Idaho Freedom Foundation

The Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) is a conservative 501(c)(3) organization that is part of the right-wing State Policy Network and advocates for conservative state legislation in Idaho. It is based in Boise and calls itself a research institute that advocates for "free market solutions, private property rights, individual responsibility and transparent, limited government."

Critics Scrutinize IFF's Charitable Status
In September 2013, the Idaho Spokesman-Review reported that experts on non-profit tax law like Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, believe IFF is "abusing its lucrative tax-free status" because it "likely is underreporting its lobbying under federal tax laws."

IFF is organized as a 501(c)(3), so contributions to the group are tax-deductible. Contributions to 501(c)(4) lobbying groups are not. According to the Spokesman-Review, IFF's Executive Director Wayne Hoffman "maintains it's really not a lobbying group and that it does only a small amount of lobbying. He reported spending just $13,000 on lobbying in 2012, out of $447,108 in total expenses. In 2011, he reported just $10,290 spent on lobbying; in 2010 and 2009, he reported that the group spent zero to influence legislation." But in 2013, "IFF had three registered lobbyists, was a constant presence in the Capitol[,] and led the opposition to the governor's biggest legislative proposal of the session, the bill creating a state-based health insurance exchange. It rated 150 bills against its agenda, assigning positive or negative scores, and tracked lawmakers' votes. The group writes legislation, testifies to committees, sponsors lectures and tours for legislators, conducts polls, publishes reports and sends out emails, and its lawmaker scores have been prominently featured in campaign ads." The article sums up, "most of its work focuses on influencing public policy."

On whether or not the organization is lobbying, the newspaper posted a dialogue between IFF Executive Director Wayne Hoffman and non-profit tax law expert Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer:


 * "'Lobbying is a very specific thing,' Hoffman said, adding that he believes as long as any of his group's communications stop short of saying 'vote yes' or 'vote no,' they haven't crossed the 'bright line' between education and lobbying.


 * "However, Mayer said, 'Mr. Hoffman is confusing federal election law with federal tax law. More specifically, he is confusing the rules relating to whether a communication is "express advocacy" for purposes of the federal election law with the rules relating to whether a communication is lobbying for the purposes of the federal tax laws. The federal tax laws defining lobbying are much broader … and reach essentially any communication that mentions specific legislation and reflects a view on that legislation, whether expressly or less directly.'


 * "Hoffman said in his view, even writing bills isn't lobbying. 'As I understand it, that is not lobbying because what you are doing is you are working on helping lawmakers divine good public policy, which is what we do anyway,' he said. 'It’s educational.'


 * "He has the same view of the town meetings, literature[,] and pre-election robocalls his group sponsored when Shoshone County had a measure on the ballot in May to form a new urban renewal agency, though he boasts that after IFF's efforts, the measure failed by a 3-1 margin. 'That was just an education effort,' he said.


 * "Mayer said the robocalls likely qualify as direct lobbying because they asserted that the measure would drive up taxes and take away people’s ability to vote on future projects. 'The lack of "vote against" or similar language does not control,' he said.


 * "He noted, 'A communication can be both educational and lobbying; the terms are not mutually exclusive.' A lobbying communication might also be 'informative,' he said."

Despite IFF's three registered lobbyists in 2013, Hoffman told the Spokesman-Review that "the only thing he reports on his Form 990 as lobbying is his own time spent telling legislators to vote one way or another, or sending emails or writing letters with that message. 'It's time that I spend testifying in committee,' he said, and reflects 'very little' of his other employees' time."

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
The IFF has ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) through its Executive Director, Wayne Hoffman. In an article on the foundation's website entitled, "ALEC Helps Promote Good Public Policy," Hoffman states, "ALEC has been an invaluable resource and friend to me and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. Few people know how often I have asked ALEC’s staff for help battling big-government ideas, including the federal health care takeover and the imposition of confiscatory tax polices. And it has always responded. . . . I’m grateful for ALEC, and you should be, too." .

Furthermore, according to the groups' publication the Idaho Reporter, the IFF sponsored a trip to Boise for John Graham of the Pacific Research Institute and Christie Herrera, director of the ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force, to meet with Idaho lawmakers to discuss health care policy. (For more on the Idaho Reporter and the Idaho Freedom Foundation, see their connections to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity below).

Additionally, the IFF has ties to ALEC through its membership with the State Policy Network, which is an ALEC member and sponsor. ALEC is also an Associate Member of the SPN.

Please see SPN Ties to ALEC for more.

Ties to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
The Idaho Freedom Foundation publishes IdahoReporter.com and

Staff
As of September 2013:


 * Executive Director: Wayne Hoffman (former communications director for Congressman Bill Sali)
 * Director of Transparency and Government Accountability: Erik Makrush (identified as a lobbyist by the Idaho Spokesman-Review
 * Policy Analyst: Parrish Miller
 * Communications Director: Mitch Coffman

According to the Idaho Spokesman-Review, "IFF has eight full-time employees plus a handful of interns and independent contractors," but with the exception of Hoffman, Makrush, Miller, and Coffman, these employees are not listed on the organization's website.

Staff writers at the Idaho Reporter include, as of September 2013:


 * Austin Hill
 * Dustin Hurst, who is also a "National Reporter" for the Franklin Center's Watchdog.org site

Board of Directors
As of September 2013:


 * Board Chairman: Bob Rathbone
 * Board Vice Chairman: Brent Regan (Regan Designs)
 * Board Secretary: Heather Lauer (Owner, Villageous LLC)
 * Board Treasurer: Dan Symms (Partner, Symms Fruit Ranch)
 * Director: Loel Fenwick, MD (The Borning Corporation)

Core Financials
 2011 
 * Total Revenue: $355,673
 * Total Expenses: $350,348
 * Net Assets: $294,580

 2010  :
 * Total Revenue: $494,134
 * Total Expenses: $356,081
 * Net Assets: $289,255

 2009  :
 * Total Revenue: $369,377
 * Total Expenses: $218,275
 * Net Assets: $151,202

Contact Information
PO Box 2801 Boise, ID 83701 Phone: (208) 258-2280 Fax: (208) 965-8111 wayne@idahofreedom.net

Related Sourcewatch Articles

 * Idaho Reporter

External Resources

 * Betsy Z. Russell, Idaho Freedom Foundation’s charitable status scrutinized, Idaho Spokesman-Review, September 15, 2013.