our History

March 2017 — Local residents in Bonner County successfully organize to pass a local school levy for the Lake Pend Oreille School District

July 2017 — Reclaim Idaho founded in Sandpoint, and co-founders hit the road in the Medicaid Mobile (a re-purposed 1978 Dodge RV) for a 20-town statewide tour focused on the need for Medicaid Expansion

April 2018 — Coalition to expand Medicaid achieves signature goals to place Medicaid Expansion on the ballot, with the vast majority of signatures coming from local teams of volunteers from every region of the state

November 2018 — The initiative to expand Medicaid passes with 61% of the vote, including a majority of the vote in 35 of Idaho’s 44 counties. The Medicaid Expansion campaign was documented widely in local and national media. Here are a few links:

Film/Television:

• Reclaim Idaho, a documentary by independent filmmakers Laura Wing-Kamoosi and Jim Kamoosi

• VICE News Tonight, 2018 Midterm Elections Special (nominated for an Emmy Award for “Outstanding News Special”)

• NBC News with Garrett Haake, “Government expansion of health care is on the ballot in the most unlikely places”

Books:

• “Aboard Idaho’s Medicaid Express,” a chapter in David Daley’s Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy

• “What Will Work,” a chapter in Timothy Faust’s Health Justice Now: Single Payer and What Comes Next

Articles:

• “'I did it because everybody else needed it': Reclaim volunteer reflects on Medicaid campaign,” Post Register

• “These Volunteers are Battling Idaho’s Government to Expand Medicaid” by Anne Helen Peterson, Buzzfeed

• “The Ballot Revolt to Bring Medicaid Expansion to Trump Country” by Paul Demko, Politico

April 2019 — Reclaim organizes statewide to help win a governor’s veto of Senate Bill 1159, an attempt to dismantle Idaho’s ballot-initiative process

June 2019 — Reclaim launches statewide Idaho Speaks town hall series focused on the value of Idaho’s ballot-initiative process and ongoing threats to the process

November 2019 — Reclaim launches “Invest in Idaho,” an initiative campaign to increase funding for public schools by increasing taxes on corporations and the state’s highest earners

March 2020 — Reclaim suspends “Invest in Idaho” signature drive due to COVID stay-at-home order. After suing in court, Reclaim wins decision from federal district court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to enable online signature gathering, only to see the rulings reversed by the United States Supreme Court in Little v. Reclaim Idaho

April 2021 — In the face of overwhelming public opposition, Governor Little signs into law Senate Bill 1110, a bill designed to dismantle the ballot-initiative process by making the signature-gathering process so restrictive as to be impossible. Up from the requirement that citizens collect large numbers of signatures in at least 18 of 35 legislative districts, the new law required all 35 of Idaho’s 35 districts. Reclaim immediately sues in the Idaho Supreme Court, asking justices to strike down the law as unconstitutional

August 2021 — In a landmark ruling in Reclaim Idaho/Gilmore v. Denney, the Idaho Supreme Court unanimously sides with Reclaim Idaho and strikes down the recently enacted anti-initiative law and declares the initiative process a fundamental right of the people of Idaho

August 2021 — Reclaim launches signature drive for the Quality Education Act, an initiative to increase funding for public schools by $330 million a year by increasing taxes on corporations and Idaho’s highest income earners

July 2022 — The Quality Education Act qualifies for the ballot with over 100,000 signatures collected

August-September 2022 — Governor Little calls emergency special session of the Idaho Legislature and proposes an alternative education-funding plan that invests $330 million in K-12 public education and $80 million in higher ed, funded by an allocation of sales-tax revenue rather than a tax increase for corporations and high-earners. The Legislature passes the proposal. Reclaim Idaho is credited with pressuring the governor and legislator to enact the largest funding increase to public education in a generation

December 2022 — Reclaim launches its first advocacy campaign against private-school vouchers with door-knocking events and coffee hours in the 21 rural Idaho counties where there are no private-school options. Links to media coverage and commentary on Reclaim’s advocacy against vouchers:

• “Democracy is not a spectator sport,” a chapter in Education Wars, a book by Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider

• “Stopping the Privatization Train,” Have You Heard podcast

• “The Battle Against School Vouchers,” an article by Luke Mayville in Commonweal

• “The Idaho Exception,” Have You Heard podcast

• "Organizing in Rural America,” Know Your Enemy podcast interview with Luke Mayville

• “Vouchers vs. People” an article by Luke Mayville in The Nation

February-March 2023 — Alongside other pro-public education organizations, Reclaim mobilizes people across the state to testify, both remotely and in-person, against Senate Bill 1038, a universal ESA private-school voucher program. The bill dies in the Senate with a 12-23 vote. Another private-school voucher bill, Senate Bill 1161, passes the Senate but dies prior to receiving a hearing in the House Education Committee

March 2023 — Using special-session funds made possible by Reclaim’s Quality Education Act campaign, Governor Little signs into law the Idaho Launch program, providing high school graduates $8,500 scholarships to pursue in-demand career paths at a career-technical training center, community college, or Idaho university

March 2023 — SJR 101, a constitutional amendment that would restrict the ballot-initiative process by requiring large numbers of signatures from all 35 of Idaho’s legislative districts, dies on the House floor after failing to get the two-thirds majority required for proposing a constitutional amendment

May 2023 — Reclaim joins with coalition partners to file the Open Primaries Initiative, an initiative that would replace closed-primary elections in Idaho with a nonpartisan open primary and create ranked-choice voting in general elections

February 2024 — After an outpouring of opposition and testimony from the public, House Bill 419 to repeal Medicaid Expansion dies in the House Health and Welfare Committee

March 2024 — Reclaim mobilizes against House Bill 447, a tax-credit voucher bill. The bill dies by one vote in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee

July-November 2024 — The Open Primaries Initiative qualifies for the ballot with over 100,000 signatures collected. The Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition wins in court against AG Labrador’s attempt to keep the initiative off the ballot. After a hard-fought campaign, Proposition 1 goes down in defeat in the November election

January-February 2025 — Alongside other pro-public education organizations, Reclaim mobilizes a statewide surge of testimony and advocacy against House Bill 93, which would create a tax-credit private-school voucher program. The bill passes by just one vote in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, and then passes the House and Senate floor in spite of strong bi-partisan opposition in both chambers. Governor Little HB 93 into law after receiving a record-breaking 37,000 calls and emails—with 86% calling for a veto

January-April 2025 — Alongside other pro-initiative rights organizations, Reclaim successfully mobilizes to help defeat three bills attacking idaho’s ballot-initiative process

April 2025 — After passing the House Health and Welfare Committee by one vote and passing the House floor, House Bill 138 to repeal Medicaid Expansion dies in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee without a hearing

April 2025 — Reclaim joins with pro-public education allies to launch Save Our Schools town hall tour to advocate against the expansion of Idaho’s private-school voucher program. The tour included events in 30 towns. Along the way, organizers and volunteers collected over 17,000 signatures for Reclaim’s Not A Dollar More petition

September 2025 — Reclaim launches statewide series of speaking events on the theme of The People’s Voice, highlighting Idaho’s proud tradition of ballot-initiative rights and informing the public about threats to the initiative process

April 2026 — Medicaid Expansion repeal bill dies without a full hearing in the House Health and Welfare Committee