ID Government

For school districts, educating students with disabilities who need services like a nurse or an ASL interpreter can be costly. Complex services can run a bill tens of thousands of dollars and be especially difficult for rural districts to afford. Last week, lawmakers advanced a bill to start to address the significant gap in Idaho’s special education funding. At the same time, they questioned ...

A bill criminalizing “willfully” entering a public bathroom of the opposite biological sex passed the Idaho House Wednesday.

BOISE – The Idaho Legislature should consider creating a statewide 911 program to address maintaining the emergency communication system as costs rise and technology ages, according to a new report issued Friday by an independent Idaho watchdog agency.

Idaho state lawmakers on Monday voted to move forward on a proposal to repeal the state’s Medicaid expansion plan, which provides health care coverage to about 90,000 lower-income residents. Before a narrow vote in the House Health and Welfare Committee to introduce the bill for a full committee hearing, some lawmakers indicated repeal would be a hasty move before they’ve had a chance to ...

For decades, the Lincoln Day Dinner at the Coeur d’Alene Resort has been a hallmark event for the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee and scores of conservatives in the region.

The reactions of Idaho lawmakers, lawyers and gun-rights activists to the killing of a Minnesota protester run the gamut. Some justify federal agents’ shooting of protester Alex Pretti, arguing that he put himself at risk because he had a gun. Others push back on that idea — which some officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have promoted — and are adamant that such a narrative ...

Gov. Brad Little called for the preservation of state funds for public education and vocational training in his annual State of the State address at the Idaho Capitol, even as he warned of spending cuts in a year of “budget pressures.” Little’s speech launched the state’s 69th legislative session, and Idaho’s part-time lawmakers are now set to stay in session until at least late March. In his ...

In recent months, Idaho lawmakers and state leaders have expressed angst over a projected state budget deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars. They have deliberated how to close the gap. Cut spending by slashing state programs? Reverse tax cuts enacted in the 2025 legislative session?

While there will be far fewer ballot initiatives affecting abortion access in the 2026 midterm elections than there were in the previous national election, two in Republican-led states could be consequential.

Residents voted the mayors of Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls out of office in Tuesday’s election, though many other North Idaho officials retained their seats.

A year after he was appointed Coeur d’Alene mayor, Woody McEvers is running against three opponents who also want the seat.

A court has dismissed a lawsuit by a former state senator against the Idaho Department of Education that accused the department of infringing on his family’s freedom of religious expression.

LEWISTON – It’s been more than half a century since Idaho voters sent anyone other than a Republican to the U.S. Senate. Now, a former Democratic state lawmaker is launching an independent bid to unseat an incumbent GOP senator in 2026, hoping that Idahoans share his frustration with both parties.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that cities could enforce bans on homeless encampments, Boise’s mayor pushed back. The city would continue to focus on increasing access to affordable housing, rather than on ticketing or fining people experiencing homelessness, she said.

Gov. Brad Little’s office last month told state agency directors to make internal plans for budget “holdbacks,” or midyear cuts in spending. Little also placed limits on budget requests.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors that likely sets a precedent for states with similar regulations like Idaho.

Idaho will spend more than $900,000 to renovate its execution chamber to accommodate a firing squad as its lead method, state prison officials told the Idaho Statesman.