On Week 1 , Day 3:

We Can't Make This Stuff Up. Get This

Your shiny new Representative from District 24, Rep. Hostetler, who campaigned as the "true conservative" wasted no time unveiling Idaho House Bill No. 1—a massive, poorly designed, and unfunded proposal that’s anything but conservative. Without the label, you might think it came from Bernie Sanders—this is socialism on steroids.

While we fully support parental involvement and school choice to empower families in education, this bill is not the answer. It’s vague, ill-conceived, and lacks the thoughtful planning Idahoans deserve.

Clint Hostetler Said What ?

A Factual Review

Being fair, let's take a quick look at what's actually in the bill or our best guess because of its poor form. Here are the highlights we gathered:

1- Called the 'Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit'

2- It's to pay for 'Non-Public' Schools provided in person, online, and virtually. It also can mean 'Microschool or learning pod.

3- It covers 'Qualified Expenses' Kindergarten through 12th grade tuition and fees, testing, transportation, textbooks, or curriculum.

4- It's a 'refundable tax credit' for expenses up to $9,500 per child on your Idaho income tax.

5- You can receive a credit more than the taxes you paid.

6- The program will cost up to $250 Million per year.

7- If the credit requests exceed $250 Million, the credits are given out on a first-come, first-served basis on filing taxes.

8- The tax credit comes without any academic qualifying requirements. The tax credit is given without any regulations, accountability, academic reporting, or other qualifications, that would deem it a place of stand academic learning.

9- Even though the bill defines 'Academic Instruction as "English, math, science, and social studies" there are no guidelines, or curriculum requirements, or testing requirements.

10- It's Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025

glaring issues

1- $ 250 MILLION DOLLARS

2- No Academic Accountability or Oversight

3- Total Lack of Requirements for College Entrance or Prep.

That's 1/4 of a billion (with a B) dollars added to our budget. So, where exactly is Rep. Hostetlier going to get the money pay for this bill? The fiscal note says the "state general fund","but Idaho operates off a very small budget compared to other states and doesn't usually have a few hundred million laying around, if we did wouldn't we want to give it back as tax relief so that more citizens can be given an equitable amount?

The bill is clear that there will be no control or supervision over the non-public schools, and schools are not required to make any change to receive money that will later be given to the taxpayer. So, basically, the bill's stance is "Just give us the money and don't ask questions. We can teach whatever we want, however we want."

Earlier, we pointed out that this bill was poorly written, and it is. The issue is that Clint hasn't even seen the tip of the iceberg on education policy. Again, his bill makes it clear that there is no, zero, zilch, nada oversight or supervision in the actual curriculum or graduation criteria. So a question, do kids even graduate? Is their school "certified" to have taught them a college-required curriculum? This is just way too loosey-goosey for our liking and would be a tremendous waste of taxpayer money.

Email Clint and tell him: No Thank You!

4- Massive Expansion of Government.

This bill represents a significant expansion of state government, with a staggering $250 million price tag. Beyond the cost, implementing this program will require substantial human capital to administer, verify, and oversee its operations. While most families are honest and strive to manage expenses responsibly, history shows there will inevitably be some who take advantage of the system.

It’s contradictory to the conservative demand of transparency and accountability in every aspect of government while endorsing a bill that allocates taxpayer dollars with no oversight, especially when funds are directed to non-public “schools.”

Quick explainer video:

socialist math, isnt conservative

A FACTUAL REVIEW