Critics of Wayne Hoffman and the Idaho Freedom Foundation say that the IFF has an “agenda.” The critics are right and the “agenda” is telling the truth. All too often we are told by the incumbents about how they faithfully serve their constituents when the truth is something different. They can cherry pick a few votes out of hundreds to support their claims. Their opponents can also pick a few votes that will indicate the exact opposite. The truth will help you if you are honest and hurt you if you are not. So what is the truth?

To find the truth each piece of legislation is analyzed against twelve metrics and given a score of +1 or -1. Metrics include asking if a bill expands government or increases government’s power? Does it lock out the private sector, create barriers to entry, redistribute wealth, increase spending, restrict access to information or violate the principle of equal protection? Does it create or increase penalties for victimless crimes, or violate the spirit or letter of the US or Idaho Constitutions? Does it violate the principles of federalism by increasing federal authority, yielding to federal blandishments, or incorporating changeable federal laws into Idaho statutes or rules?

Each point is added to give a score for a particular piece of legislation. Positive scores indicate the bill promotes conservative principles and limited government. Negative scores indicate the opposite. The Freedom Index rating is a total score for all the bills each legislator voted to pass. Because the House and the Senate vote on different bills the maximum scores are different. To correct for this, scores are shown as a percentage of the maximum.

The final product is a rating that shows the net effect of all the representative’s votes and where they fall between conservative and progressive. Some representatives love the Freedom Index because it shows their voting record. Some representatives hate the Freedom index for the same reason.

District 2 2015 2016

Sen. Steve Vick 85% 92%

Rep. Vito Barbieri 92% 80%

Rep. Eric Redman 48% 66%

District 3

Sen Bob Nonini 85% 91%

Rep. Ron Mendive 93% 87%

Rep. Don Cheatham 95% 78%

District 4

Sen. Mary Souza 78% 75%

Rep. Luke Malek 37% 59%

Rep. Kathleen Sims 90% 90%

If you want to see exactly how your representative was ranked, go to IdahoFreedomIndex.com, where you can also download the 2016 summary and rating metrics.

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Brent Regan is the Idaho Freedom Foundation board chairman.