Huge Victories in Idaho State Legislative Session 2023

Dear Arthur,

I want to take just a moment to thank you for all your support during this legislative session. Thanks to you, we were able to make a difference on a wide range of issues confronting lawmakers. The result is a reduction in property taxes, more accountability for the spending of public money, and the protection of our children, just to name a few of the accomplishments.

The Legislature’s work is basically done now. Lawmakers are in recess until next Thursday when they’ll take up any vetoes by Gov. Brad Little.

This was my 29th legislative session, and it was like none other before it. IFF’s policy expertise was the key to many victories. For example, lawmakers used our research to:

— Reduce the governor’s proposed medical assistance budget, saving taxpayers $152 million.

— Eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood’s sex education program in Idaho’s public schools, and drop funding for needle exchanges and paraphernalia distribution for drug users that you’d expect in leftist states.

— End government subsidization of Pride events.

— Protect Idaho children from woke “gender-affirming” medical procedures and propaganda.

— Pass legislation to protect kids from being exposed to pornography in government-run libraries.

— Reduce property taxes for homeowners without raising taxes on renters, businesses, and farms.

— Kick a leftist education bureaucrat off the state Public Charter School Commission.

And that’s just a small sampling of what we did this year. There’s soooooo much more to tell, and we’ll spend the next several weeks talking about the good, the bad, and the very ugly of the months gone by.

For now, I ask you to savor the moment. We got a lot done. We had a lot of victories on many issues — some that you’ve read about and others that were ignored by the leftist media.

There were, of course, also a number of disappointments. But we’ll get to those later. For now, I thank you again for your support in what I’d consider a successful 2023 legislative session. And remember to check out the Idaho Freedom Index to see how your legislators did on issues important to you.

Yours for freedom,