Educational Choice Comes to Idaho

As reliable as a case of food poisoning after eating tainted oysters harvested in a toxic tide, Democrats lie and misrepresent the facts of what happens in law-making sessions each January thru March in Boise. And this year the lies are particularly wrenching, to put it politely. Broadly speaking, Republican leaders provided leadership across a wide variety of Idaho topics which would surprise anyone who ingests toxic news from extremist Leftwing news outlets.

Here’s a breakdown of the number of new laws by category from the 2025 legislative session:

1. Education & Schools – 15 new laws, covering topics like curriculum updates, school safety, tuition, and parental rights.
2. Taxation & Finance – 12 new laws, including income tax adjustments, property tax relief, and tax credits.
3. Public Safety & Criminal Justice – 18 new laws, addressing law enforcement, judicial procedures, crime prevention, and firearm regulations.
4. Health & Human Services – 20 new laws, covering healthcare regulations, medical licensing, insurance, and social services.
5. Infrastructure & Transportation – 10 new laws, related to roads, bridges, vehicle registration, and public utilities.
6. Natural Resources & Agriculture – 14 new laws, focusing on water rights, irrigation, environmental conservation, and agricultural policies.
7. Government Operations & Administration – 22 new laws, affecting state agencies, elections, public records, and administrative procedures.

If you were counting, that’s over 100 new laws, bittersweet to be sure. That number would be much higher if Democrats controlled Idaho so we can all be thankful the Democrats were resoundingly defeated by Idaho voters in November 2024. Still, I’d like to know how many laws were repealed this year to counterbalance the expansion of government. But that’s a question for another day. If you missed it, the Latah GOP briefly touches on a subset of successful 2025 legislation here.

One of the lies I’ve observed from Democrats about the 2025 legislation goes something like, “Republicans Cut $68 Million from Idaho’s Public Schools!” Watch for it. You’ll see it.

It might be fun to say there was a morsel of truth swimming in that disgusting dish of Democrat dishonesty. Unsurprisingly, there’s nothing.

Let the sun shine in with some facts which Democrats are deathly allergic to: In his January 2025 policy agenda speech, Idaho’s Republican Governor Brad Little called for $150 million in new public school spending, including $83 million for teacher raises (the Republican legislature actually approved $85 million for teacher raises), and setting aside $50 million in state revenue for school choice – without any cut to public schools (which the Republican-led legislature also passed).

House Bill 93 finally brings Idaho into the 21st century of education with school choice. HB 93 is not a complete and perfect future, but it is the first step in Idaho’s pivot towards better academic outcomes for all students.

Students will no longer be limited to a poor education due to their zip code. And this is the first in a series of blows that will reduce and ultimately eliminate the influence of militant school district educators, and their political unions, hellbent on pushing Leftwing political indoctrination into classrooms in violation of the State Constitution.

The mechanism here is actually an Idaho tax credit which, for qualified expenses identified by the Legislature, provides each non-public school student up to $5,000 in refundable Idaho tax credits and up to $7,500 for special needs students.

Initial state program funding is $50 million. Idaho families earning 300% or below the federal poverty level, which is roughly $96,000 a year reported on their federal income tax return, are eligible. The program will be in effect for the year 2025! So, the time to start keeping and filing qualified expense receipts is now. Parents will apply for the 2025 Idaho tax credits starting January 16, 2026, and then every January thereafter.

The program will be administered by the Idaho Tax Commission, which was the subject of another mouthful of lies I encountered from Democrats. When the Tax Commission first learned of its role in the proposal, it was clear that there weren’t enough staff to administer such a tax credit program. Democrats clutched their pearls and lost their minds asserting that this resulted in an explosion of budget overruns — but that was just another load of lies from the Democrats. The Legislature simply authorized a portion of the program’s funds to pay for the staff required to administer the program.

The Idaho Tax Commission is required to notify parents by April 16th each year which parental-submitted expenses have been reviewed and approved. The forms that parents will need to complete and the process for submission and audit will be announced prior to the end of the year, potentially before September 2025.

Parents who participate in the 2025 tax return season will be top prioritized in the next year's applications (participation is expected to grow), so early adopters are rewarded.

The new law states that program participants can be either accredited private schools or parents who are prepared to develop and maintain a portfolio demonstrating student growth, for academic instruction in any of these four subjects: English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

And, finally, what kinds of “qualified expenses” are eligible? The Legislature approved the following:

1. Tuition or fees for attending a nonpublic school* (private school, microschool, or learning pod).
2. Tutoring* services.
3. Nationally standardized assessments*, including:
   • College admission assessments (e.g., SAT, ACT).
   • Advanced Placement (AP) examinations.
   • Industry-recognized certification exams.
   • Preparatory courses for these assessments.
4. Textbooks* used for kindergarten through grade 12 academic instruction.
5. Curricula* for kindergarten through grade 12 academic instruction.
6. Transportation costs to and from a facility providing kindergarten through grade 12 academic instruction*, including:
   • Public transportation.
   • Ridesharing services.
   • Use of privately owned vehicles (reimbursed at the state employee mileage rate in effect at the time of travel).

* Related to English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

We can presume that the Governor and the Legislature will monitor the initial program rollout for success and next time opportunities and make future adjustments as we learn what is working well and what needs tweaking. Governor Little has already demonstrated that he is results and accountability oriented, so taxpayers can be confident that Idaho students and their parents will continue to benefit from even better academic opportunities to come.

Tell your friends! And then tell them to monitor the Idaho Tax Commission which will announce the application process soon.