The Blog at MSPC

Licensure raises the price of entry into the trades’ labor market, artificially limiting the number of people who can enter it. Given the ever-important need for skilled laborers in the trades, this is a big concern. The research shows that Idaho has the ability to lower its licensure requirements without significant harm, and therefore should do so.

Over 300 teachers, principals, and community leaders came together for this year's event, giving a state-wide perspective on all the things we should be doing to better equip our parents and students with what they need to succeed in educating their youth.

Mountain States Policy Center (MSPC), the leading free-market think tank serving the Mountain West, is pleased to announce the hiring of Meg Goudy as Director of the Bill & Milly Kay Baldwin Center for Education.

Mountain States Policy Center has long argued that the goal should be using technology to cut waste and trim red tape so government employees can focus on what really matters and those activities that need human interaction.

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.”

The Gem State recently took two important steps demonstrating its commitment to unleashing the potential of nuclear energy.

Idaho is once again in the national spotlight for its willingness to innovate and modernize. The latest effort? Fighting fires from space. During the 2025 Legislative Session, AI cameras for detecting fires became a "hot" topic of discussion.

If the courts adopt the unions’ radical theory, Idaho’s tax code could be turned upside down, creating chaos for families, uncertainty for schools, and higher costs for everyone. That’s not justice—it’s activism at its worst.

Public schools and education choice are not enemies. They are complementary tools that serve the same purpose: ensuring every child has access to a quality education that fits their needs.

There is no mention of improving outcomes for Idaho children. Instead, petitioners spend nearly nine pages of the legal filing arguing they have standing and another nine pages begging the court to require taxpayers reimburse their attorney fees.

Moscow’s school board isn’t standing up for students. Instead, it's standing in the way of parents, punishing taxpayers, and trying to take choices away from Idaho families who need them most.

Think about that: a school board, funded by taxpayers, making decisions that affect families, students, and teachers—telling the press and the public to put their cameras away.

Yes, the state technically “met its goals,” but no one should be satisfied with half of Idaho kids struggling to meet watered-down expectations.

When the Supreme Court issues a ruling, whose job is it to enforce it? Everyone who’s taken high school civics can tell you the executive branch enforces the law. But what happens when the law needs to be enforced against the executive branch?

Changes are coming to Idaho’s current budget with Governor Little acting swiftly to focus on government efficiencies in response to changing revenue projections.

Idaho’s new school choice program is turning up the heat. That’s great news — because every school, public or private, should have to prove its worth.

It has been fifty years since the four dams on the Lower Snake River were completed. Originally built to provide transportation, they now create the equivalent of one-third of the electricity generated in Idaho, helping balance the growing amount of wind and solar energy across the Pacific Northwest.

In most respects, Idaho and Montana have been enthusiastic in their pursuit of tax competitiveness. But if there’s one area of tax policy on which they are worse than their peers, it’s in their incorporation of GILTI—the federal tax on Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income—into their own state tax codes. Not even California or Illinois does that.

The Gem State’s current budget has a decent ending fund balance, substantial budget reserves on hand, and many important fiscal tools available should the economic outlook for the state and country change.

The full implementation of HB 93 (school choice tax credit) is moving forward, and families are invited to register for an online webinar on August 19 or an in-person seminar in Boise on August 26 to learn more about how to apply for the tax credit.