Every year, Idaho’s legislative session kicks off with a mix of optimism and caution. Yet, every year, as we near the finish line, I hear a version of the same question from constituents: “Why is the Legislature so crazy?” Let me answer plainly: Too many legislators are focused on catering to extreme ideological agendas or fighting culture war battles that don’t reflect the real concerns of Idaho families. This year, 2025, was no exception.
But 2025 was different in tone and tactics. For the first time, we’re seeing a flood of out-of-state dark money pour into Idaho to influence our local politics. Three national advocacy groups, Club for Growth (Washington, D.C.); Yes. Every. Kid. (Arlington, VA); and Young Americans for Liberty (Austin, TX), have spent over $600,000 this year alone on advertising, lobbying, and pressure campaigns in Idaho, and their influence is showing.
For perspective, a typical competitive Idaho state legislative campaign spends between $35,000 and $60,000. This isn’t just about ideology, it’s about influence. Club for Growth, a powerful national group and major proponent of school vouchers, spent over $330,000 in Idaho this year on television ads, polling, phone and text campaigns, and social media advertising. And that’s just one group. All of their spending was unitemized, which means Idahoans don’t know who was paid or what messages were used.
These national organizations are bankrolling a playbook that has nothing to do with Idaho values. They’re promoting private school vouchers, undermining environmental protections, and pushing tax cuts for the wealthy; all while public schools crumble, health care costs rise, and working families are left behind. And if you think this is just another year of political noise, think again. According to the Idaho Legislative Services Office, The Idaho Legislature set a 19-year record this year by drafting 2,937 bills, more than any session since 2006. That number isn’t just a statistic, it’s a warning sign. A record number of bills meant record time spent debating culture war distractions, special interest tax breaks, and policies copied straight from out-of-state think tanks. It’s not policymaking, it’s political theater.
Take the voucher bill that passed despite overwhelming public opposition. Idahoans have been clear: we support strong public schools. But this bill diverts public money to private, religious, and home schools with zero accountability or transparency. It’s a copy of the Arizona model, and we know where that led: exploding costs and gutted rural districts. Or look at the tax cuts passed in the name of “fiscal responsibility.” Recent income tax cuts have reduced revenue to the state by $1.1 billion annually. These cuts overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Idahoans and corporations.
Not everything in this session was bad. I was proud to support bipartisan bills that protected workers, boosted search and rescue, invested in childcare, and modernized our coroner system. But those efforts were drowned out by political theater. Too many lawmakers pushed laws that hurt teachers, renters, and working parents while helping special interests and out-of-state lobbyists. Groups from D.C. and Texas are spending big to rewrite Idaho law. Most Idahoans don’t want culture-war chaos.
The good news? This is still Idaho. And in Idaho, we don’t back down. So next time someone asks you why the Legislature is so crazy, you can tell them: It’s not by accident, it’s by design, and it’s being paid for by out-of-state dark money. But we still have the power to change it. So follow the money, pay attention, and vote.