The Blog at MSPC

The Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit is a new refundable tax credit program that allows parents to apply for a tax credit of up to $5,000 for each eligible student, and up to $7,500 for each eligible special needs student, for qualified education expenses.

Decades of federal forest managers pursuing suppression-focused tactics led to a logjam of unmanaged forests waiting to ignite. Current federal policies barely chip away at the buildup, with only 0.08% of public lands treated with prescribed fire. A rate far below the accumulation of vulnerable fuels on public lands in the mountain states.

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.

As statistics refute themselves, regulations harm more than protect, and trade barriers exasperate challenges facing domestic producers, the government’s role in farming is only adding to the red.

One of America’s most respected constitutional scholars, his addition represents a major advance for MSPC and significantly expands the organization’s legal and constitutional research capacity.

The decision may put to rest objections in the Montana legislature to calling for a “convention of states” to address the federal government’s dysfunction.

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.

A small group of agitators may be determined to intimidate parents, but the rest of Idaho shouldn’t let them. These meetings belong to families. The conversation belongs to the community.

On November 10, 2025, Mountain States Policy Center filed an amicus brief addressing the IEA’s claims with national case law analysis demonstrating that HB 93 is a constitutionally sound program that serves a legitimate public purpose benefiting Idahoans.

Across Idaho, more than 160,000 people earn income—whether as a primary or supplemental source—through self-employment, contract work, or small business ownership. They include truckers, delivery drivers, freelance creatives, childcare providers, and self-employed farmers and tradespeople who remain central to Idaho’s economy.

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.

Eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the program would seem to be a noncontroversial first step to decrease the financial burden on taxpayers and guarantee that future generations of seniors have access to Medicare.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is reshaping federal land use in Wyoming and policy throughout the United States.

When politicians start promising cheaper milk and lettuce, it’s time to check your wallet—and your common sense.

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.

MSPC was named one of five national winners of The Heritage Foundation’s Innovation Prize, recognizing outstanding projects that strengthen civic education and advance America’s founding principles.