyday life.

Did you know that Wyoming is only one of four states in the U.S. with a completely government-run workers’ compensation insurance system? Wa