Daily Digest 4/7/26

The session is over - now what?

As the Gem State Chronicle continues to evolve beyond a simple Substack newsletter into a fully featured political platform, I thought I’d try something new. Since launching gemstatechronicle.com two years ago, I’ve been double-posting every column—once here on Substack, which sends it to free and paid subscribers via email and the app, and again on the Chronicle itself. One downside of this system is that it splits the content from a search engine optimization standpoint, preventing either version from reaching its full potential.

The Beatles experienced this same conundrum in 1967 when they released “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” as a double A-side—both singles competed for radio airplay, and neither reached number one.

So this week, I’m trying something new. Instead of sending my column as a Substack email, I’ll be sending a daily digest of what I’ve posted on the Chronicle. Most days, that will include my column, along with press releases, newsletters, op-eds, and my new feature, Local Voices.

I also plan to send more special emails for paid subscribers. As always, I appreciate your support!

In case you missed it

Are Idaho taxpayers paying to treat HIV-positive illegal aliens? The answer appears to be yes:

Are taxpayers responsible for treating sick people throughout the entire world—or only those who manage to cross our border, with or without legal status?

Is this purely about altruism, or is there also a financial incentive? Treating HIV-positive patients with taxpayer dollars appears to be a significant enterprise. As noted, Full Circle Health has received nearly $100 million in taxpayer funds since 2020. According to its latest IRS 990 filing filing, Dr. Epperly earned $515,430 in 2024 as CEO, while Dr. Davids earned $287,309 as a program director.

Local voices - Brian Parsons

Brian Parsons takes the Legislature to task for not fixing what he sees as a structural problem with Medicaid in Idaho:

With 105 Idaho legislators from all corners of the state and 31% of Idaho’s kids on Medicaid, it’s statistically impossible that none of these legislators are touched by it, either having been enrollees, or their kids or grandkids having been or currently being enrolled. Yet there is this disdain for doctors who accept it. They didn’t create it. They don’t particularly like it. Politicians leave them with no choice but to accept it, and leave it impossible to accept.

In the Pocatello region, there are 7000 kids on Medicaid. In Idaho Falls, 10,000 kids are on Medicaid. These are the two largest pediatric markets in Southeast Idaho. Should doctors refuse it, 17,000 kids lose medical care. Should they accept it, they’re reviled by their own representatives as government dependents.

Local voices - Tim Oren

With sine die accomplished, analyst Tim Oren has completed his project to map factions within the House and the Senate, and shares a sneak peek of how donations correlate with votes:

For this week, I’ll focus again on the most divisive issue of the session: illegal immigration. The Senate, through a combination of procedural skullduggery, insider conspiracy, or incompetence – take your pick – avoided going on record with a floor vote with any migrant-adjacent measure. Not so the House, that had four measures with a bearing on illegal immigration come to a full floor vote: H659, H660, H700 and H704.

That’s four opportunities for House members to show their positions and for me to look for emerging patterns. My first stab at it proved interesting: I simply added up the number of ‘ayes’ on those measure from both House members for each district, and laid the results out on an Idaho map:

Press release - AG Labrador

Attorney General Raúl Labrador is taking aim at the practice of using drones to drop contraband into prisons:

Attorney General Raúl Labrador has joined a multistate effort to combat the alarming rise in drones that are illegally dropping contraband into prisons, including narcotics, weapons, cell phones and other items. This is a major public safety threat impacting correctional facilities across the country, and it is fueling broader crime both inside and outside of prison walls.

Thanks again for your support. I plan to have another column out tomorrow. Remember to visit the Primary Pulse for information about the candidates running in the Republican legislative primary. Election Day in Idaho is in May, not November, so make sure to vote!