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Education, Advocacy and Activism

Free training, tools and resources for journalists, advocates, activists and campaigns, with a focus on Idaho transparency, civic data and liberty.

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🏛️ Training: Government and Civic Life

10 learning modules, 1 game. This page updates itself when items move between sections.

How local government in Idaho works and who pays for it. Issues and Advocacy Training is the main course; the modules here cover counties, cities and districts, property taxes, planning and zoning, urban renewal and school boards, budgets, bonds and levies. Local Government Resources links the Magic Valley county offices. Civic Trivia draws its questions from these lessons.

In this section
  1. Issues and Advocacy Training Learning Module
  2. Local Government 101: Budgets, Levies and Bonds Learning Module
  3. Idaho Property Taxes in Depth Learning Module
  4. Idaho Planning and Zoning Learning Module
  5. Urban Renewal and Economic Development Groups Learning Module
  6. Idaho School Boards, Budgets, Bonds and Levies Learning Module
  7. Idaho Medicaid: How It Works, Who Decides and What Changes in 2027 Learning Module
  8. Starting and Running a Nonprofit or Advocacy Group in Idaho Learning Module
  9. Idaho's State Budget: How JFAC, Holdbacks and Revenue Forecasts Really Work Learning Module
  10. Idaho Roads and Highways: Who Builds Them, Who Pays and How to Have a Say Learning Module
  11. Civic Trivia Game

🏛️ Issues and Advocacy Training Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

Free lessons for advocates, activists, candidates and residents: local government, Idaho property taxes, open meeting law, planning and zoning, limiting large energy projects, urban renewal and economic development, how laws get made, elections and campaign finance, water and land, surveillance and privacy, artificial intelligence, AI detection, energy and AI policy, data centers, the power grid and the western market, battery storage, SMRs and nuclear, natural gas and southern Idaho energy fights. 28 courses, 249 lessons, each sourced, with a reporting angle, a research angle and a short quiz.

What is included: 47 modules and courses
  1. Local Government 101: Budgets, Levies and Bonds 9 lessons
    Learn who governs the counties, cities, school districts and special districts on your tax bill, how their budgets are built, how Idaho's levy math and 3 percent cap work, and how to read a bond, a fee or a tax bill well enough to question it or testify about it.
  2. How Laws and Rules Get Made 9 lessons
    Follow a proposal from idea to enforceable law in the Idaho Legislature, state agencies, city councils, county commissions, Congress and federal agencies, then read the documents yourself and speak up at the moment it counts.
  3. Elections and Campaign Finance Reports 9 lessons
    Learn how Idaho runs its elections from registration to certification, how ballots are tested and audited, and how to read Idaho Sunshine and FEC campaign finance reports well enough to check claims about money in a race and describe them fairly.
  4. Water, Land and Agriculture 9 lessons
    Learn how Western water rights, Idaho's water agencies, irrigation, groundwater rules, land use planning and farm economics actually work, with the unit math shown. You will be able to read a water right record, follow a curtailment order or zoning hearing, and understand fairly who gets water and land when new users show up.
  5. Idaho Open Meeting Law in Depth 9 lessons
    Read Idaho Code 74-201 through 74-208 section by section: which boards are covered, what counts as a meeting, the notice, agenda, executive session, minutes and recording rules, and how to document a suspected violation and push it through the cure process or to a prosecutor.
  6. Idaho Property Taxes in Depth 9 lessons
    Go past the basics of Idaho property tax: how assessors value property and how to appeal, every major exemption and relief program, where the money goes and how state school relief changes it, how big industrial projects and urban renewal affect everyone else's bill, and how to compare tax burdens and check a district's numbers with real records.
  7. Idaho Planning and Zoning 9 lessons
    Learn how Idaho's Local Land Use Planning Act works, from the comprehensive plan and zoning map to conditional use permits, subdivisions, annexation, hearings, appeals and takings review, so you can follow a land use case, check the facts and testify in a way that counts.
  8. Limiting Industrial Energy Projects Through Local Code 9 lessons
    An advocacy course on protecting farmland, small communities and public land from utility-scale solar, wind, battery storage and transmission through Idaho planning and zoning: plan language, districts and tiers, hard standards, bonds, moratoriums, public land limits, the other side's best arguments and how code gets adopted.
  9. Urban Renewal and Economic Development Groups 9 lessons
    Learn how Idaho urban renewal agencies are created, governed and reported, who carries the cost of tax increment financing, how state incentives and regional development groups in the Magic Valley are funded, which open government laws reach them, and what the evidence says about whether any of it works.
  10. Public Records Requests in Idaho: How to Ask, What You Can Get, and What to Do When Told No 10 lessons
    A full guide to the Idaho Public Records Act: who must answer, how to write a request that works, deadlines, fees and waivers, exemptions and redactions, emails and texts, counties, cities, schools, sheriffs and state agencies, and how to appeal a denial in district court. With sample language, a tracking system, the federal FOIA compared, and real Idaho cases.
  11. Advocacy Social Media Strategy: An Evidence-Based Playbook for Followers and Email Lists 10 lessons
    A graduate-level playbook for running several advocacy pages across many platforms: how feeds rank content, what the research says spreads and persuades, platform-by-platform rules and benchmarks, the multi-page architecture, growing real followers, building an email list you own, measurement and experiments, the law and ethics of persuasion, and a complete worked 12-month plan. Every strategy rests on cited studies…
  12. Running for Local Office in Idaho: From Filing to Your First 90 Days 10 lessons
    How to run for a county, city, school board or special district seat in Idaho: which offices exist, who is eligible, when and how to file, what a campaign treasurer must report, how to plan, budget and canvass, and what changes the day you take the oath, from ethics and conflicts to open meetings and public records.
  13. Testifying and Public Comment in Idaho: Legislature, Counties and Planning Hearings 10 lessons
    How to be heard in Idaho government: signing up and testifying at legislative committees in person, remotely or in writing, speaking at county commissions, city councils and school boards, and taking part in planning and zoning hearings where the record and the rules of a quasi-judicial hearing decide the outcome. What the law requires about public comment, what it does not, and how to prepare, deliver and follow up.
  14. Idaho School Boards, Budgets, Bonds and Levies 10 lessons
    How Idaho school districts are governed and funded: trustee zones and elections, the budget cycle, state funding, supplemental and plant facilities levies, bonds and the two-thirds rule. Read a district budget, follow the money and know what districts may and may not say in a bond campaign.
  15. Starting and Running a Nonprofit or Advocacy Group in Idaho 10 lessons
    How to start and run an Idaho advocacy group the right way: choosing between an unincorporated association and a nonprofit corporation, articles, bylaws, filings and annual reports, the EIN, picking 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) and the IRS forms, board duties, fundraising and tax rules, political activity limits and how to close down cleanly.
  16. Recall Elections and the Initiative Process in Idaho 10 lessons
    How Idaho voters recall officials and make or reject laws themselves: who can be recalled, signature thresholds and deadlines, statewide and local initiatives and referendums step by step, circulating and verifying petitions, the money rules, real Idaho recall and initiative histories and the legal fights over them.
  17. Digital Campaigning on a Small Budget 10 lessons
    How a small Idaho campaign or advocacy group can run a lawful, effective digital effort on a tight budget: planning, email lists and consent, websites and donation pages, organic and paid social, platform political ad rules, disclaimers, texting and robocall law, cheap video, AI content and Idaho's synthetic media law, account security, measuring results and reporting digital spending.
  18. Water Rights and Agricultural Land Use for Idaho Residents 10 lessons
    How water and farmland are governed in Idaho: prior appropriation, the Idaho Department of Water Resources, water right basics (priority, beneficial use, forfeiture, transfers), domestic wells, the Snake River Basin Adjudication, Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer curtailment and settlements, irrigation districts and canal companies, agricultural land in county zoning, right-to-farm law, and how to look up rights and comme…
  19. Idaho Medicaid: How It Works, Who Decides and What Changes in 2027 10 lessons
    How Idaho's Medicaid program really works: the federal-state money split, how Proposition 2 and the 2019 sideboards created expansion, who qualifies, who writes the rules, how the budget is built, what the January 2027 work requirements and six-month renewals require, what managed care changes, how to appeal a denial and how to check a claim, comment on a rule or testify on a bill.
  20. Idaho's State Budget: How JFAC, Holdbacks and Revenue Forecasts Really Work 10 lessons
    Where Idaho's state money comes from, how the budget moves from agency requests to the governor to JFAC to the floor, how revenue forecasts are made, what holdbacks and the balanced budget rule mean, how reserves and tax cuts change the picture, how to read an appropriation bill, how state dollars reach counties, cities and schools, and how to track, report on and testify about the budget.
  21. Idaho's Public Lands: How Federal and State Land Really Gets Managed, and How to Have a Say 10 lessons
    Who owns and manages every kind of land in Idaho, how the state endowment trust and the Land Board work, how leases and auctions are run, how the Forest Service and the BLM plan, what NEPA requires after the 2025 changes, exactly how to comment, object and protest, where the money and politics are, and how to report on a public lands decision from the record.
  22. Researching Court Records in Idaho and Federal Systems 10 lessons
    How to find, read and fairly use court records in Idaho's state courts and the federal courts: the iCourt portal, Idaho's court records access rule, dockets, criminal and civil files, sealed and exempt records, PACER and RECAP, and appellate opinions. Step-by-step searches, what each document means, and the mistakes that trip up residents, advocates and reporters.
  23. Idaho Roads and Highways: Who Builds Them, Who Pays and How to Have a Say 10 lessons
    How Idaho roads really get built, paid for and fixed: who owns which road, where fuel tax, registration, sales tax and property tax money goes, the constitutional limits and the 2025 budget fight, TECM and GARVEE bonds, the 2026 unfunded list in ITD's seven-year plan, highway districts and their budgets, federal formulas and the reauthorization fight, impact fees, and step-by-step ways to get a road fixed, change a …
  24. Surveillance Technology and Privacy 9 lessons
    Learn how plate readers, face recognition, drones, phone tools and data brokers work, what the Fourth Amendment and state laws say about them, and how to judge a local surveillance program fairly using contracts, policies and audit logs.
  25. Securing Your Home Computer, Phone and Money: A Plain Guide for Homeowners and Seniors 11 lessons
    Plain-language steps to protect your computer, phone, accounts and money at home and on the road: updates, passwords, two-step sign-in, Wi-Fi, email and browsing privacy, the common scams explained one by one, what to do in order when something goes wrong, and how to travel with your devices safely.
  26. Securing Your Small Business Data and Systems: A Guide for Owners and Office Staff 11 lessons
    How a small business protects its local and cloud data in layers: accounts and two-step sign-in, computers and backups, SaaS and shared files, secure email and browsing defined, phones and mobile devices, the scams that target businesses, and an incident playbook for when something goes wrong.
  27. Privacy and Security for Small and Medium Businesses: A Management Guide to Layered Defense, Privacy Laws and Security Standards 18 lessons
    For owners, managers and executives of small and medium businesses: 18 lessons on building and governing a layered security and privacy program, which federal and state privacy and breach laws apply, how NIST CSF, CIS Controls, ISO 27001, SOC 2 and PCI DSS fit together, identity and device control, patching and your website, vendors, people, incidents, insurance, government contracts and sector rules, records retent…
  28. Spotting Misinformation and Doctored Media: Checking Claims, Images, Audio and Video 10 lessons
    How to tell what is true online: the kinds of false and misleading content, checking a claim with lateral reading and SIFT, reverse image and video search, metadata and its limits, edited images, deepfake audio and video and what detection can and cannot do, content credentials, checking quotes, statistics and screenshots, Idaho examples, and how to correct a falsehood without spreading it.
  29. Privacy and Data Security Laws 11 lessons
    The federal and state privacy and data security laws in plain terms: what each one covers, who it binds, the rights it gives and how it is enforced, from the Privacy Act, HIPAA, GLBA, FERPA, COPPA and the wiretap laws to the state consumer privacy, biometric, health data and breach notice laws, with Idaho's statutes up close, every key term defined, real enforcement cases, and a short closing lesson on mitigation an…
  30. How AI Works: The Kinds of AI and What They Are For 9 lessons
    Learn what the word AI covers, how machines learn from data, how chatbots and image generators actually produce their output, and why they get things wrong. Finish able to tell the kinds of AI apart and read a model announcement without getting fooled.
  31. AI Issues: Technical, Legal, Social and Logistical 9 lessons
    Understand artificial intelligence with your feet on the ground: what it runs on and costs, what it uses in power and water, the copyright fights, bias, privacy, jobs, safety debates and the laws as of October 2026, plus how to test an AI claim before you repeat it or act on it.
  32. Using AI for Research and Writing 9 lessons
    How AI research and writing tools work, which kind fits which job, where they invent citations, quotes and numbers, and how to check what they hand you before you rely on it.
  33. AI Image, Video and Voice Generation 9 lessons
    How AI image, video, voice and music generators work, what they cost, where they fail, how labels and provenance data work, and what the law says about deepfakes and copyright.
  34. AI for Voice and Music 9 lessons
    Understand how synthetic voices and AI music are made, what makes scripts and prompts come out right the first time, how the results get cleaned and loudness-checked, and what consent, honest labels and the law require as of October 2026.
  35. Energy, AI and Data Center Policy: What the Orders Say 9 lessons
    Read the 2025 and 2026 presidential orders, plans and pledges on energy, AI and data centers in their own words, see who wrote and backs them, weigh the evidence on an AI slowdown, and sort out which rules limit AI and which products push it on you.
  36. AI Detection: Spotting Machine-Written Words and Text 9 lessons
    How AI text detectors work, from word-choice tells and perplexity scores to trained classifiers, watermarks and content credentials, how accurate they really are, who gets wrongly flagged, what the law says, and how to judge a claim that something was written by a machine.
  37. Data Centers: Types, Purposes and How They Work 9 lessons
    Follow a phone tap to a server and back, tell the kinds of data centers apart, and read the power, cooling, efficiency, siting and outage numbers that come up when one is proposed near you.
  38. Data Centers in Your Community: Power, Water, Land, Money 9 lessons
    Size up a proposed data center the way a careful resident or advocate would: what it means for the grid, water, land, taxes and jobs, how to find out who is behind it, and what the strongest case on each side rests on.
  39. How the Power Grid Works 8 lessons
    Learn the units, machines, markets and regulators behind the electric grid, read a power bill line by line, and understand a utility's resource plan or rate case well enough to take part and ask sharp questions.
  40. Alternative Energy: Hydro, Wind, Solar, Geothermal and Storage 9 lessons
    How dams, turbines, solar panels, geothermal wells and batteries actually make or store electricity, what each costs and what each leaves behind, with the arithmetic shown. You will be able to check a capacity factor, rework an LCOE, read a lifecycle emissions table and test a new energy claim before you repeat it.
  41. Nuclear Power 9 lessons
    Understand how reactors work, what the fuel, waste, safety and cost records actually show, and where small modular reactors and federal rules stood in October 2026, so you can weigh nuclear projects with real numbers.
  42. Natural Gas Power 8 lessons
    Learn where natural gas comes from, how it moves and becomes electricity, what it costs and emits, and what each side gets right in the fights over new gas plants and pipelines.
  43. Data Center Planning Issues 9 lessons
    Follow a data center proposal through every approval it needs, from land option to switch-on, and learn which questions to ask, which records to request and which conditions actually hold up at each step.
  44. Battery Energy Storage Systems: How They Work, Fail and Burn 9 lessons
    Learn what grid batteries are for, how chemistries, sizes and parts compare, how the battery management system keeps cells in line and what happens when it doesn't, then read the real record of battery fires, how they are fought, what they leave behind and what a county can require before one is built.
  45. Supplemental Nuclear: Small Modular Reactors 9 lessons
    Learn what small modular reactors and microreactors are, which designs exist and what each is for, where projects and Idaho National Laboratory work stood in October 2026, and how cooling water, fuel, safety rules and spent fuel storage actually work.
  46. Western Grid Projects: CAISO, Markets, SWIP-N and Hemingway 9 lessons
    Learn who runs the Western grid, how CAISO's markets and the new independent board over them work, which market Idaho's utilities chose, how transmission costs reach a bill, and where SWIP-N, Boardman to Hemingway and Gateway West stand as of October 2026, with the companies, the advocacy groups and the Idaho decisions behind each.
  47. Southern Idaho Energy Issues 8 lessons
    Get current on the energy and data center fights across southern Idaho as of October 2026: SWIP-N, the cancelled Lava Ridge wind project and how it could return, data center proposals from Kuna to Cassia County, big solar, new gas plants and the Elmore County docket, with every status dated and sourced.
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🏛️ Local Government 101: Budgets, Levies and Bonds Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

Learn who governs the counties, cities, school districts and special districts on your tax bill, how their budgets are built, how Idaho's levy math and 3 percent cap work, and how to read a bond, a fee or a tax bill well enough to question it or testify about it. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 9 lessons.

What is included: 9 lessons and pages
  1. Who Governs What: Counties, Cities, Schools and Special Districts 14 min
    Sort out the separate local governments that share your property tax bill, who sits on each board, and which one to call about which line.
  2. The Budget Cycle: From Department Requests to a Certified Levy 15 min
    Follow an Idaho local budget from spring requests to the September certification, with the legal deadlines for counties, cities and school districts.
  3. Funds, Budget Books and Audits: Reading the Documents 16 min
    Learn the fund types every local budget uses, how to find what matters in a budget book, and what an audit or ACFR can tell you that the budget cannot.
  4. Property Tax Math: Value, Exemptions, Levy Rates and Your Bill 17 min
    Compute a levy rate and a homeowner's tax from scratch, apply Idaho's homeowner exemption, and see why rising values do not by themselves raise total taxes.
  5. Idaho's 3 Percent Cap, New Construction and Forgone Balances 18 min
    Work through Idaho Code 63-802 step by step: the 3 percent growth limit, the new construction and annexation additions, the 8 percent ceiling, forgone balances and the voter overrides.
  6. Levies and Bonds: Supplementals, Plant Facilities, Overrides and Debt 19 min
    Tell supplemental, plant facilities and override levies apart, compare general obligation and revenue bonds, and compute what a bond costs a homeowner, with Idaho's vote thresholds and election dates.
  7. Fees, Impact Fees and Enterprise Funds: Water, Sewer and Growth 16 min
    Tell a fee from a tax under Idaho law, follow how water and sewer rates get set, and check an impact fee against the Idaho Development Impact Fee Act.
  8. Reading a Tax Bill and Comparing Years 15 min
    Read every line of an Idaho property tax bill and assessment notice, split a year-over-year change into its value and rate causes, and find which district moved.
  9. Following the Money and Testifying on a Budget 17 min
    How Idaho's open meetings and public records laws let you track a local budget all year, and what makes testimony a board can act on.
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🏠 Idaho Property Taxes in Depth Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

Go past the basics of Idaho property tax: how assessors value property and how to appeal, every major exemption and relief program, where the money goes and how state school relief changes it, how big industrial projects and urban renewal affect everyone else's bill, and how to compare tax burdens and check a district's numbers with real records. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 9 lessons.

What is included: 8 lessons and pages
  1. How Idaho Assesses Property: Market Value, Mass Appraisal and Ratio Studies 18 min
    Learn how a county assessor values tens of thousands of parcels at once, how the Tax Commission checks the work with sales ratio studies, and what the June assessment notice tells you.
  2. Appealing a Value: Board of Equalization, Board of Tax Appeals, District Court 17 min
    Follow an Idaho property value appeal from the June deadline at the county board of equalization through the Board of Tax Appeals and district court, with every deadline taken from statute.
  3. Farmland, Timber, Business Equipment and Nonprofits: The Other Big Exemptions 18 min
    Work through how Idaho values farmland by what it earns, taxes timber by productivity or at harvest, exempts most business equipment, and exempts religious and charitable property, with the arithmetic for each.
  4. Where the Money Goes: Taxing Districts, School Funding and State Relief 18 min
    See how Idaho's $2.3 billion in property tax splits among counties, cities, schools, highway and other districts, why the school share has fallen by a third since 2021, and how the state facilities funds created in 2023 and 2024 replace school levies.
  5. Big Projects and Data Centers: Exemptions, Sales Tax Breaks and Who Pays 19 min
    Learn Idaho's large-investment property tax exemptions (63-4502, 63-602HH, 63-602NN), the data center sales tax exemption (63-3622VV) and the 2023 urban renewal rule for data centers, then work out whether an exempt project raises, lowers or leaves alone everyone else's taxes.
  6. Urban Renewal and Tax Increment Financing in Idaho 19 min
    Learn how Idaho urban renewal agencies capture the property tax on value growth inside a revenue allocation area, which levies they can and cannot capture, how that raises rates elsewhere, what happens when an area ends, and what the evidence says in the long-running debate.
  7. Comparing Property Tax Burdens Honestly 17 min
    Compare Idaho's property taxes with other places using effective rates, per-capita collections and the Lincoln Institute's 50-state study, and learn which comparison answers which question.
  8. Following Property Taxes Year-Round: Calendar, Records and Checks 17 min
    Put the module to work: a year-round calendar of Idaho property tax deadlines, the records to request at each step (assessment data, L-2 forms, levy tables, county abstracts, Tax Commission reports) and a checklist for verifying a district's numbers before you cite them.
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🗺️ Idaho Planning and Zoning Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

Learn how Idaho's Local Land Use Planning Act works, from the comprehensive plan and zoning map to conditional use permits, subdivisions, annexation, hearings, appeals and takings review, so you can follow a land use case, check the facts and testify in a way that counts. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 9 lessons.

What is included: 9 lessons and pages
  1. The Planning Act and Who Decides 16 min
    Meet Idaho's Local Land Use Planning Act, the boards and commissions it creates, the rules on who can serve, and the two very different hats those officials wear.
  2. The Comprehensive Plan: Components and Amendments 17 min
    Read an Idaho comprehensive plan the way a planner or a judge would: what 67-6508 makes it cover, how it gets adopted and amended, and how much weight it carries.
  3. Zoning Ordinances, Maps and Rezones 18 min
    Learn how zoning text, use tables and maps work in Idaho, what a rezone requires, how notice is calculated, and why Idaho courts treat a one-parcel rezone differently from a countywide map update.
  4. Conditional Uses, Variances, PUDs and Development Agreements 18 min
    Tell apart the four tools Idaho uses to bend or tailor zoning for one project, and learn the standards, notice rules and conditions that come with each.
  5. Subdivisions, Plats and Impact Fees 17 min
    Follow raw land as it becomes recorded lots under Idaho's platting law, Title 50 Chapter 13, and see how subdivision rules, water notices and development impact fees fit together.
  6. Areas of City Impact and Annexation 18 min
    Learn who governs the ring of county land around an Idaho city, how that ring is drawn under the rewritten 67-6526, and how a city can annex land under 50-222 as it stands in October 2026.
  7. Hearings, Due Process and Being Heard 19 min
    Learn the notice rules for each kind of Idaho land use hearing, the due process limits on officials including ex parte contacts, what a written decision must say, and how an ordinary resident can testify in a way that actually counts.
  8. Reconsideration, Judicial Review and Takings 19 min
    Work the deadlines for challenging an Idaho land use decision, learn what a district court can and cannot do on judicial review, and see how the Regulatory Takings Act and the Attorney General's checklist protect owners.
  9. How Big Industrial Projects Move Through Planning 18 min
    See how a large industrial project, such as a data center, finds its way through an Idaho zoning code that never mentions it, and what conditions on noise, generators, water and setbacks look like in practice.
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🏙️ Urban Renewal and Economic Development Groups Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

Learn how Idaho urban renewal agencies are created, governed and reported, who carries the cost of tax increment financing, how state incentives and regional development groups in the Magic Valley are funded, which open government laws reach them, and what the evidence says about whether any of it works. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 9 lessons.

What is included: 9 lessons and pages
  1. Who Runs Urban Renewal: Agencies and Their Boards 16 min
    See how an Idaho urban renewal agency comes into existence, who appoints its board, how much control the city council keeps, why agencies created after 2011 need a public vote, and how a city can now dissolve one.
  2. Plans, Amendments and the 20-Year Clock 17 min
    Follow an urban renewal plan with a revenue allocation area from the eligibility finding to the final ordinance, then learn how plans change, when the 20-year clock starts and stops, and the 2025 manufacturing extension written with a Twin Falls expansion in mind.
  3. Who Carries the Cost of the Increment 18 min
    Go past the levy rate effect: see how new buildings inside a revenue allocation area add nothing to a fire or city budget's growth allowance, how the 2025 fire and ambulance opt-out works in dollars, and how the 'but for' assumption decides whether urban renewal costs anyone anything.
  4. What Agencies Must Report, and Where to Find It 18 min
    Learn every report an Idaho urban renewal agency owes, from the September 1 budget to the March 31 annual report and the two December 1 state registries, what happens when an agency skips one, and how to read the debt notes in a real annual report.
  5. Urban Renewal in the Magic Valley 35 min
    Meet the urban renewal agencies of south-central Idaho as the state registry lists them, then walk through the Twin Falls agency's districts, dates, debts and the Chobani and Clif Bar deals that dominate its books.
  6. Idaho Commerce Incentives and the Local Match 17 min
    Learn how the Idaho Department of Commerce's Tax Reimbursement Incentive works under Idaho Code 67-4737 to 67-4744, what the state's other grant programs pay for, what the fiscal 2025 numbers show for the Magic Valley, and why every TRI deal leaves a paper trail at city hall or the courthouse.
  7. Regional Development Groups: SIEDO, Frontier and the Chambers 17 min
    Sort out the private and quasi-public groups that recruit business and steer development in the Magic Valley, including the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization, Frontier Community Resources (the Region IV Development Association) and chambers of commerce, how each is organized and funded, and the case for and against the model.
  8. Open Meetings, Public Records and Following the Money 18 min
    Sort out which development bodies Idaho's open meeting and public records laws reach, where the law is settled and where it is not, which federal rules fill gaps for regional districts, and how to add up the public money behind a single project.
  9. Does It Work? The Evidence For and Against 18 min
    Weigh the strongest case for tax increment financing and recruitment incentives against the strongest case against, with the named people and studies on each side, the arithmetic of cost per job actually created, and a plain statement of where the research points.
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🏫 Idaho School Boards, Budgets, Bonds and Levies Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

How Idaho school districts are governed and funded: trustee zones and elections, the budget cycle, state funding, supplemental and plant facilities levies, bonds and the two-thirds rule. Read a district budget, follow the money and know what districts may and may not say in a bond campaign. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 10 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. How Idaho School Districts Are Governed 22 min
    What an Idaho school district is in law, how many districts and charter schools the state has, who decides what among trustees, superintendents, the State Board, the state superintendent, the Legislature and the Charter School Commission, and how trustee numbers, zones, officers, powers and limits work under Title 33.
  2. Trustee Elections, Zones and Vacancies 22 min
    When and how Idaho school trustees are elected under 33-503 and the uniform district election law, how zone voting, filing, write-ins and nonpartisan ballots work, how boards fill vacancies under 33-504, how a trustee recall works under Title 34 Chapter 17, and what real Idaho trustee races and recalls show about turnout.
  3. The School Budget Cycle and Hearings 24 min
    The Idaho school district money year from the Legislature's appropriation to levy certification: the July 1 fiscal year, the 33-801 budget hearing and its notice rules, mid-year amendments that need 60 percent of the board, the annual financial statement and audit deadlines, website transparency under 33-357, and how a certified budget becomes a levy rate under 63-803.
  4. State Funding and Recent Changes 26 min
    Where Idaho school money comes from, how the support unit formula, salary-based apportionment, the career ladder and discretionary funds turn attendance into dollars, the size of the fiscal 2026 and 2027 public schools budgets, the facilities and tax credit laws of 2023 to 2026, the Idaho Supreme Court's February 5, 2026 tax credit decision, and the ISEEO school funding cases.
  5. Supplemental Levies: The Local Vote That Pays for Staff and Programs 24 min
    How an Idaho school supplemental levy works under Idaho Code 33-802: majority approval, the two-year limit and the indefinite-term exception, the May and November election dates, the ballot disclosures in 33-802B and 34-914, how the dollar amount becomes a tax rate, how state facilities money now pays part of the bill, and what recent Idaho levy votes show.
  6. Plant Facilities and the Other School Levies 25 min
    Every other property tax an Idaho school district can levy: the plant facilities reserve levy and its sliding 55, 60 and two-thirds thresholds, the 20-year safe schools version, the emergency levy for enrollment growth, tort, judgment, tuition, migrant and cooperative service levies, the state facilities funds created in 2023 and 2024, the end of bond levy equalization, and how all of it stacks on one tax bill.
  7. School Bonds and the Two-Thirds Rule 27 min
    How an Idaho school district borrows for buildings: the two-thirds vote in Article VIII, Section 3 of the Idaho Constitution and its exceptions, the bond process under Title 33 Chapter 11 and the 34-913 ballot disclosures, debt limits and amortization rules, the School Bond Guaranty, refinancing and the limits on lease-purchase, proposals to lower the threshold, and the record of recent Idaho bond votes.
  8. What Districts May and May Not Say About Their Own Bonds and Levies 32 min
    How Idaho's Public Integrity in Elections Act and the bond and levy disclosure laws decide what a school district, its trustees and its staff may say about a bond or levy, how the line has been enforced in Idaho Falls, Twin Falls and elsewhere, how private committees register and report, and where a resident takes a complaint.
  9. Reading a District Budget and Financial Reports 34 min
    How an Idaho school district's money is organized under the state's IFARMS chart of accounts, what the revenue and spending lines mean, how to do per-pupil and fund balance math, where every budget, report and audit is published, and what to ask at the budget hearing, with a real district statement and an invented one worked line by line.
  10. Records, Meetings and Real Idaho Bond and Levy Examples 36 min
    Which school district records to request about budgets, bonds, contracts, construction and enrollment, how the Open Meeting Law and executive sessions apply to school boards, how to follow a bond from facility study to finished building, what recent Idaho bond and levy elections show, and a final checklist, ending with verified statewide numbers and charts.
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🏥 Idaho Medicaid: How It Works, Who Decides and What Changes in 2027 Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

How Idaho Medicaid works: the federal and state money split, how Proposition 2 and the 2019 sideboards created expansion, who qualifies, who writes the rules, how the budget is built, the January 2027 work requirements and six-month renewals, managed care, appealing a denial, checking a claim and having a say. 10 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. What Medicaid Is and Is Not 36 min
    Medicaid is a joint federal and state health program with its own legal basis, funding formula and rules, and it differs sharply from Medicare. This lesson explains the Title XIX framework, how Idaho's federal match works, who runs the program in Boise, how big it is, and how to read a Medicaid number without being fooled.
  2. How Idaho Got Expansion: Proposition 2, the Sideboards and the Courts 37 min
    Idaho voters approved Medicaid expansion on November 6, 2018, by 60.6 percent. This lesson follows the initiative from the coverage gap and the signature drive through the Idaho Supreme Court's February 2019 ruling, the Legislature's 2019 conditions, the 2020 rollout, and the later amendments to Idaho Code 56-267, with a timeline you can use to check any claim about the history.
  3. Who Qualifies and Who Is Covered 38 min
    Medicaid eligibility turns on a category and an income test, and the numbers change every year. This lesson sets out Idaho's 2026 income limits for expansion adults, parents, pregnant women, children, and aged, blind and disabled groups, explains MAGI and the 5 percent disregard with worked examples, and shows how to check any claim about who is covered.
  4. Who Writes the Rules: Statute, Rules, the State Plan and Waivers 36 min
    Idaho Medicaid is governed by five layers of documents: federal law, the state plan, waivers, Idaho Code Title 56 and the IDAPA 16.03 rules. This lesson shows who writes each layer, where to find the current text, how each changes, and where the public can comment, using the 2027 work requirement as the test case.
  5. Follow the Money: JFAC, Provider Rates and the Budget Fights 38 min
    How Idaho pays for Medicaid: the difference between total, general fund and federal dollars, the 67.31 percent federal match, the FY2027 appropriation bills S1433 and S1435, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee calendar, and the 2026 fights over provider rates, with worked arithmetic and a checklist for reading any Medicaid budget number.
  6. The 2027 Work Requirements, Step by Step 40 min
    Starting January 1, 2027, Idaho expansion adults must show 80 hours a month of work, service or school, or $580 in monthly income, unless excluded. This lesson walks the process from application and the three-month lookback through the data check, the 30-day notice and six-month renewals, compares Arkansas and Georgia, and shows how to prepare.
  7. Managed Care and Privatization 36 min
    Idaho law passed in 2025 sends most Medicaid benefits to private managed care organizations, now scheduled for January 1, 2030. This lesson explains how the money flows, what the procurement calendar and the December 1, 2026 blackout mean, what Idaho's Magellan contract teaches, and how members appeal a plan's decision.
  8. If You Are Denied or Cut Off: Notices, Appeals and Hearings 38 min
    A step-by-step guide to challenging an Idaho Medicaid decision: how to read the notice, the 10-day, 28-day and 30-day marks, how to ask for a fair hearing and keep benefits, what happens at the hearing, the 2027 work requirement notices, and where to get free legal help. Figures are as of October 2026.
  9. Reporting and Fact-Checking Medicaid Claims 38 min
    Medicaid numbers arrive with missing denominators, mixed definitions and proponent-written savings. This lesson shows where Idaho's Medicaid data lives, nine patterns that make a number misleading, how to read the conflicting expansion enrollment figures, and how to file a public records request with the Department of Health and Welfare.
  10. Having a Say: Testimony, Rule and Waiver Comment, and One Bill Traced 40 min
    Idaho Medicaid changes through three doors: bills, administrative rules and federal waivers, each with its own comment window. This lesson traces House Bill 913 (2026) from draft to Session Law chapter 334 with real dates and votes, then shows how to testify, submit written testimony, comment on a rule and comment on a waiver, as of October 2026.
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📘 Starting and Running a Nonprofit or Advocacy Group in Idaho Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

How to start and run an Idaho advocacy group the right way: choosing between an unincorporated association and a nonprofit corporation, articles, bylaws, filings and annual reports, the EIN, picking 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) and the IRS forms, board duties, fundraising and tax rules, political activity limits and how to close down cleanly. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 10 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. Association, Corporation or Something Else: What Your Group Can Be in Idaho 24 min
    The legal shapes an Idaho advocacy group can take (an informal group, an unincorporated nonprofit association under Idaho Code Title 30 Chapter 27, a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 30, a project under a fiscal sponsor, or an LLC) and how state legal form differs from federal tax status.
  2. Filing Articles of Incorporation with the Idaho Secretary of State 25 min
    What Idaho nonprofit articles must say under Idaho Code 30-30-202, the name rules, choosing a registered agent, incorporators and initial directors, members or no members, the purpose and dissolution clauses the IRS expects for a 501(c)(3), filing in SOSBiz and its fees, and assumed business names.
  3. Bylaws and the First Meeting 26 min
    The default rules Idaho's Nonprofit Corporation Act sets for boards, officers, members, meetings, notice, quorum, voting, remote participation, written consent and amendments; what bylaws should change; how to run the organizational meeting; and the governance policies IRS Forms 1023 and 990 ask about.
  4. The EIN, the Bank Account and the Idaho Annual Report 25 min
    Getting a federal EIN and naming the responsible party, opening a bank account, filing Idaho's free annual report by the end of the anniversary month, avoiding and curing administrative dissolution, keeping the registered agent current, and registering with the Idaho State Tax Commission and Department of Labor when the group sells things or hires, with a year-round compliance calendar.
  5. Choosing 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4), and Applying to the IRS 32 min
    What a 501(c)(3) charity and a 501(c)(4) social welfare group may each do, how deductibility, donor disclosure, lobbying and grants differ, how to apply on Form 1023, Form 1023-EZ, Form 8976 and Form 1024-A with the 2026 user fees, how the public support tests and the 27-month rule work, and how to run a (c)(3) and (c)(4) side by side.
  6. Board Duties, Conflicts of Interest and Pay 31 min
    What Idaho law asks of nonprofit directors and officers, how the Idaho Nonprofit Corporation Act handles conflict of interest transactions and loans, how volunteer immunity under Idaho Code 6-1605 and the federal Volunteer Protection Act work, how the IRS excess benefit rules and rebuttable presumption apply to pay and deals with insiders, and what the Attorney General may do about misused charitable assets.
  7. Fundraising Rules: Receipts, Raffles, Online Giving and Restricted Gifts 33 min
    The federal rules for donor acknowledgments, quid pro quo disclosures and noncash gifts, the nondeductibility notice for 501(c)(4) groups, what the Idaho Charitable Solicitation Act does and does not require, Idaho's constitutional and statutory rules for charitable raffles and bingo, crowdfunding, restricted gifts and grants, and when fundraising income is taxable as unrelated business income.
  8. State Tax Exemption, the Form 990 Family and Public Inspection 32 min
    How Idaho income, sales and property tax treat a nonprofit, which federal Form 990 a group files and when, what happens after three years of silence, and which documents any member of the public may walk in and ask to see.
  9. Political Activity, Lobbying and Advocacy: Building the Organization Around the Rules 34 min
    How an Idaho advocacy group sets itself up to lobby lawfully: the substantial part test or the 501(h) election, what counts as direct and grassroots lobbying and what does not, the 501(c)(4) primary purpose rule and the dues notice or proxy tax, when staff or volunteers must register as Idaho lobbyists under Title 74 Chapter 7, and when a separate PAC is the cleaner choice.
  10. Records, Transparency and Closing Down Cleanly 35 min
    What records an Idaho nonprofit must keep and for how long, who has the right to inspect them, why the Idaho Public Records Act usually does not reach a private nonprofit, and how to handle a struggling group: merging, voluntary dissolution step by step with the Attorney General notice under the Idaho Charitable Assets Protection Act, the final IRS return, and administrative dissolution and reinstatement.
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📘 Idaho's State Budget: How JFAC, Holdbacks and Revenue Forecasts Really Work Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

Where Idaho's state money comes from, how the budget moves from agency requests to the governor to JFAC to the floor, how revenue forecasts are made, what holdbacks and the balanced budget rule mean, how reserves and tax cuts change the picture, how to read an appropriation bill, how state dollars reach counties, cities and schools, and how to track, report on and testify about the budget. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 10 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. Where Idaho's Money Comes From 26 min
    The three kinds of state money, why the $5.6 billion General Fund is only part of a $14.4 billion budget, where General Fund revenue comes from, and how to read the revenue table without getting lost.
  2. The Budget Calendar: From Agency Requests to Sine Die 27 min
    The statutory dates and the real FY2027 and FY2028 cycles: agency requests on September 1, the Governor's January budget, JFAC budget setting, sine die, July 1, and the supplementals and holdbacks that follow.
  3. Who Does What: Governor, DFM, LSO, JFAC and the Officers Who Hold the Money 27 min
    The roles in Idaho's budget: the Governor and DFM, the Legislative Services Office, the 20-member JFAC and its maintenance and enhancement bills, germane committees, the Board of Examiners, the State Controller and the State Treasurer.
  4. Revenue Forecasts: Who Makes Them and How to Read the Monthly Report 26 min
    How the Division of Financial Management and the legislative EORAC committee forecast Idaho General Fund revenue, why JFAC adopts one number, and how to read the monthly General Fund Revenue Report with real September 2026 figures.
  5. Holdbacks, Deficits and the Balanced Budget Rule 28 min
    What the Idaho Constitution requires, how the governor's holdback power under Idaho Code 67-3512A works, the 2025-26 holdbacks and cuts step by step, the 2008, 2009 and 2020 precedents, who is exempt, and where the legal limits and disputes lie.
  6. Rainy Day Funds, Reserves and Transfers 26 min
    What Idaho's Budget Stabilization Fund, Public Education Stabilization Fund and other reserves are, how the 15 percent cap and year-end transfers work, and how cash transfers helped balance FY2026, with dated balances.
  7. Tax Cuts and Budget Tradeoffs 27 min
    A dated record of Idaho's flat income tax rate cuts, the food tax credit, the parental choice credit and the 2026 federal conformity bill H559, what each fiscal note says it costs, and how to weigh the arguments on every side.
  8. Reading an Appropriation Bill and the Legislative Budget Book 30 min
    A line-by-line walk through two real FY2027 appropriation bills, H.B. 866 and H.B. 952, and the matching Legislative Budget Book and Legislative Fiscal Report pages for the Secretary of State, with the arithmetic that ties them together.
  9. Following the Money Home: Revenue Sharing, Schools, Medicaid and Local Budgets 28 min
    How a state sales tax dollar reaches cities, counties, special districts and schools under Idaho Code 63-3638, how the K-12 support unit formula and the Medicaid match work, and what a holdback or cut in Boise means in a local budget, with worked arithmetic and two diagrams.
  10. Tracking, Reporting and Testifying on the State Budget 30 min
    How to follow the Idaho budget year by year, watch JFAC and find the documents behind a number, write a budget story that holds up, and speak to the Legislature, with a list of common numbers mistakes, a table of verified figures and two diagrams.
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📘 Idaho Roads and Highways: Who Builds Them, Who Pays and How to Have a Say Learning Module

Free lessons with sources, a short quiz and progress saved in your browser.

How Idaho roads really get built, paid for and fixed: who owns which road, where fuel tax, registration, sales tax and property tax money goes, the constitutional limits and the 2025 budget fight, TECM and GARVEE bonds, the 2026 unfunded list in ITD's seven-year plan, highway districts and their budgets, federal formulas and the reauthorization fight, impact fees, and step-by-step ways to get a road fixed, change a project or report on one. A module of Issues and Advocacy Training, 10 lessons.

What is included: 10 lessons and pages
  1. Who Owns Your Road? ITD, Counties, Cities and Idaho's Highway Districts 30 min
    Idaho's public roads belong to the state, 33 county road departments, 63 highway districts and 189 cities, with federal, tribal and private roads alongside. This lesson explains each owner's legal powers, Idaho's highway districts and the countywide ACHD, and how to find out who maintains any road or validate a disputed public road under Idaho Code 40-203A.
  2. Where Road Money Comes From: Fuel Tax, Fees, Sales Tax and Property Tax 32 min
    Idaho roads are paid for by a stack of revenues: a 32-cent fuel tax, registration and EV fees split 60/40 between ITD and local governments, fixed sales tax transfers, federal aid, local property taxes, voter-approved local registration fees and impact fees. This lesson traces a gallon of gas from pump to pavement and shows how to follow the money for your own city, county or highway district.
  3. The Constitution's Highway Fund Wall and the 2025 Budget Fight 30 min
    Article VII, section 17 of the Idaho Constitution reserves fuel taxes and registration fees for highways, and courts have enforced it strictly, but it does not protect sales tax or General Fund money. This lesson covers the key cases, the Idaho State Police phase-out, the April 2025 Senate vote that killed the ITD budget over an Article III, section 19 concern, what happened in 2026, and how to test any constitution…
  4. TECM, GARVEE Bonds and the Strategic Initiatives Fund 40 min
    How Idaho borrows for highways through GARVEE and TECM bonds, how the TECM sales tax stream in Idaho Code 63-3638(16) grew from 1 percent in 2017 to $185 million a year from fiscal 2028, and how the Strategic Initiatives Fund went from a $275 million General Fund transfer in fiscal 2026 to zero in fiscal 2027. Includes bond cost math, the 2023 HB 292 bond scare, who decides what, and how to test claims about road mo…
  5. Reading ITD's Seven-Year Plan (ITIP) and the 2026 Unfunded List 35 min
    A reading guide to the Idaho Transportation Investment Program: the annual June-July-September cycle, how it feeds the federal STIP, how projects are selected by program, and how to read a project line by key number, program, fund code, phase and year. Uses the fiscal 2027 to 2033 program, approved September 17, 2026, after more than $1 billion of projects moved to the unfunded Early Development category.
  6. Highway Districts Up Close: Elections, Levies, Budgets and Capital Plans 40 min
    How Idaho's highway districts work under Title 40, chapters 13 and 14: commissioner elections (including the 2026 law making ACHD races partisan and countywide from 2028), levy limits in 40-801, the 3 percent and forgone rules in 63-802, and the budget hearing. Uses ACHD's $261 million fiscal 2027 budget and five-year plan, a rural Payette County district's budget, the 2025 East Side Highway District late-charges ca…
  7. Federal Money: FHWA Formulas, the STIP, MPOs and the Reauthorization Fight 32 min
    How federal highway dollars reach Idaho: the FHWA formula, Idaho's 92.66 percent federal share, the STIP and the six metropolitan planning organizations, LHTAC's local programs and the Federal Lands Access Program. Covers the September 2026 stopgap extension, the county bridge funding cliff and the pending BUILD America 250 Act, as of October 2026.
  8. Growth Pays for Growth? Impact Fees, Development Agreements and Who Pays for New Roads 32 min
    How Idaho's Development Impact Fee Act (Idaho Code Title 67, Chapter 82) works, who can charge road impact fees, and how ACHD set its 2026 fees. Covers development agreements, the Nollan, Dolan, Koontz and Sheetz takings cases, Idaho cases on illegal fees, and why fees cover less of growth's road costs than many assume, as of October 2026.
  9. How To: Get a Road Fixed, a Signal Studied or a Project Changed 28 min
    A practical playbook for Idaho residents: find the road's owner, report problems, request traffic and speed studies, use ITD crash data, comment on the seven-year plan and MPO plans, testify at budget hearings, file records requests and work with legislators. Uses real 2024 to 2026 examples from US-95 near Sagle and Dufort Road, as of October 2026.
  10. How To: Report on a Road Project, Follow the Money and Check the Numbers 30 min
    A reporter's and researcher's guide to an Idaho road project's paper trail: key numbers, environmental documents, bid tabulations, contracts, change orders, inspection records, ITD's annual report, Transparent Idaho and Legislative Services Office audits. Ends with Roads by the Numbers, charts summarizing road ownership, revenue, bridge condition and the 2026 unfunded list, as of October 2026.
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🧠 Civic Trivia Game

A browser game built on the lessons; every answer links back to where it is taught.

Five levels of Idaho civics trivia, ten random questions per round from a pool of 48 per level, drawn from the Elected Officials Training and the Issues and Advocacy Training. Every answer links back to its lesson. Best scores saved in your browser.

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