The Ranch Podcast

Ron Taylor is a District 26 Senator. We spoke extensively about the Ag. Labor, ownership and management of our public lands, and harvesting of both minerals and timber in a responsible manner so that we, as Idahoans, can benefit from our natural resources without losing our unparalleled open spaces and recreation opportunities. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by...

Ron Winegar is a former Boise Police Chief, an Idaho Medal of Honor recipient, and a true servant to Idaho. He was with Officer Mark Stall in 1997 when Mark Stall was killed in the line of duty in downtown Boise. It is difficult to overstate the heroic nature of our men and women who defend us everyday, all day, and it is imperative as a community, state, and nation that we not forget this event a...

Lauren McLean is the Mayor of Boise. She came in to speak about what the city is doing to address the housing crisis that we all feel the effects of as well as what is being done so the city grows together instead of apart. We also discussed the preservation of the surrounding hills and open spaces that the citizens of Boise have paid millions to put into trust so we, as all Idahoans, will have ac...

Jason Sevy is the Marsing School District School Board Chair and the president-elect of the Idaho School Boards Association. He is also a Marsing graduate and a lifelong supporter of his community and the school community. He answers the question very clearly that few like myself in an urban environment understand, which is, what is the real value of a rural public school? Enjoy. The Ranch Podcast...

Mark Niemeyer is the Fire Chief of Boise and is working extensively with surrounding state and federal agencies to make sure the Urban-Wildlands Interface where our communities meet enormous fire risk environments stay as safe as possible. We are experiencing a new age of fire risk, and with Idaho’s exploding population, we need everyone participating to preserve life and property. Enjoy! The Ranc...

Stoney Winston is the superintendent for Fruitland School District. He came in to speak on some of the issues facing public schools, including administration bloat, special ed population explosion, ESL populations, and lower competing pay when compared to bordering states. Whether the school choice bills come to pass or not, we need to figure out a way to continue improving Idaho public schools, a...

James Ruchti is a District 29 Senator who is very passionate about the school choice debate. He brought with him many data points from the national debate that I had not heard before. I am pro-education, and if that means we fund public schools, private school contractors, charter schools, home schoolers, I am here for all of it, but I certainly want to understand how and why our dollars are going...

Scott Bedke is the Lt. Governor of Idaho and came in to speak about the SPEED Council, a group formed by an executive order from Governor Little comprised of several state agency directors that will expedite the review of permits, increase collaboration with project proponents, boost public transparency, and seek to eliminate duplicative or unnecessary statutes and rules. The world supply chain pr...

Brett Wilder is an Ag Economist, Proprietor of Boise River Lamb, and an incredible lamb chef. He kindly agreed to smoke a boneless leg of lamb to bring in that we devoured and share his recipe. The more I engage with local providers and find out how they work their homegrown proteins, the more I’m drawn to cooking at home myself with high quality, locally sourced food. My mouth is watering recount...

Ilana Rubel is the House Minority Leader from District 18. She has been in the Idaho legislature for roughly a decade and came in to speak on the take cut that just passed. The $300+ million was put together with many small pieces, like property and grocery tax cuts, as well as one big income tax cut. Ilana picked apart these pieces and shed light on who the winners and losers were from this struc...

Nick Fasciano is the Executive Director of Idaho Wildlife Federation, the oldest association dedicated to representing hunters, anglers, and wildlife enthusiasts in the state of Idaho. During the legislative session, Nick and IWF watch legislation and advocate on behalf of sportsmen and conservationists. He came in to give me a legislative analysis through the lens of wildlife and conservation. En...

Rod Gramer is the former president of Idaho Business for Education. This is a group comprised of hundreds of leading businesses in the Gem State that work together to advocate for a pragmatic, effective education system that yields competent, employable business leaders of tomorrow. I invited Rod in to better understand what businesses in Idaho actually need from our education system. As a father...

Bobbi-Jo Meuleman is the CEO and President of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. She advocates for local patronage of businesses and services in the greater Boise area as well as advocates for effective policy on behalf of her membership with state and local governments. We spoke about education, housing, stresses on the area, and more importantly, where to get the best Ribeye in Boise. Enjoy! T...

Brad Richy is the Director of the Idaho Office of Emergency Management. He recently helped organize just over 100 local firefighters to go assist in the fire crisis in California. We spoke about the organizations involved in this type of work, the cost to the take payers, and why this is good for Idaho. We also moved away from fire talk to discuss other emergency management issues including emerge...

Heather Scott is a District 2 Representative and brought a joint memorial as the first act of the 2025 legislative session to tell the SCOTUS to re-visit its 2015 decision on gay marriage. She feels it is a state’s rights issue and not something to be determined by the federal government and Supreme Court. She is also bringing bills regarding local rights to fly flags as well as labels for alterna...

Scott Bedke is the Lt. Governor of Idaho and came in to speak about the SPEED Council, a group formed by an executive order from Governor Little comprised of several state agency directors that will expedite the review of permits, increase collaboration with project proponents, boost public transparency, and seek to eliminate duplicative or unnecessary statutes and rules. The world supply chain pr...

Monica Church is a District 19 Representative, school teacher, and ferociously Idahoan. She has a very clear perspective on what makes Idaho, Idaho, and her articulation about what Idaho was and is becoming was something I had never heard so clearly before. I greatly appreciated her time and energy and am confident this is the first of many. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes ar...

Rich Stover is the Administrator of the Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources. The SPEED Council has recently been created to offer a more streamlined, efficient process for companies to engage in to bolster our energy production and mineral harvesting processes. This is NOT a rubber stamp program, but instead one focused on making a more attractive review and regulation process for co...

Quinn Perry is the Idaho School Board Association Government Affairs officer. She advocates on behalf of the elected school board officials from across the state of Idaho. We spoke about education extensively, as you might imagine, and she brought up points like due process and parental vs school rights that I had never heard before. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are suppor...

Russ Fulcher is a United States Congressman representing the great people of Idaho. He has been working on several things, including finding a way to improve management of our public lands, ways to supply more and better energy to Idaho, and a way to eliminate income taxes on overtime pay. He also offered an explanation about why Idaho has public lands owned by the federal government that I had ne...

Janie Ward-Engelking is a District 18 Senator who has been on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) for years. JFAC is responsible for establishing a revenue estimate and then dolling out said revenue. This is a crucial piece of the entire legislative process as the legislative session cannot conclude until Idaho has a budget. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are s...

David Leavitt is a District 25 Representative fighting to repeal the grocery tax. This particular tax in Idaho is not popular among the populace and many attempts have been made to repeal it with no success. The state does offer a grocery tax rebate that you can file to recoup some of your tax burden, but that naturally begs the question, why have a tax in the first place if I can file to get it b...

Dr. Derek Bub is the superintendent for West Ada School District, the best public school district in the state of Idaho and one of the best in the country. The district is not just academically successful, but it also has culturally conservative policies in place, like banning all flags other than US and Idaho flags, removing inappropriate books from libraries, and prohibiting political speech in...

Soñia Galaviz is a District 16 Representative, a teacher, and a champion for addressing the problems with our rural school funding system. Funding for public schools in Idaho has a lot of pieces, including gross property value of the area, attendance in schools, and community willingness to fund said schools. This comes into conflict frequently with the constitutional obligation to provide a free...

Justin Buckley works for Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts, an organization working to help preserve agricultural land. Ag land is not only required for food systems, but it’s also an integral part of our tax base. Residential developments are a net negative from a county tax standpoint, whereas agricultural operations are a net benefit. Preserving this land is not only important for local providers...