Megan Egbert is a District 17 Representative and sits on the Health and Welfare Committee. The difficulties with staffing rural hospitals and providing adequate medical specialists for the citizens of Idaho are profound. We fundamentally do not have enough education options to grow our own professionals within the state, and attracting them from other parts of the country is exceedingly difficult when considering the wage structure and other compensating factors. Taking care of the health of all...
Jan 25, 2025•47 min•Ep. 292
Ron Nate is the President of Idaho Freedom Foundation. In this conversation, we spoke extensively about the Grocery Tax, School Choice, Foreign labor, the fundamental drivers of economics, and more. He always provides an exciting conversation for sure. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. www.theRanchPodcast.org The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long ...
Jan 25, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 291
Dean Cameron is the Director of Insurance in the state of Idaho. Property insurance and access to such is a huge concern in this age of wildfires, and nationally we can see heartbreaking examples of states and insurance companies at odds, which ultimately results in losses for individual citizens. Idaho is working extremely hard to make sure that insurance companies have good reason to voluntarily engage in business in this beautiful state. There is currently legislation to assist in addressing ...
Jan 24, 2025•29 min•Ep. 290
Rick Naerebout is the Director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. The Dairy Industry nationally has been in a horrible bind since 1986, which was the last time there was a meaningful reform made to unauthorized workers in the United States. Because dairy is an agricultural industry, BUT it requires year round labor, the only real mechanism to get a foreign employment base is to have those individuals apply for green cards, which is a 20 year waiting list. The standard H2A visa program is inten...
Jan 24, 2025•41 min•Ep. 289
Brian Brooks is the former executive director of Idaho Wildlife Federation and the current VP of Advocacy & Threats Program for American Bird Conservancy. The Bird Flu is a big concern nationally, both from a scientific standpoint and from a consumer standpoint as we see our supply of eggs and chicken decreasing alongside prices rising. There’s also the ever looming threat of the disease successfully jumping to humans in a big way. We also spoke on the Farm Bill and how it could benefit Idah...
Jan 24, 2025•55 min•Ep. 288
Lauren Necochea is the head of the Democratic Party in the state of Idaho. This is her second visit in the legislative session, and we talked extensively about different tax issues, flags in public schools, energy production, and more. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. www.theRanchPodcast.org The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews...
Jan 23, 2025•50 min•Ep. 287
Luke Mayville is a northern Idaho native and has been at the center of three recent citizen lead initiatives: Medicaid Expansion, School Funding, and last year’s Prop 1. He came in to speak about his experience with the initiative process as well as why he feels that increasing the voter threshold from a simple majority to pass to 60% voter approval to pass is a mistake. Voter initiatives have a rich history in Idaho, and as we saw in the cases of Prop 1 (which lost conclusively) and Medicaid Ex...
Jan 23, 2025•39 min•Ep. 286
Charlie Lyons is a multi-decade Idaho rancher who found himself at odds with BLM over fire management for almost two decades. In a heart breaking and awe inspiring story, Charlie told me about being at odds with government agencies and what it took to find a way to both work with the establishment and also be an instrumental part of protecting his property and other Idaho ranchers’ properties. I find his story to be so uniquely Idahoan, centering on citizen led solutions to enormous problems, an...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 285
Doug Pickett is a District 27 Representative and sits as Chairman of the House Education Committee. He was formerly on the Revenue and Tax Committee and does not have a background with the Ed Committee. We spoke at length about what he sees in education, what Idaho does with tax dollars, what he sees as the value of small rural schools vs larger, urban schools, and more. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organizat...
Jan 20, 2025•34 min•Ep. 284
Lori Den Hartog is the District 22 Senator in Idaho and is bringing the first School Choice Bill of the 2025 Legislative session forward this coming week. This is structured as a refundable tax credit and would be available to anyone who educates their children outside of the public school setting. There are a lot of details involved, and Lori and I spoke about many, including what accountability actually means with this system. As most people are extremely anxious to see and understand the bill...
Jan 18, 2025•40 min•Ep. 283
Rob Gillis is a law enforcement advocate and president of the organization Idaho Tough on Crime. He works with many legislators advocating for bills and revisions in law to support law enforcement, and we spoke specifically in this interview about enhanced sentencing for a criminal who murders a police officer with the Bolter-Stall Bill as well as a bill that would deliver the possibility of capital punishment for a child predator. This was a sobering conversation but an important one, too. The ...
Jan 17, 2025•19 min•Ep. 282
Codi Galloway is the District 15 Senator in Idaho and served one term in the same district as a representative from 2020-2022. She has a background in education and business and deeply cares about children, both on an education front as well as prosperity front. There is an increasing population of homeless individuals and children and increasing cost of living in Idaho and especially the Treasure Valley, and Senator Galloway is focused on finding ways the government can help the community thriv...
Jan 17, 2025•31 min•Ep. 281
Mike Miraglia is a former Boise PD detective and the current legislative chairman for the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police. We spoke extensively about the utility and value of license plate readers in detective and police work. The value spans immediate use for things like bank robberies or in the pursuit of the would-be assassin on the golf course that targeted our president elect as well as longer term uses as in murder investigations and missing person cases. Mike explained what the LPRs do, a...
Jan 16, 2025•47 min•Ep. 280
Lori Wolff is the Administrator of Division of Financial Management for Gov. Little's office, which means she is intimately aware of what is in Gov. Little's proposed budget. There are pages of key points of the budget, but we spoke specifically today about the Labor market (a topic where Idaho leads the nation in many places) and about Law Enforcement. This was definitely the first of many conversations to unpack everything the Governor is asking for from us, the citizens. Enjoy! The Ranch Podc...
Jan 16, 2025•23 min•Ep. 279
Melissa Wintrow is the District 19 Senator for and has been in the legislature for 10 years. She came in to speak about human rights issues in Idaho as they pertain to same sex marriage and discrimination based on sexual preference. This was an eye opener for me for many reasons, but specifically I did not know that it is 100% legal in the state of Idaho to fire someone from a job or evict them from a home based solely on the fact that the employee or tenant is a homosexual. This was very inform...
Jan 15, 2025•19 min•Ep. 278
Steve Berch is the first democratic representative for District 15. He has historically sat on many committees, and when he came in we spoke extensively about taxation and school funding. He brought up considerations that I had never heard expressed about Idaho, like questioning the plan of borrowing to fund schools while cutting spending at the same time. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed t...
Jan 15, 2025•53 min•Ep. 277
Justin Webb is the director of the Foundation For Wildlife Management (F4WM). He grew up in rural Idaho and has enjoyed everything Idaho has to offer, but he has fundamental concerns about the carrying capacity of the state and its natural resources as it relates to reintroduction of predators, specifically wolves. In order for hunters to enjoy a stable population of accessible big game, there needs to be an abundance of these animals, and Justin fears the data shows that not only has the wolf p...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 276
Steve Stuebner is an independent journalist and filmmaker who has worked with Idaho's Ranching and Farming communities for over a decade. He is the writer and producer of the Life on the Range series that was commissioned by the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission. He was also awarded the Friend of the Industry award by the Idaho Wool Growers association in 2024 and has worked closely with many others to try to tell Idaho's story. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are support...
Jan 14, 2025•56 min•Ep. 275
Jeff Raybould is the chairman of the Idaho Water Board, an eight member board directly appointed by the Governor. In the Governor’s there is a new, $30 million annual allotment to invest in our water resource. This includes things like recharge sites for our aquifers, more research on water quality, and research on addressing issues like Moscow’s failing aquifer and Mountain Home’s water scarcity. The water in this state is the lifeblood of not just our economy but also of our growth. Jeff does ...
Jan 13, 2025•23 min•Ep. 274
Brandy Furiani is the Executive Director of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce. She started coming in to do ridiculously fun shows on The Ranch at the beginning of 2024, and we decided to kick 2025 off with a look back at all the fun we've had. 2025 surely has a lot of awesome in store with good food, good drinks, and good fun! Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. w...
Jan 13, 2025•58 min•Ep. 273
Lauren Necochea is a former legislator and head of the Democrat Party in Idaho. She came to speak with me about the democrat priorities for the session, and as we discussed property tax, we both realized we barely scratched the surface of what makes the party similar and unique. We’re already lined up for a second show at the end of the month. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, I...
Jan 11, 2025•32 min•Ep. 272
Chris Mathias is the District 19 Representative. He is working to shore up problems with public school safety, but on the prevention and response sides, as well as working towards tech safety in schools. We spoke about these issues as well as the concept that is gaining steam with funding private schools with public money as an alternative to public schools. If you’re watching education issues this legislative session, this one's for you! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are suppor...
Jan 10, 2025•32 min•Ep. 271
Alex Adams is the Director of Health and Welfare in the State of Idaho. He made it his immediate mission in the state to reduce the number of children needing foster care, increase the number of available foster care families, decrease the state’s tax dollars going to foster care needs, and increase the number of intact, thriving families. He is, amazingly, succeeding in all areas. There are many ways he is accomplishing this, like the state providing 8 weeks of paid leave for a new foster famil...
Jan 10, 2025•26 min•Ep. 270
Alexis Morgan is the Idaho State PTA President. She is also a month of four with students currently in Idaho’s public schools. Education in the state has become a hot topic for many reasons, but none as large as looming as the conflict between those who want to improve the quality and funding of our existing schools and those who want to provide alternate, non-government run schools with public dollars to educate our children. We spoke on this and several other issues that are things to look out...
Jan 10, 2025•46 min•Ep. 269
Rex Ingram is the Chief of Police of Caldwell and President of the Idaho Chief’s Association. In the immediate aftermath of the recent terrorist event in Louisiana, Caldwell repurposed some of their officers to increase visibility in the community and make sure that people knew Caldwell PD was there, was available, and was watching out. Understanding that although this is a great state and a place we both love to call home, crime knows no bounds and polarization still promotes extreme criminal a...
Jan 08, 2025•27 min•Ep. 267
Brett Wilder is the proprietor of Boise River Lamb. Idaho has a rich history of lamb and wool production, but the US Lamb industry in general is constantly competing with international markets from New Zealand and Australia. As a huge fan of lamb, I really wanted to understand what the pressures were against the local industry and how I and all local lamb fans can support it. Enjoy! This episode was sponsored by FARE Idaho, a not for profit organization helping connect local consumers and provid...
Jan 07, 2025•52 min•Ep. 266
Phil McGrane is the Secretary of State of Idaho and came in to speak about the fundamental burdens and issues on small business owners created by the Corporate Transparency Act. The CTA is attempting to give more transparency to the federal government about who has an interest in corporations to fight large scale crimes like money laundering and terrorism, but it also creates horrendous problems and risks for our small businesses. If you or someone you know owns a small business, I highly recomm...
Jan 06, 2025•33 min•Ep. 265
Colonel Bill Gardiner is the Director of Idaho State Police. He has been in the department for almost three decades and was directly appointed by Gov. Brad Little. ISP works with all 44 sheriff offices throughout the state of Idaho to assist in all manner of law enforcement efforts, including search and rescue operations. ISP must ask the state directly for funding needs, and its budget is approved or denied by Idaho’s legislative body. Colonel Gardiner came in to shed light on some of their rec...
Jan 03, 2025•59 min•Ep. 264
Dr. David Pate is the former President and CEO of St. Luke’s Health System. He was a consistent voice for the medical community and medical response during the recent pandemic. He also recently co-authored a book titled, Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak: A guide to planning from the schoolhouse to the White House. Dr. Pate came in to discuss, among other things, culture and concerns around vaccines and the medical system. He was incredibly open about mistakes that were made in recent years...
Jan 02, 2025•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 263
Dr. John Tribble has been a practicing Emergency Medicine physician for the last 13 years, he is a current family medicine MD at the Heart 2 Heal Clinic, and is a sitting board member of SW District Health in Idaho. SW District Health became the first in the country to remove “The Shot” from its offerings. This was done through a board vote, and the therapy was voted to be removed 4 to 3. I asked Dr. Tribble to come on to understand what the compelling reasons were to take this step, especially ...
Jan 01, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 262
