A Conversation with IFF President Ron Nate & Tea Party Bob
Podcast Notes by Bob Neugebauer
The Idaho Supreme Court delivered a significant victory for government accountability this week, ruling that Attorney General Raul Labrador has full authority to investigate the Department of Health and Welfare for potential misuse of taxpayer funds. This decision represents more than a legal win—it’s a crucial step toward restoring legislative supremacy over rogue bureaucrats who believe they can ignore the will of Idaho’s elected representatives.
The investigation centers on a 2021 scandal where DHW officials appeared to circumvent specific legislative restrictions on grant funding. The Legislature had approved $72 million over two years for educational initiatives targeting children ages 5-13, with explicit parameters about eligible recipients. Simultaneously, lawmakers considered but decisively rejected $6 million in grants for pre-K programs after discovering concerning connections to organizations promoting inappropriate sexual content to young children.
Representative Priscilla Giddings, one of Idaho’s most principled conservative legislators, exposed how the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children was pushing books with sexual content onto children. Her research and floor presentation led to the pre-K grants failing by just two votes, 34-36. The defeat devastated program director Beth Oppenheimer, who reportedly “fell to the ground sobbing” when the funding was rejected.
However, victory proved temporary. Evidence suggests DHW Director Dave Jepsen’s deputy, Erica Rupp, found ways to funnel money to these same rejected organizations using the approved 5-13 year-old funding stream. This represents a fundamental violation of legislative intent and taxpayer trust. When lawmakers specifically reject funding for certain purposes, bureaucrats cannot simply redirect money from other approved sources to achieve the same ends.
School Choice Breakthrough Offers Hope
While bureaucratic corruption continues plaguing Idaho government, families received genuine hope through the passage of House Bill 93, Idaho’s first meaningful school choice legislation. This $5,000 education tax credit represents a historic breakthrough for parental rights and educational freedom in our state.
The legislation functions as tax relief rather than government spending—a crucial distinction. When families choose private schools or homeschooling over public education, they reduce their tax liability by up to $5,000. This approach respects taxpayer dollars while empowering parents to make educational decisions for their children.
The economic logic is compelling. Idaho spends approximately $13,000 per student annually in public schools. When a child leaves the system while the same funding remains, per-pupil spending actually increases for remaining students. Meanwhile, families exercise genuine choice in their children’s education. This isn’t draining resources from public schools—it’s creating accountability through competition while potentially improving outcomes for everyone.
The timing couldn’t be more critical given what’s happening at the national level in public education.
National Education Association Reveals Marxist Priorities
Leaked internal documents from the National Education Association’s recent conference expose the shocking extent to which America’s largest teachers union has abandoned educational excellence in favor of political indoctrination. Rather than focusing on declining reading, writing, and math scores, the NEA has prioritized training students as anti-Trump activists and promoting radical ideologies.
The NEA’s recent resolutions read like a Communist Party manifesto rather than an educational organization’s priorities. They’ve formally committed to “defending against Trump’s embrace of fascism” and opposing any efforts to eliminate the Department of Education as “racist attempts to destroy public education.” This represents a fundamental misunderstanding—or deliberate distortion—of federalism and state sovereignty in education.
Most disturbing is their explicit support for training students as political activists. The NEA adopted measures “to support students in dissenting and organizing against Trump’s policies.” These aren’t educators focused on academic achievement; they’re political operatives using classrooms as recruitment centers for liberal activism.
The union also prioritized protecting teachers who promote LGBTQ ideology despite parental objections and Supreme Court rulings supporting parental rights. They want to shield educators from accountability when pushing sexual content on children, directly opposing the Mahmoud versus Taylor decision that allows parents to opt their children out of gender ideology instruction.
The Immigration Connection
Perhaps most revealing is the NEA’s position on immigration enforcement. They’ve condemned state efforts to protect citizens from illegal immigration costs as “Jim Crow” tactics and “racist attempts” to deny services to non-citizens. This exposes their fundamental allegiance—not to American taxpayers or legal immigrants, but to a political movement that views unlimited illegal immigration as essential to their electoral coalition.
When Idaho taxpayers object to funding education and services for those here illegally, the NEA casts this as racism rather than fiscal responsibility. They’ve forgotten that public education exists to serve citizens, not to provide welfare services for those who entered our country unlawfully.
The Broader Pattern
These developments aren’t isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of institutional corruption that demands constant vigilance. From DHW bureaucrats ignoring legislative intent to teachers unions abandoning educational excellence for political indoctrination, we see government entities serving themselves rather than the people who fund them.
The corruption isn’t always illegal—much of it operates within legal frameworks designed to serve special interests. When legislative leadership participates in cronyism, traditional checks and balances break down. This is why we need legislators whose primary job isn’t passing new laws but exposing systemic problems and holding corrupt actors accountable.
The Path Forward
Idaho families now have more educational options than ever before, but the fight for accountability has just begun. The Idaho Freedom Foundation continues expanding its oversight capabilities, working to build comprehensive accountability systems for local government and judicial oversight in addition to our established legislative monitoring.
The need for this work grows more urgent each year. As federal education bureaucrats and teachers unions reveal their true priorities, parents must understand what they’re really funding when they support traditional public education. School choice isn’t just about options—it’s about protecting children from institutions that have abandoned their educational mission in favor of political indoctrination.
The 2026 primary elections will prove crucial for Idaho’s future. We need candidates committed to fighting corruption and cronyism at every level, from local government to state agencies. Support those who’ve demonstrated courage to challenge a corrupt system, even when it makes them unpopular with establishment leadership.
The biblical warning remains relevant: “Be sober-minded and alert, for your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” We have many lions prowling Idaho government today, but with constant vigilance and principled leadership, we can protect the freedoms and values that make our state worth defending.
