New Rules Begin in Four Months Idaho’s Medicaid expansion work requirements are set to take effect in January, giving the state’s roughly 85,000 expansion enrollees a limited window to understand and prepare for the new coverage rules. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare held its first public town hall on the requirements this week, […]

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador is among 15 state attorneys general who have sent a formal challenge to the world’s largest accounting firms, arguing that sweeping climate pledges made by those firms undermine the professional independence their clients are entitled to expect. The Firms and the Commitments at Issue The coalition directed its letter at […]

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture has detected quagga mussels in the Snake River near Twin Falls for the fourth consecutive year, though officials say the infestation is significantly smaller than in previous years — down 77% compared to 2025 — and a new round of chemical treatments is already underway. What Was Found As […]

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has secured a $29.6 million settlement with pharmaceutical company Glenmark tied to allegations of a drug price conspiracy, the attorney general’s office announced. The settlement represents one of the larger pharmaceutical enforcement actions involving Idaho in recent years. Drug pricing conspiracies typically involve agreements among manufacturers or distributors to artificially […]

The Idaho State Tax Commission has declined to release detailed data about the state’s new private school tax-credit program after receiving at least seven public records requests on the subject between February and July — frustrating researchers, journalists, and a former school administrator who sought basic information about where the money is going. What’s Being […]

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has formally requested that the federal government allow Idaho to manage its own grizzly bear population, pushing for full delisting of the species by December 2026. The request comes as the Trump administration has proposed revised rules for grizzly management that would reduce the regulatory burden on states and give […]

With more than three-quarters of Idaho currently experiencing drought conditions, researchers at Idaho State University are investigating whether underground barriers could help the state hold onto water that would otherwise flow away — a concept already proven in Japan but untested in the United States. Bruce Savage, professor and chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering […]

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador formally urged the federal government this week to remove grizzly bears from Endangered Species Act protections and transfer greater management authority to the states. Labrador’s comments were submitted in response to a Trump administration proposal issued July 17 that would revise the Endangered Species Act’s “4(d) rule” as it applies […]

A Crisis by the Numbers Southern Idaho is confronting its most severe water shortage on record this summer, with state calculations showing spring water demand reached nearly 140% of the historical average — a figure the Idaho Department of Water Resources has never previously recorded. The strain is falling hardest on agricultural users who depend […]

A legislative working group examining health insurance practices in Idaho heard testimony this week that accepting a Pocatello hospital’s reimbursement rate demands would have driven up costs for the roughly 65,000 state employees and family members covered under the state’s health plan. Working Group’s First Meeting The Idaho Legislature’s Health Insurers Working Group held its […]

A federal proposal that would tie public housing assistance to employment conditions is drawing a cautious, uneven response from Idaho’s public housing authorities, with some signing onto a voluntary coalition supporting the framework while others hold off. The Federal Proposal The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development earlier this year unveiled the Work and […]

A new fiscal policy analysis has found that Idaho lawmakers steered significantly more money toward incarceration infrastructure during the 2026 legislative session than toward programs aimed at reducing the prison population in the first place — a pattern the report’s author describes as prioritizing prisons over prevention. The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy released the […]