Better or Worse?

By Brent Regan

Better or worse? How can we know? The 2025 legislative session is done and our citizen legislators have come home. We thank them for their service. We will hear stories of the bills that were passed, the problems solved, and the issues addressed. Some will say it was a good session, perhaps even great, while some will be less enthusiastic. How are we to know if we are better or worse off for the legislative work that was done?

An Idaho Legislative Session may have over 600 bills considered, with more than 300 actually passed into law. Historically, with so many bills, it was easy for legislators to return home after the session was over to tell their constituents about only the wonderful votes they cast. A comprehensive picture of the legislator’s performance was nearly impossible to determine. You may be surprised to learn that a dozen years ago, the most liberal progressive legislator wasn’t a Democrat. She was a Republican from Sandpoint. There seemed to be no tax hike, regulation, new agency, or loss of liberty that she voted against. Her constituents believed she was a conservative Republican because that is what she told them.

It was situations like this that inspired the Freedom Index. The concept is simple. Bills are rated against 14 freedom metrics to get a score. The metrics are simple and posted on the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s website, IdahoFreedom.org. The metrics ask questions about a bill. Does it create a new government agency? Does it raise taxes? Does it expand government power? Does it restrict public access to information? Does it promote the breakdown of the traditional family? A bill receives -1 point for each “yes” and a +1 point for each “no.” When a legislator votes for the bill, the score is added to their total.

Point by point, a pattern emerges for each legislator as they vote on each of the hundreds of bills. By the end of the session, we have a very good idea of whether the legislator supports big government, higher taxes, more regulation, and less freedom or wants smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation, and more freedom.

In the material world, we generally care more about things we can measure. Why? Because we can measure them. We can determine a value and track changes and trends, which makes it easier to think about. People obsess about their weight because it is easy to measure every morning with the scale next to the bathroom sink. We consider the cost of gasoline because we measure it by the gallon. We think about crop yields because we measure them in bushels per acre.

The Freedom Index makes it easy to track the performance of our legislators. This makes their performance important. Everyone wants a good score, so the legislators begin to think — really think — about each bill before they vote. Over time, this has had a remarkable, positive effect on our individual freedoms.

Critics claim that the Freedom Index is too powerful because it influences the votes of legislators. This argument puts the cart before the horse. The bill scoring simply reflects the effect the bill will have if passed into law. The legislators are free to vote however they want, and they will carry the consequences of that vote with them. The Freedom Index is transparency. It is a simple system that gives you and me a good, general idea about how each legislator votes.

Should the Freedom Index be the only factor when determining who gets your vote? Of course not. There are other factors and other indices. Due to the way the Freedom Index is conducted, it is the most comprehensive and consistent measure of politicians’ performance. It is the voter’s trusty yardstick that helps them decide who should be sent to Boise next.

The world of politics is flooded with special interests. There is a seemingly endless supply of petitioners looking for favors from the government. In this sea of lobbyists, who represents you? Who is looking out for your interests? Who? The Idaho Freedom Foundation.

The Idaho Freedom Foundation is looking out for you because, through the Freedom Index, it gives you the information you need to decide which representatives are more interested in protecting your freedom, property, wealth, and happiness. Legislators can campaign on all the rhetoric they want, but at the end of the day, how they vote is the only thing that truly matters. Knowing how they vote gives you the power to decide.

The adage “garbage in, garbage out” reflects the need for good information to make good decisions. Nothing can substitute for you wanting to acquire the information you need to make those good decisions, but the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s Freedom Index can make that job a lot easier.

It’s just common sense.

Brent Regan                                                                                                Chairman of the Board                                                                                          Idaho Freedom Foundation