The Idaho Transportation Department is moving forward with all active construction projects despite absorbing a $275 million reduction from its Strategic Initiatives Fund under Governor Brad Little’s “Enduring Idaho” budget plan — a cut that has pushed the department’s statewide unfunded project list past $2.7 billion. Projects Stalled, But Not Cancelled ITD has compiled what […]

A sweeping overhaul of the federal food stamp program is set to shift billions of dollars in costs onto state governments beginning in fall 2027, putting the fiscal future of SNAP in question for tens of millions of Americans who depend on it. The changes, enacted through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, represent the […]

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has joined a nearly nationwide coalition of state and territorial attorneys general calling on federal regulators to close loopholes that allow scammers to weaponize legitimate phone numbers for robocalls and fraudulent text messages. The coalition — spanning 48 states and territories — filed a formal request with the Federal Communications […]

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Juliet Charron says a major federal grant program aimed at rural healthcare infrastructure could deliver benefits well beyond hospital walls — potentially reshaping small-town economies across the state. “It’s really more than healthcare. I think it’s going to be an economic opportunity for some of our smaller communities,” […]

Idaho is now enforcing expanded federal work requirements for food assistance recipients, a policy shift that took effect in the state in April 2025 following congressional action the previous year. The change requires most able-bodied adults to meet an 80-hour monthly threshold — through employment, volunteering, or approved work programs — to continue receiving Supplemental […]

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz is moving forward with the most significant structural overhaul of the agency in roughly a century, consolidating operations into state-based offices and preparing to interview candidates for 15 newly created state director positions that drew approximately 300 applications. The reorganization dissolves regional offices that have operated since the Gifford […]

A one-year congressional ban blocking Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services is set to expire July 4, allowing federal and state Medicaid funds to once again flow to the organization’s clinics for routine healthcare. The lapse comes as Republican lawmakers work to extend the prohibition but have been unable to do so before […]

Idaho will receive $49.6 million in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2026, with 44 local governments across the state benefiting from the annual federal allocation announced Tuesday by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch. PILT payments compensate counties and municipalities for the presence of federal lands within their borders that cannot […]

More than 350 laws passed by the Idaho Legislature during the 2026 session take effect Tuesday, July 1, making this the most productive legislative year in at least five years in terms of bills signed into law. The new statutes span a broad range of policy areas, including execution methods, housing policy, protections for children […]

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 […]

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 […]