Idaho Freedom Foundation

IFF was begun in 2009 by Wayne Hoffman, who had been the Canyon County Republican Party vice chairman and spokesman for U.S. Rep. Bill Sali. Formerly, Hoffman was a newspaper reporter for the Idaho Statesman, leaving in 2005, and before that had worked for the South Idaho Press in Burley, the Idaho Press Tribune in Nampa, and a southern Idaho radio station.

The IFF is influential within the Idaho Legislature and the state's broader politics.{{cite web |last1=Ridler |first1=Keith |date=October 7, 2021 |title=Mainstream Republicans seek to 'rescue' Idaho – from the GOP |url=https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-donald-trump-idaho-boise-election-2020-2feab4b94e0f8ba99454fce6509079d8 |access-date=October 8, 2021 |work=Associated Press}}{{cite web |last1=Butts |first1=Mike |date=March 14, 2011 |title=Idaho Freedom Foundation carries conservative weight at Legislature |url=https://www.idahopress.com/news/idaho-freedom-foundation-carries-conservative-weight-at-legislature/article_7baa1e92-4d40-11e0-b2e6-001cc4c03286.html |access-date=October 8, 2021 |work=The Idaho Press-Tribune}}{{cite web |last1=Malloy |first1=Chuck |date=August 1, 2021 |title=Like them or hate them, the Idaho Freedom Foundation's power grows as attacks mount |url=https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article253083888.html |access-date=October 8, 2021 |work=Idaho Statesman}} Politico described the IFF as "an arch-conservative group that has driven challenges to so-called RINO politicians in the state."{{Cite web |last=Montellaro |first=Zach |last2=Bustillo |first2=Ximena |title=Idaho GOP riven by primary civil war |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/07/idaho-gop-primary-elections-00030788 |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=POLITICO |language=en}} The IFF's website says it works to defeat "the state’s socialist public policies." Its Freedom Index rates Idaho legislators on their votes.{{Cite web |last=Duggan |first=Alexandra |date=March 8, 2022 |title=Republicans see divide due to Idaho Freedom Foundation politics |url=https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/republicans-see-divide-due-to-idaho-freedom-foundation-politics/article_f1bcd3f9-c03e-50dd-8ee5-eb15ce98eeb9.html |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=Idaho Press |language=en}}

In 2012, the IFF was one of the chief opponents of an Idaho state legislative bill that would have placed restrictions on tanning bed usage.{{cite news|last1=Yardley|first1=William|title=Big Sky, Bright Sun and Melanoma|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/us/melanoma-leads-idaho-to-consider-limit-on-tanning-salons.html|access-date=7 April 2015|work=New York Times|date=March 6, 2012}} In 2013 and 2014, IFF put up billboards criticizing Idaho legislators for their votes to implement a state health insurance exchange.{{cite news|last1=Russell|first1=Betsy|title=Billboards target Idaho lawmakers in their districts|url=http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2013/oct/29/billboards-target-idaho-lawmakers-their-districts/|access-date=7 April 2015|publisher=Spokesman-Review|date=October 29, 2013}}{{cite news|last1=Russell|first1=Betsy|title=Freedom Foundation now up to half a dozen anti-incumbent billboards around the state|url=http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2014/jan/15/freedom-foundation-now-half-dozen-anti-incumbent-billboards-around-state/|access-date=7 April 2015|publisher=Spokesman-Review|date=January 15, 2014}}

In October 2020, the IFF published a video questioning the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic and decrying governmental measures to combat the spread of the pandemic. Several Idaho Republican elected officials, including Janice McGeachin and a number of state legislators, appeared in the video.[https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/oct/27/idaho-republicans-including-lt-gov-mcgeachin-decry/ Idaho Republicans, including Lt. Gov. McGeachin, decry pandemic measures in new video], Spokesman Review (October 27, 2020).

In 2021, the organization criticized Boise State University for holding a "Black Graduation" meant to celebrate Black students in addition to the traditional graduation ceremony. IFF called the event "segregationist." It has urged Idaho lawmakers to cut funding to Boise State.{{cite news |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/president-on-a-tightrope?cid=at&source=&sourceId=&cid2=gen_login_refresh |newspaper=The Chronicle of Higher Education |access-date=July 6, 2021 |date= July 2, 2021 |title= President on a Tightrope: Boise State's leader must tread carefully through the culture war. Others may soon walk the same line |first=Vimal |last=Patel}}

In a December 2021 opinion editorial published in the Post Register, former Idaho attorney general and former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court Jim Jones criticized the IFF, writing "It's time to clean Idaho's House of disruptive lawmakers who worship at the Freedom Foundation altar and ignore their duty to act responsibly in the interests of their voters."{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Jim |date=12 Dec 2021 |title=Opinion: What's worse than 'hell to pay?' — Idaho being ruled by the IFF |language=en |work=Post Register |url=https://www.postregister.com/opinion/columns/opinion-what-s-worse-than-hell-to-pay-idaho-being-ruled-by-the-iff/article_616c5f06-e4db-5a57-ba5d-a2f116fefe2f.html |access-date=5 March 2022}}

The IFF has mounted various legal challenges to state and city laws and regulations.

• In 2009, IFF was successful in requiring officials from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to release public records in regards to the names, genders, salaries of all public employees.{{Cite web|date=2009-10-13|title=CDA Press article: IFF wins release of city employee names|url=https://idahofreedom.org/cda-press-article-iff-wins-release-of-city-employee-names/|access-date=2021-08-29|website=Idaho Freedom|language=en-US}}{{Third-party inline|date=May 2022}}
• In 2014, IFF and the American Civil Liberties Union threatened legal action against Boise State University when the school required a student group to pay security fees for bringing a pro-gun speaker to campus. Boise State refunded the student group the cost of the security fees.{{cite news|last1=Telerico|first1=Kate|date=22 March 2019|title=The Idaho Freedom Foundation keeps losing in court. So why does it keep suing?|agency=Idaho Statesman|url=https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article225248740.html|access-date=23 April 2020}}{{Cite web|date=2014-07-14|title=ACLU of Idaho Joins Idaho Freedom Foundation, Fire in Calling on Boise State University to Fix Event Policies|url=https://www.acluidaho.org/en/news/aclu-idaho-joins-idaho-freedom-foundation-fire-calling-boise-state-university-fix-event|access-date=2021-08-29|website=ACLU of Idaho|language=en}}
• In 2015, IFF sued the Boise School District over its contract with a local teachers union, the Boise Education Association. The case was dismissed due to lack of standing.{{Cite web|title=Idaho Freedom Foundation Legal Challenge {{!}} PDF|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/277793882/Idaho-Freedom-Foundation-legal-challenge|access-date=2021-08-29|website=Scribd|language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Richert |first=Kevin |date=2014-10-09 |title=Conservative group targets Boise labor deal |url=https://www.idahoednews.org/kevins-blog/conservative-group-targets-boise-labor-deal/ |access-date=2021-08-29 |website=Idaho Education News |language=en-US}}
• In 2016, IFF Board Chair Brent Regan and IFF sued Butch Otter and others about Idaho's Common Core State Standards Initiative testing. The case was dismissed due to the lack of standing by the plaintiffs.{{Cite web|title=Regan, IFF sue Idaho over Common Core tests {{!}} The Spokesman-Review|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/sep/29/regan-iff-sue-idaho-over-common-core-tests/|access-date=2021-08-29|website=www.spokesman.com}}
• In 2019, IFF Board Chair Brent Regan sued Lawerence Denney, arguing that Medicaid expansion was unconstitutional in part because it delegated lawmaking authority to the federal government. The case was dismissed due to the ruling that the foundation of the lawsuit lacked a basis in the law.{{Cite web|title=The breakdown: 4 things to know about the Medicaid expansion Supreme Court case|url=https://idahoconservatives.com/idaho-politics/the-breakdown-4-things-to-know-about-the-medicaid-expansion-supreme-court-case/|access-date=2021-08-29|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://isc.idaho.gov/opinions/46545summ.pdf|title= Regan v. Denney}}{{Cite web|last=Betsy|first=Posted by|title=What the justices said; link to my full story on failure of legal challenge to Medicaid expansion|url=https://www.idahopress.com/eyeonboise/what-the-justices-said-link-to-my-full-story-on-failure-of-legal-challenge-to/article_fadde840-72d8-5e79-a8b2-73d0546dc809.html|access-date=2021-08-29|website=Idaho Press|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://affordablecareactlitigation.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/Petition-for-Review.pdf|title=Regan v. Denney}}
• In 2019, IFF sued Boise due to the establishment of two new urban renewal districts which prevents cities from taking on debt or liabilities without a super-majority of voter approval. The case was dismissed and appealed where it was upheld.{{Cite web|first=Margaret |last=Carmel|title=Freedom Foundation lawsuit over urban renewal appealed to the state Supreme Court|url=https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/freedom-foundation-lawsuit-over-urban-renewal-appealed-to-the-state-supreme-court/article_b56a06dd-e945-5538-bf9f-06e28da861c1.html|access-date=2021-08-29|website=Idaho Press|language=en}}{{Cite web|first= Ryan|last=Suppe|title=Supreme court upholds dismissal of urban renewal complaint against Boise|url=https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/supreme-court-upholds-dismissal-of-urban-renewal-complaint-against-boise/article_a2538c93-471e-5bc5-8d0c-d9ddebb81f9d.html|access-date=2021-08-29|website=Idaho Press|language=en}}

The organization has received funding from Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, two donor-advised funds which are not required to disclose their donors. IFF is a member of the State Policy Network, a consortium of conservative and libertarian think tanks that focus on state-level policy.

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• {{official|https://idahofreedom.org/}}

Category:Libertarian think tanks

Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States

Category:Charities based in Idaho

Category:Organizations based in Boise, Idaho

Category:Organizations established in 2009

Category:2009 establishments in Idaho

Category:Conservative organizations in the United States