Idaho Pulse

Bob Neugebauer and Dylan Stocker break down the DOJ suing Idaho over voter rolls, revealing how Big Ag's dependence on illegal labor explains why Idaho's Republican leadership blocks immigration reform, resists Trump's agenda, and systematically defunds county sheriffs — with Stocker warning Idaho is 10 years from becoming Colorado if citizens don't engage now.

Bob Neugebauer and Ron Nate of the Idaho Freedom Foundation deliver a final-week 2026 session verdict: the $800 million in promised spending cuts have been swallowed by enhancements, pushing the budget to $14.2 billion with more possibly coming. Zero tax relief passed. Key conservative bills — grocery tax repeal, Medicaid repeal, CPS reform, medical freedom — are buried in committee drawers while rat abatement and kratom bills move freely. And a 5,000-person "No Kings" rally signals an organized left that conservatives are not currently matching.

Bob Neugebauer and Dylan Stocker deliver a wide-ranging indictment of Idaho's political establishment: a governor's race with no debates and a 16-to-1 campaign funding gap, a Big Ag machine that has run Idaho under both party names for decades, state spending approaching California's per-capita rate while rural EMS runs on fumes, a $70 million corporate-controlled Launch program, political lawfare against reform candidates, and an education system that labels 13-year-olds by party affiliation. The real conservatives are organizing — but time is short.

Bob Neugebauer and Ron Nate of the Idaho Freedom Foundation tear through the final weeks of Idaho's 2026 legislative session: a $14.1 billion budget hemorrhaging through agency enhancements, conservative bills buried in Senate committee drawers, only 13 of 105 legislators scoring an A on the Freedom Index, Big Ag thuggery targeting a senator's family business, and a Firearms and Freedom Dinner celebrating 10 years of constitutional carry in Idaho.

Bob Neugebauer and Dylan Stocker tear into Idaho's legislature as session wraps, exposing a stark budget imbalance: a $14.2 billion state budget versus $800 million for all 44 counties combined. Stocker reveals sheriffs have been blocked from the statehouse for years, unfunded mandates are piling on, rural EMS runs on fumes, and House Bill 659 attempts to conscript sheriffs into ICE enforcement with zero additional funding. The state is hoarding revenue while property taxpayers foot the bill.

Bob Neugebauer and Ron Nate tackle Idaho's spiraling budget crisis where $800 million in maintenance cuts were wiped out by $800 million in agency enhancements. Nate details how committee chairs are killing popular bills—the union funding ban passed the House 45-23 but sits in Dan Foreman's drawer, while Jim Guthrie buries immigration bills to protect big ag interests. The conversation pivots to House Bill 850, IFF's highest-rated bill to repeal the $1.3 billion Medicaid expansion program that was sold to voters on understated cost projections now proven wildly inaccurate.

Bob Neugebauer and Ron Nate expose the committee chairman "drawer" system killing Idaho legislation. Senator Jim Guthrie buries three House-passed immigration bills while Senator Dan Foreman refuses to hear a teachers' union dues bill he personally sponsored. Nate details how $769 million in promised budget cuts have been devoured by JFAC enhancement spending, tracks the teachers' union fight against school choice, and previews Idaho Freedom Foundation's Firearms and Freedom Dinner marking 10 years of constitutional carry.

Bob Neugebauer and Ron Nate dig into the numbers behind Idaho's 2026 legislative session—884 bills prepared but only 9 passed both chambers. Nate details the razor-thin 18-17 Senate vote on $192 million in budget rescissions, the defeat of an Article 5 convention resolution, and why mosquito abatement districts fought informed consent legislation. The conversation turns to CPS reform, the Baby Cyrus case, Governor Little hiring Chris LaCivita, Trump's endorsement, and the closing of candidate filing.

Bob Neugebauer and Ron Nate dig into Idaho's growing budget deficit, where spending has outpaced revenue growth for six years running. Nate breaks down maintenance budgets, explains why pre-COVID spending levels should be the target, and pushes back on legislators who claim voting for big government is the hard vote. They tackle school choice tax credits—applications now exceed funding—legislative filing week strategy, a suspicious residency bill targeting a specific challenger, and federal land control.

Bob Neugebauer and Ron Nate break down Idaho's legislative session where serious bills on CPS reform, grocery tax repeal, cloud seeding oversight, and protecting children from harmful library materials are being killed by committee chairs while trivial bills on rat abatement, water ski mirrors, and Appaloosa license plates sail through. Nate details how the Idaho Freedom Foundation's bill rating system shapes legislation before it even reaches the floor and examines $900 million in federal rural healthcare dollars tied to the Big Beautiful Bill.