After my column on how the leftists at the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry scored state lawmakers’ votes in the 2022 legislative session, another special interest group unveiled its scorecard: Idaho Business for Education is so far left of center that it’s easy to see how every single Democrat and a whole bunch of RINO Republicans in the Legislature got perfect scores from IBE. Those lawmakers who believe in limited government, however, scored poorly on IBE’s scorecard.

The organization rated lawmakers according to votes on six bills, of which one bill never made it out of committee. The bills are:

House Bill 776, which funds the state college and university system. The lawmakers that voted against it did so because the measure continues to fund social justice indoctrination on our college campuses.

House Bill 790, which expands the government education system to include full-day kindergarten but also allows districts to expand government education in other ways, too, including before and after school programs and summer school. It’s obvious why a conservative legislator would want to vote against it and why a leftist would support more government schooling.

Senate Bill 1408, which dumps a bunch of federal money into child care programs, supposedly to help local daycares recover from government COVID closures, but most of the money appears aimed at helping school districts set up their own child care programs.

Senate Bill 1392, an uncontroversial bill that funds scholarships, museums, small business assistance programs and forest research.

Senate Bill 1290, which makes Idaho taxpayers finance a rural educator loan forgiveness program that Democrats have been trying to get passed for years.

House Bill 669, which would have expanded education choice options for parents and students in Idaho, the only bill on this list that IBE opposed. IBE gave lawmakers “extra credit” for rejecting the legislation.

In eastern Idaho, Reps. Wendy Horman, Macro Erickson, Jon Weber and Rod Furniss all scored 100 percent on IBE’s scorecard. So did Sens. Julie VanOrden and Van Burtenshaw.

They voted to expand government-run education, and they voted to make you repay the college debts that someone else incurred. That’s true socialism that Bernie Sanders would have backed if he were in the Idaho Legislature.

Meanwhile, conservative Reps. Julianne Young, Chad Christensen, Barb Ehardt, Ron Nate and Karey Hanks opposed IBE’s leftist agenda and were graded accordingly.

One might wonder why a “business” group is pushing to expand government-run education. The reason is simple: IBE is strictly interested in making life as convenient as possible for businesses.

That means minimizing the time that parents spend with their children and getting them in the government school system as quickly as possible. It’s also the reason why IBE is a big supporter of pre-kindergarten programs, although this year legislation addressing that issue was not considered.

IBE is also big in promoting the leftist social justice programs, which is why it continues to defend the Idaho education system as it marches ever so quickly toward the left. IBE has become one of Idaho’s most disturbing education special interest groups, joining with the labor unions, Idaho School Boards Association and other left-leaning groups to protect the existing education system at all costs.

It is super important for voters to do their own research before casting their votes in the May primary. If you do, you will see, beyond any doubt, that leftist Republicans and Democrats are voting in unison to expand government programs at the expense of families, faith and free enterprise. This is the year to put that knowledge to use and stop the advancement of socialism in Idaho.

Doyle Beck is the Bonneville County Republican Party’s state committeeman.