Legislative sessions: what lawmakers should and shouldn't do

Policymakers, start your engines. Important legislative sessions are starting next week in Idaho and Washington. A short budget session will also kick off in February in Wyoming. There is no legislative session this year in Montana. At the top of the agenda for all the states will be the budgets. Many other important policies will also be considered by lawmakers.

To help frame the debate, Mountain States Policy Center will be releasing our new Idaho and Washington polls. The Idaho Poll will be featured at an exclusive policy briefing at the state capitol in Boise on January 12. The release of the Washington Poll will be live-streamed on January 13.

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:

• Amend the state constitution to require a supermajority legislative vote or voter approval for tax increases;
  

• Adopt property tax transparency with Truth in Taxation;
  

• Require public notice of at least 72 hours before any legislative hearing and require all legislative committees permit remote testimony (Idaho);
  

• Avoid adoption of any income tax (Washington/Wyoming);
  

• Avoid a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax;
  

• Adopt the Public School Transparency Act;
  

• Support efforts to require a federal balanced budget amendment;
  

• Adopt pro-market housing reforms;

  
  

• Adopt a free-market legislative framework for short-term rentals to protect property rights and expand housing opportunities;
  

• Adopt portable benefits reform for the self-employed;
  

• Support local control of public lands to decrease federal mismanagement;
  

• Tie transportation spending to performance measures; and
  

• Adopt Truth in Labeling for gas taxes.

The full list of our legislative priorities for the 2026 Legislative Sessions in Idaho, Washington and Wyoming are below.

Additional details on these recommendations (and many more) are available in our Policy Manual.

Our policy recommendations are based on a core set of principles:

• Government should be limited and focused on core functions;
  

• Where there is competition and freedom of choice, outcomes improve;
  

• Private property rights are essential to a free society;
  

• The price of goods and services should be determined by supply and demand;
  

• Policymakers should focus on incentives rather than coercion;
  

• Regulations should be practical, predictable and limited; and
  

• Freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas should never be curtailed.

As for our role during the coming legislative sessions, there are certain things we will (and won't) do:

• We will work to empower individuals and businesses to succeed through non-partisan, quality research that promotes free enterprise, individual liberty and limited government;
  

• We won't pressure lawmakers or call people names;
  

• We will produce ideas and analysis that inform the debate - and let those ideas do the talking;
  

• We won't attend a public hearing unless invited by lawmakers to offer testimony;
  

• We will review various proposals and legislation, offering analysis; and
  

• We won't grade bills or any lawmaker.

  
  

Our policy experts look forward to working with lawmakers across the region to help advance these policy reforms during the 2026 Legislative Sessions.