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.

Teachers’ unions are known for filing lawsuits against school choice, and as expected, on September 26, 2025, a committee led by the Idaho Education Association (IEA) filed suit with the Idaho Supreme Court, asking justices to declare a Writ of Prohibition to prevent House Bill 93’s Parental Choice Tax Credit from opening on January 15, 2026 . ​ On November 10, 2025, Mountain States Policy Center filed an amicus brief addressing the IEA’s claims with national case law analys

Note: This is a joint op-ed with Liya Palagashvili  of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University . 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. Together, they generate over $9 billion annuall

The trades, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning), face a growing concern surrounding what could most accurately be labeled a retirement crisis. Some estimates say that for every five journeyman who retire from the trades , only two apprentices from a younger generation will replace them.  Licensure raises the price of entry into the trades’ labor market, artificially limiting the number of people who can enter it. Given the ever-importan

On October 24 th , 2025, I was honored to be a keynote speaker at the Idaho Department of Education’s 10th Annual Family and Community Engagement Conference in Sun Valley, ID. 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. The keynote addressed my most recent research p

The federal Medicare health insurance program for seniors has been overbudget since its inception in 1965. By 1990, the plan was at least nine times over the original budget as determined by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). 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. A bipartisan bill, The No UPCOD

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. The ruling reversed decades of precedent requiring courts to defer to a U.S. agency’s interpretation of laws. This meant that federal judges were required to favor the government over individual taxpayers or businesses, regardless of how far off base an agency's interpretation strayed from common sense or a plain re

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