No, there is not a typographical error in this title. De-publican efforts to remove the “public” from our public lands, public health, and public education systems are real and must be stopped.
Most evident have been certain De-publicans—like Rep. Fulcher and his Idaho compatriots—eager to legislate federal land grabs adjacent to cities and state land, and thus bypass NEPA requirements. Never mind that our federal land management agencies already have legal procedures to sell or exchange public lands when circumstances warrant. Privatizing federal and even state lands is rarely in the public interest.
Furthermore, mutual agreements exist across Idaho to cooperatively manage adjacent state and federal lands in the interests of water, wildlife, and fire management. There was no need for last year’s Legislature to ask Congress to hand over the Camas National Wildlife Refuge since other options exist to resolve irrigation water disputes.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration’s attack on our nation’s public health is well underway, as it is worldwide. Defunding USAID and eroding trust in vaccines have been both cruel and unwarranted, especially since public health and disease prevention programs were designed to protect all humanity, regardless of nationality.
Here in Idaho, eliminating mental health programs and removing working families from Medicaid ultimately will affect county taxpayers as incarceration and emergency room costs rise. Avoidable illness or death only hurts a family’s fragile economic status and increases their dependence on society. It does not inspire self-sufficiency.
It is the Legislature’s attack on public education—both K-12 and higher education—that is infuriating most Idahoans. Our own senators (Republicans Lent and Cook) lead the Senate Education Committee, but they clearly have been ineffective in convincing their colleagues to preserve the integrity of Idaho’s public education system.
Major budget cuts are proposed to higher education and even the Idaho Launch program. Teachers are unlikely to receive pay raises. Meanwhile, the outrageous $5,000 per child tax credit remains intact for De-publican families who choose to reject public education, even for ideological reasons. It’s so unjust for Idaho to subsidize private education for relatively few families to the tune of $50 million with little accountability for results.
De-publicans do have a public agenda designed for the rest of us, however. In keeping with harsh judgments straight from the Old Testament, ultra-right think-tanks want to impose one set of beliefs on others’ private lives, threatening individual rights and treasured freedoms enshrined in our U.S. Constitution.
De-publicans seek to restrict your right to vote, assemble, and speak freely. They are erasing the line between church and state by hypocritically declaring America a “Christian” nation and backtracking on racial equality. Many seek further limits on women’s reproductive rights, medical decisions, and even private relationships.
What once was private now seems subject to public scrutiny. What Idahoans have long valued as public—our land, schools and social services—are now threatened by greed and wealthy private interests.
Fifty years ago, Idaho was conservative yet compassionate. Will the 2026 elections make a difference?
Jan Brown is a retired nonprofit executive who is State Committeewoman for the Bonneville County Democrats and Region 7 Representative on the Idaho Democratic Party Executive Committee.