Opinion: Finding success through collaborating with fellow legislators

As a freshman legislator, I found it immensely helpful to connect with legislators and mentors who shared my goal to practice principled conservatism in the Idaho Legislature. Our East Idaho Coalition represents one example of this collaboration. Most of our east Idaho legislators saw the value of this group effort. They opted to participate in summits and informal discussions about issues important to our community all last year and throughout the 2023 legislative session.

I found a strong foundation for legislative success with new and experienced legislators sharing their insights and experiences. Through the East Idaho Coalition, I had critical conversations to better understand the benefits and tradeoffs of different proposed legislation or suggested approaches to the process. There was great energy in working together to solve regional challenges and communicating those successes.

Never once did a member of the coalition pressure me to vote in one direction or the other. Instead, we all encouraged each other to ask questions and work to find consensus. We each swore an oath to support the U.S. and Idaho constitutions. We respected the need to take votes that matched the needs of our individual districts.

While in Boise, I met and befriended another principled conservative, Sen. Treg Bernt from Meridian. Another first-term legislator, Sen. Bernt, expressed his interest in the work and the relationships that the East Idaho Coalition generated. We spoke at length about how to craft a similar model statewide. After consulting with other legislators who wanted to collaborate, we formed the Main Street Idaho Caucus.

We have so much we can learn from each other. Our members come with a wide range of experience. Educators, entrepreneurs, first responders, law enforcement, farmers, ranchers and so many others are sharing what they know to benefit the entire state. We believe in governing in a thoughtful and solution-oriented manner. We’re committed to supporting small business owners, fostering economic and individual prosperity and delivering real results for Idaho.

As with the East Idaho Coalition, it isn’t about dictating votes and requiring a pledge. It’s about working together to produce tangible solutions for all Idahoans. We will continue to deliver on our constitutional commitments to our constituents by adopting policies that create long-term benefits for our state.

I’m deeply grateful to the people of southeast Idaho in District 35 for entrusting me to represent them in the Legislature. I feel similarly thankful to have found collaborators and mentors like the good people in the Main Street Idaho Caucus who were also sent to the Legislature by the people they represent to do the hard work of serving our communities.

Rep. Josh Wheeler represents District 35 (Teton, Bonneville, Bannock, Caribou, and Bear Lake counties) in the Idaho House. He also co-chairs the Main Street Idaho Caucus. Learn more at idahomainstreet.org.

** Article published at: https://www.postregister.com/star/news/opinion-finding-success-through-collaborating-with-fellow-legislators/article_44740d9e-1c3a-11ee-9e5c-17864642e99b.html