The Blog at MSPC

Amidst evidence of signature gatherers being harassed, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown is offering support to prosecute those trying to interfere with the initiative and referendum process. This is a refreshing and much-needed defense of the people’s sacred constitutional rights and the rule of law.

Data centers have the potential to be an economic boon to the regions in which they are built, along with laying the groundwork for advances in medicine, national defense, and other research. Slowing data center development must be done based on local context, including the consumption levels of the data center and regional water availability.

Recently, Washington state and Idaho reported success in aggressively pursuing fraud in their respective Medicaid programs.

For Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming – the 2025 rankings reinforce the idea that fiscal conservatism is no longer simply a political slogan in the region, but a defining component of economic strategy and regional identity. It’s also a reminder for Washington of the important fiscal reforms needed.

Those states that prioritize fiscal discipline and a low regulatory and tax burden are doing well. The opposite is true if a state fails to keep its fiscal and regulatory house in order.

Gregoire is not a conservative activist. She is not anti-government. She is one of the architects of modern Democratic leadership in Washington state. Which is exactly why her recent remarks to the Association of Washington Business were so striking.

Lawmakers across our region were very busy during the 2026 Legislative Sessions. More than 2,300 combined bills were introduced in Washington (1,157), Idaho (817), and Wyoming (335). There wasn’t a legislative session this year in Montana. Several of Mountain States Policy Center’s (MSPC) recommendations were among those to make it across the finish line.

U.S. energy demand is expected to rise by about 3.5% each year through 2040. There is already severe stress on our aging energy infrastructure, even before accounting for the power-hungry needs of new technologies.

Growing up in the era of pagers and pay phones, I survived cell phone-free until college. As a mom to a teenage boy, I tried to stave off phone use as long as possible. Debates on appropriate screen time, talks about cyberbullying, and warnings about predators have become the norm. For most students, cell phones are an integral part of everyday life, and thus, their use in school has become a contentious issue. Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are each addressing cell

Civic education doesn’t belong to one type of school or region. It belongs to everyone. Our hope is that teams will come from across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Eastern Washington, so students can meet peers from different communities, compete respectfully, and go home with a deeper appreciation for how our system works.

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.

Despite Washingtonians consistently and overwhelmingly rejecting income taxes and the legislature in 2024 enacting I-2111 to prohibit state or local income taxes, some lawmakers in the Evergreen State are again pushing for an income tax this year.

By opting in and embracing the federal education tax-credit scholarship program, Washington can expand opportunity, strengthen educational outcomes, and put families first.

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

Mountain States Policy Center's (MSPC) Board of Directors has unanimously approved the election of Tiffany Smiley to its Board of Directors,

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.

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.

Washington state’s ban on thin plastic grocery bags is increasing the amount of plastic used by shoppers and overall environmental harm, contrary to the intent of the law.

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.

Grocery competition doesn’t just come from the store down the street anymore—it comes from Amazon dropping food on your doorstep, Walmart offering rock-bottom prices, and Costco selling everything in bulk. Albertsons and Kroger needed each other to stand a chance.