Wildfire will remain part of life in the Mountain West. The question is whether states will continue paying primarily after disaster strikes or invest more deliberately before the next fire begins.

When Idaho lawmakers passed the state's new parental choice tax credit in 2025, we knew it wouldn't take long to determine whether the program would be a success. After all, implementation was almost immediate, and the law was hailed as the nation's "best education choice program." Still, it was important to help families understand the system, and defend the law from an expected court challenge.

A strong transit system in Idaho’s Treasure Valley would greatly improve mobility, but as it stands today, the program desperately needs an overhaul.

If states want tax relief that does more than provide temporary relief—if we want a tax cut that changes the state's long-term economic trajectory—then reducing the individual income tax should be near the top of the list. And Montana is front and center in the current conversation.

The underlying study explains that lower marginal rates can encourage additional economic activity as businesses invest, employment expands, wages rise and personal income grows.

After years of lectures from Seattle about the dangers that dams pose to fish, a multibillion-dollar Seattle-area transit project appears to be literally shocking them.

Seattle’s threat of an illegal strike should be a warning. Washington’s education system should put children at the center of every spending decision.

Had the bit tax been adopted, what was once framed as a trivial tax—half a cent to download a photo, or a cent to send 100 emails—would now cost the average American household an estimated $784,000 per year.

Rapidly increasing property tax bills are a real concern. The question is which property tax reforms offer the best path to foster fairness, stability, transparency, and fiscal restraint.

Mountain States Policy Center today released a major new study examining Montana’s 1972 Constitution and making the case that voters should seriously consider calling a new constitutional convention when the question returns to the statewide ballot in 2030.