Bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to renew a federal breast cancer education program aimed at women under 40 cleared a key Senate committee this week, moving one step closer to a full Senate vote. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved the reauthorization of the Breast Cancer Education and […]

Governor Brad Little signed an executive order Monday granting eligible Idaho state employees two additional paid days off to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, creating an extended Independence Day holiday around the official state observance. The Order Executive Order 2026-06, signed June 22, designates Thursday, July 2 and Monday, July 6 as additional paid leave […]

The Trump administration is advancing a broad set of changes to federal grazing regulations on public lands across the American West, drawing praise from livestock producers while raising questions about the federal government’s capacity to manage more than 240 million acres already stretched thin by staffing reductions. Modernizing Rules Unchanged Since 1995 The overhaul targets […]

Starting Tuesday, Idaho stands alone among U.S. states in designating the firing squad as its primary means of carrying out the death penalty. The shift, enacted through House Bill 37 signed by Gov. Brad Little in March 2025, took effect July 1, 2026, marking a significant departure from the lethal injection protocol the state had […]

A federal judge in Idaho heard nearly two hours of arguments Friday over whether to block a new state law requiring restroom use based on biological sex, with a ruling needed before the measure takes effect on Tuesday. The Case Before the Court Chief U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford presided over the hearing in Jackson-Edney […]

Idaho’s state revenue came in $21.1 million below forecast in May, a shortfall driven largely by underperforming individual income tax collections — though officials say the fiscal year as a whole remains on solid footing heading into its final weeks. Total May collections reached $367.1 million, falling 5.4% short of projections. Individual income tax receipts […]

A pair of investigative news outlets filed suit against two Idaho agencies in June, alleging that state officials deliberately cut off access to police employment records after prior reporting exposed widespread sexual misconduct among prison guards. InvestigateWest and the Invisible Institute filed their lawsuit on June 16 in Ada County District Court, naming the Idaho […]

Two Idaho abortion restrictions enacted in August 2022 are facing fresh constitutional scrutiny in court, with a maternal-fetal medicine specialist serving as the lead challenger — though courtroom admissions have raised questions about the strength of his case. The Laws at Issue Idaho’s Heartbeat Law and Defense of Life Act both took effect in August […]

The U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Regional office in Missoula has released an eight-page emergency logging plan covering more than 5 million acres across Montana and the Idaho Panhandle, responding to widespread wind damage that struck the region in December 2025 and April 2026. Scope of the Project The plan targets forest land across a broad […]

Idaho recorded the second-lowest payment error rate in the country for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during fiscal year 2024-2025, according to federal data — a ranking that places the state far ahead of most others as new national penalties for high-error states loom on the horizon. The state’s error rate came in at […]

Convention Delivers Broad Policy Agenda Idaho Republican Party delegates approved 18 resolutions at the party’s recent convention, covering topics ranging from property taxes and election integrity to nuclear energy and marijuana policy. The resolutions emerged from committee review and floor debate, representing the party’s formal position-taking process that occurs every two years at the convention […]

The Idaho Republican Party added a new plank to its official platform at its recent state convention, endorsing the elimination of property taxes — a move that could leave public schools facing a roughly $400 million annual funding gap with no clear replacement mechanism identified. The measure was championed by Scott Herndon, who defeated incumbent […]