Main Street Idaho Podcast Episode 3: Representative Stephanie Mickelsen on Education and Opportunities
“Anytime we can invest in future generations and if they’ll make their contribution, it’s a win-win for everybody.
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Brennan Summers (00:00):
Welcome to Main Street Podcast, an opportunity to talk to I Idaho's elected leaders about the issues that matter to you. Hello everybody. And welcome. I'm Brennan Summers and I'm here with Representative Stephanie Mickelson of the Main Street Caucus. Representative Kelson serves legislative district 32 seat A, correct?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (00:25):
That's correct. Brennan,
Brennan Summers (00:26):
Thanks so much for being here, Stephanie. We appreciate it.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (00:29):
Well, thanks for having me. You wondered what I was doing this summer, so I, I like to tell people I've gone back to my real life. I have a full-time job that I do, so I've been doing that and I have a full-time job with my 14 grandkids and our farm during the summer. So that has kept me exceptionally busy. Yeah.
Brennan Summers (00:45):
So far. The farmer's town's coming along nice. It is
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (00:46):
Coming along very nicely. Yes.
Brennan Summers (00:48):
So you are representative Stephanie Mickelson. You just finished up your first session in the Idaho House, correct?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (00:54):
Correct. I just finished the first session and hope a couple more to go. You survived it. I survived it. Yeah, that's true. I often told people I was running through the gauntlet on some of the bills that you had to vote on. It felt like running through a gauntlet to see if you could still live another day.
Brennan Summers (01:08):
Well, I'm excited to talk about what some of those bills are, some of the challenges, some of the successes. But first there's some people out there who unfortunately don't know who you are. So let's get into who is Stephanie Mickelson? What makes you tick? What have you been involved in? You told us you're chasing grandkids. You told us you got a farm to run. What else is going on?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (01:25):
So I've, I've been involved in the water world and the water world's kind of been for groundwater in this area for quite some time. So that keeps me busy. We've had some real hard challenges so far this year. I also am C F O for Mickelson Farms which is my full-time job, my real life, as I like to say. I also like to do a lot of gardening and reading and some of those kind of things that I didn't get to do during the session. So that's what I've been doing. Mike.
Brennan Summers (01:49):
Oh, fantastic. Married to Mark.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (01:51):
Married to Mark. Yep. You're better. 35 years. Whoa.
Brennan Summers (01:55):
35 years. How many grandkids? 14. So the big cutting edge question is, which is more difficult serving in Idaho legislature or chasing 13 grandkids?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (02:04):
14. 14. I think sometimes chasing the 14 grandkids. I had my daughter here for two and a half weeks, and I was like, I needed a break by the time she left home and left my house. 'cause It was making me tired. Yeah. I still love my little grandkids, my little, as I call them.
Brennan Summers (02:18):
So you'll let Speaker Mole know your job is way more difficult than his when it comes to getting everyone in line. That's
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (02:23):
Exactly right. Especially when you're talking 14 kids, seven and under.
Brennan Summers (02:27):
So why does somebody who's out running a farm chasing grandkids decide? You know what? I think I'm gonna go spend a few months of the year in Boise and deal with all of the drama that comes with that.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (02:38):
You know, mark and I talked, and it was in December before we had a fi I had a file in March, and one of the things that we really talked about was how blessed we'd been by this community that had been around us, and that it was our part, it was our time to kind of give back and to do our part to make a difference because, you know, we've sat on the, the constituent side, but it was time for us. And when I say us, because it, it's sacrifice for both of us to go do that. And so we decided that I would run and give back some time to our community. That's been so good to
Brennan Summers (03:10):
Us. Right, right. So you, you didn't just wake up one morning though and decide because you, you and Mark have been involved in the community for a while. Farm Bureau. Maybe walk through what, what type of things you've been doing with the Farm
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (03:20):
Bureau? So in Farm Bureau I'd served as a, a women's chair, then a county president. Then I'd served on the state board. I'd also served as a Republican women's president for a couple of years. I've also been a A P C O. I've worked on multiple campaigns. My first campaign I ever worked on was Butch Otters when I was in high school, and he was running for Lieutenant Governor. Whoa. And then I worked on Brad Littles when he was Lieutenant Governor for the first time. So I've been involved in campaigns and in the community for quite some time.
Brennan Summers (03:49):
So, you know, the political world. Yeah, I do education world. Tell us about your role with the community college.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (03:57):
Well, I gotta back up. First off, I started as an art mom for all my first graders when they were first grade. And then I would sit on some community you know, the district would have like planning committees, things like that, and, and strategic planning. And I, and I, I did those. But then when I had an opportunity to support the community college, when it came out, it was really important to me because so many kids, you know, they need a skillset and aren't necessarily wanting to go to a four year college. Can't afford to go to a four year college. So I came out early and upfront about my support for the community college and I continue to support that. And so as a result, I was one of the first five inaugural trustees and the vice chair of the board for the five years that I served on the community college board. So education is highly important to me.
Brennan Summers (04:41):
For some the community college is a no brainer. Right. Makes sense. A lot of people have gone through it, have been success stories from it, but there were some opposition to it. What was the leading cause of why people did not want to see the College of East Schneider come about?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (04:55):
I think there were those people in the community that felt like the cost was too much, which I don't think you can do enough to invest in the future generations, because those people, if you'll make an investment in them, eventually they, that investment paints back a lot more over time because they become contributing members of society with a good tax, you know, with a, with a job. So then they can become taxpayers and they can, you know, then pay it forward for the next generation.
Brennan Summers (05:21):
You sound like a Republican, teach man to fish, don't give 'em the fish, right? Yeah,
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (05:24):
That's exactly right. And you know, I think the community college and how far it's come, some people the detractors will say, well, they haven't met all their goals, or they don't have quite as high of, of, of, you know, enrollment as they plan. But in many ways they have met all of their, their goals and, and they're continuing to work on that that the different types of degrees that they have within that college meet, the career, the demand that's for careers in our area. And more than ever, as the site continues to grow, we need to have that feeder from the community college to the jobs that fit the site out here.
Brennan Summers (05:57):
That is a perfect segue into maybe, and I don't wanna put words in your mouth, but maybe one of your bigger legislative accomplishments, Idaho launch.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (06:04):
Oh, yeah. Idaho Launch was fantastic. It gives $8,000 for students that are gonna go into in demand fields. There's gonna have to be some skin in the game where they, they're paying for a portion of it, and they're gonna have to have some oversight, and they're gonna have to make sure that they're, you know, getting good grades and doing the right things. But anytime we can invest in future generations and if they'll make their contribution, it's a win-win for everybody.
Brennan Summers (06:32):
So walk us through what your role was in launch. I mean, start to finish, somebody came to you and said, I mean, the governor was, this was one of his big priorities. How, how did this come to be? Because it was close at the end, right?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (06:43):
Right. I, it was, well, what came to be is I, the governor just asked for, for a, a meeting, so I didn't have any idea what the meeting was about, but I went in there and he explains, you know, that he wanted to start this program. And it, this program can always end if it doesn't work correctly, it can just not be funded by Ja, you know, by the legislature if we find that it's not, you know, working the way that we had hoped. But he pulled me and asked me, you know, how it was going and then proceeded to ask for my support on launch. So that's, that's where I came down. And once I make a commitment, I tend to follow up with my, i I do follow up with my commitments. Other people had made commitments and then they turned on those commitments. But I like to be a person that when I say I'll do something, that I do it. So my word is my bond.
Brennan Summers (07:28):
And were you surprised as a freshman legislature legislator coming in that you had so much opportunity to contribute? I mean, I know when we talked sometimes it was, you know, you wanna come in, you wanna learn and you wanna make sure you understand how things are going and be mentored by those that you've looked up to. But you kind of jumped in and I'm sure you had lots of opportunities to learn, but you also had lots of opportunities to contribute.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (07:50):
I did. I was surprised in some ways I kind of felt like it was a little slow at the front, and I kept saying, holy cow, I'm missing work for this. I hadn't, but, but then it did pick up and it was, it was great to work with people, like-minded legislators to kind of form coalitions on the bills and the different areas that we knew we needed support on. And so I did jump in and, and worked really well with, with my fellow legislators. It was really the freshman class this year. We, they called it the freshman farm or the freshmen, you know, we were all trying to come up with different names for it, but ultimately this group of freshmen legislators really made a difference because they came in more thoughtful, probably than prior generations of legislators coming in. And we tend to try to work together for a solution, not necessarily a partisan solution, but a solution that made sense for our constituents across our districts.
Brennan Summers (08:41):
That's, I I love the way you're looking at it, particularly not what's the party gonna think what are our donors gonna think, but it's okay. Who the people that actually, you know, checked our name on the box, how are they gonna feel about this? And launch is a beautiful example of that, right? Right. Hey, you're, you're a student graduating from, you know Bonneville High School, and you've gotta decide, what am I gonna do with my life? Launch provides an opportunity where you don't have to leave the state to get educated. You don't have to leave the state to get employed,
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (09:05):
And you don't even have to leave the, the, the, the community to leave to get, to get the, the training and then the job. And so for, you know, when you think at the community college, they actually have some great degrees over there that pay a very nice living wage if you can get through those programs. And so that's why it's just really critical that we think about future generations and make investments in future generations, not thinking, oh gee, we just have to save every penny, which we need to be very careful with those pennies, don't get me wrong. But you have to make investments. Just like on the farm, I have to decide if my main line's bad or if my you know, if, if I need a new pivot. Because if I don't invest in that, and then my crop gets ruined because of it, it's been a poor decision. Just in the same way that we have to make investments in this state with our tax dollars that will pay dividends in future generations and in future years.
Brennan Summers (09:58):
Yeah. That politicians love to say Idaho's greatest resource are youth, but the problem is all we've done is export that resource. Right. And we need to figure out a way to keep 'em. I know that's been important to the governor, and clearly it's supporting you to keep all those 14 grandkids in Idaho.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (10:11):
Yeah. And the other thing I think people forget is we have a demand for employees across this state, across this nation. So we're going to have to get a lot more laser focused on how we get those people to, you know, get educated and then stay here.
Brennan Summers (10:27):
Fantastic. You talk about the word invest, right? Right. Beautiful analogy with if you don't invest in the farm crop, don't grow. Right. We also have to find opportunities to cut waste. Right, right. We're spending way too much on this. Where did you find fiscal conservative Stephanie Mickelson? Where did you find opportunities in the legislature? You said, you know what that's money we can return back title homes. That's money we don't need to spend or invest.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (10:50):
So part of that came in the property tax bill, and I would've liked to have seen that a little bit cleaner than it ended up. But, you know, we were really only given one choice. And so you take the chance that you get rather than saying, oh, no, no, the the perfect bill has to come along because if you wait for perfect, you may never get it. Sure. I would've liked to have seen the state when we, we did pass the property tax relief Bill. I would've liked to have seen all of that go towards the state's responsibility in building buildings in for public schools rather than kind of all property tax classes. It would've been better to just have come from, you know, what the state's obligation was for public schools.
Brennan Summers (11:27):
So for people who may not understand or follow the legislature, give us the, the absolute basic version of what, what did this property tax bill do? Because people are gonna talk a lot about cutting taxes and property taxes have been a thorn in the side of so many Idahoans who are struggling to, you know, get by. It's pretty good with like home prices. They, then they get this property tax bill. It's a nightmare. What did the legislature do? And the very basics of ensuring that this is not the problem it used to be. And how does a school building play into the role of a property tax?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (11:57):
Well, first off, I, I think we need to remember that Idaho's property tax load is one of the lowest in the country. People don't like to point out that, but it is what the property tax bill did was it took a certain pot of money, and that goes against your just homeowners property tax bill. So they got, I believe it was like two thirds of the pot at that point. And then there's this other pot which will eventually grow that's responsible for the, the building, the buildings within school districts. And so our, our local school districts, they, their property tax goes to pay for their, for their buildings and for their you know, any excess above what the state gives them. But this specifically only goes towards buildings for those communities. So if you have a community a district that needs to eventually build a building, if they don't have any bonds or levies out there that relate to buildings, they can actually bank this money and then use it for, for buildings in the future.
Brennan Summers (12:56):
So they don't have to run the bond to ask for more money in those situations.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (13:00):
In those situations. Yeah. So there are some districts, there's one or two districts across the state that don't have any, any bonds for buildings right now. I know District 91 here has a very minimal amount, and they're about paid off. So they could start banking that money too, you know, for, for our new high school, which they need or they can use it against when they go to bond. To have this pot of money helps, helps with their, their rating to get their body to
Brennan Summers (13:28):
Right. A complicated issue, make it easy.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (13:31):
It looked like a spaghetti bowl. When you looked at all the parts and pieces on that, on the property tax relief bill, it looked like a spaghetti bowl.
Brennan Summers (13:37):
Do you think in the coming session there'll be opportunities to address it further? Is that kind of an issue that everyone's put to bed?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (13:43):
I think that there will be opportunities. I know Senator Lint has been working on some different ideas about, you would have a cookie cutter kind of plan, and the state would pay for the basics, and then if communities wanted to add on fancy gyms or auditoriums, things like that, then they could do that. And they're looking at how they can make a difference moving into the future, because we all know those buildings are getting more and more expensive and getting harder and harder for communities to pass those bonds.
Brennan Summers (14:08):
Yeah. Well, and so speaking of education, let's jump into a topic that you might feel a little passionate about. Everyone's gonna watch your, your blood pressure rise when I say the two words school choice. Right, right. So let's, this was a big issue in this session, and it's been an issue across the country, right. In Virginia, Glenn Youngin ran and won on the idea of, you know, parents need a say in their kids' education, and you're supportive of parents being involved in students' education. Right?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (14:35):
Absolutely. And we actually passed a bill this session, I believe it was sponsored by Representative Poorman, where parents can choose to send their child to any public school in the state that they have that opportunity to send 'em to whatever public school that there is, whether it's a charter, whether it's a, you know, like a career technical, high school, whatever those are that the parents have the opportunity to
Brennan Summers (14:56):
Do that. So your grandkids, in theory can go to any high school, and I hope they chose
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (15:02):
To, if they chose to, they could go to any public high school.
Brennan Summers (15:05):
So what's the problem then? What's been the big fight in the legislature about educational freedom?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (15:11):
Well, the, the fight is, is they think we don't have educational choice, but we have educational choice. We just don't have the choice that the taxpayers are gonna pay all those bills. And so when you talk about educational choice, people are thinking, oh, I, I, I want my child, you know, the money to follow the child. Well, it can, within the public education system, it can absolutely follow your child. But what we forget and what our constitution says is it's a free, thorough public education. It doesn't say private education. And so when educational choice comes up, everybody's like, you know, as a catchphrase, they think that's fantastic. But then when I say, oh, well, do you want to, as a taxpayer subsidize a say the School of the Satanic cult? And people are like, what? No, no, I don't wanna do that. And you're like, well, what happens is, is if you open that door, the Supreme Court has said, if you open the door for private schools, parochial schools, and every other school, can they, the the money has to go to them as well.
(16:06):
So in other states, for example, Indiana the biggest beneficiary of this school choice, and this vouchers if you will, it's, it's actually vouchers, is the Catholic Archdiocese. And in like Florida, they started a program, the first year it was 130 million. Within three years it was $1.3 billion. And so what happens is, is then it boomerangs back to the county or to the district level, and then counties and districts are having to go back out and levy to even be able to meet payroll. Because what you're happening is the cream of the crops coming off the top, and then the public school system has to have the hotel load for any kid that might wanna come into their system. They have the, the children with great needs that need to be educated, and they're left with, with you know, not enough budget to handle those demands that they have. So we have choice. We have choice for people to homeschool, we have choice for people to take their children to public education or to private education. And we have a choice for 'em to be in the public school system. We just don't have the needs whereby the taxpayer's gonna be on the hook for somebody to take their child. And do we want to, as, as taxpayers pay a parent 8,000, $10,000 a kid to homeschool 'em and not have any requirements? I don't think. So.
Brennan Summers (17:26):
This is an issue that people have strong opinions about. Right. Right. So what, what do you see on the other side of this? The people who were very supportive of a voucher like system? What were the arguments they were making to you as to why this was so necessary that you support this legislation?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (17:41):
I think their thing was is, well, I should get to have a choice. And, and I think that they do. I just don't think that they get to have the taxpayers pay for those choices. I I think we've come into a world where, you know, I wanna do whatever I wanna do and I want somebody else to pay for it. Well, that doesn't really work. And it, and the public education system won't work if we do that.
Brennan Summers (18:02):
Some concerns that I'd heard from parents about this was, yeah, we like the idea of people choosing where they get to go to school. But the concern was, if the money is going with the student to a private institution, where's the regulation? How comfortable are we with the government coming into private schools and saying, well, did you teach the student these types of standards? Did that come up in, in, you know, are they, is the money actually going to make it to the schools? Our homeschool parents? How do we check that they're actually spending this type of money on the student? Is there opportunities for a lot of waste and fraud here?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (18:37):
I I think that's the biggest problem is I think you have a lot of waste and fraud if you're going to take money out of the public education system. Because currently within the public education system, we have testing. So we, we have an idea about where the, you know, where the deficits are, those kind of things. If you just hand money to private homeschooling right now in our state, we do not have any, if you homeschool your kid, we don't have any requirements. They don't have to pass any tests, they don't have to have any certain curriculum, nothing. Right. So the homeschool organizations have actually said, we don't want this because they don't want to start being regulated just in the same way that a private school does not want to be regulated by the state. And I think that if you're going to spend state taxpayer dollars, you're going to have to have the very same requirements, including the, the attendance requirements and also them having to take everybody that that wants to be there. Yeah. Isn't that the most fair way? Right. That's what I would
Brennan Summers (19:39):
Think. So you voted against any kind of voucher program, correct?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (19:44):
Well, I didn't have to vote against any of it because the education committee did not allow any of those bills through because they felt like that they all had significant flaws. And that was very frustrating for some people that were putting forth those bills. There was one bill that came to me in the Redmond Tax, and that was to have a tax credit for, for parents that homeschool their children or private school. But the question I had was is how much is this gonna cost this? And where, where are the standards that they have to meet? Right. And so and it was at the very end, Gerald representative Raymond said, I'd like to, 'cause the guy said, well, I think I can jump through all the hoops and get this through. And it was like within a couple days of us getting outta session, and we were specifically told all bills had had to come to us prior to that. So I voted no, just, and Gerald Representative Raymond voted yes, just because he said, I wanna save it can make it through all these hoops. Yeah.
Brennan Summers (20:38):
It's interesting how it could have turned into such an expensive price tag for the taxpayers, but the people who are supporting it are the same ones are criticizing launch for its price tag. Right, right. That's funny. That way. Let's talk about, so you mentioned kind of slow getting started, but then it got going and yet everything thrown at you. Now you've got a little bit of a break in terms of this, this session. What are you working on now and what are you getting ready to address in the upcoming session?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (21:06):
So, a couple of things that I'm thinking about addressing, one of them I know for sure I'm going to address is I want the transparency in election donations and inputting of money, dark money from out of state. So currently there's a line in code that specifically says that if you're out of state, then you just have to do it by like, I think the end of the year or something. Well, the problem is, is if you're running for office and all of a sudden you have all this trash mail coming into you, right. Or, you know, into your race and somebody's trashing your reputation, it would be nice to know where those dollars are coming from and who's doing that. So you can address those, you know, those negative flyers and that negative input that's coming into a, to a campaign. But right now they get a, it's a free for all for them as long as they're an out-of-state group.
(21:58):
So what would stop me from going across state lines into Wyoming, forming some sort of a pack thing, and then funneling money through there to trash my opponent, there's nothing. Right. So I think that if we wanna have good, fair elections, it starts with, with knowing where the money's coming from in, in those campaigns on both sides. Because it, it's like the educational freedom money. Nobody's known where that money's coming from. Who's fund funneling that? Who's paying for that? I had a billboard that came up against me just in the last couple weeks, and it was, it was, you know, who's funneling this? Who's paying for it? I couldn't find out anything.
Brennan Summers (22:35):
Right. Right. So, as Idahoans, we should be concerned that, you know, billionaires out of Silicon Valley are pouring money into our state trying to get their views kind of pressed into our legislature. Right. To get through that money. Absolutely. Yeah. I love that. Water's been an interesting issue. What do you, do you see, sounds like an, a big announcement's been made recently. Do you see water issues coming up in the next session?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (22:57):
I absolutely see water coming up in the next election, and I don't think most people have been engaged enough to realize that there's been a big water problem. So you have the lower canal companies from the Lower Valley. When I say Lower Valley, I mean outta the Ma Magic Valley, which is Twin Falls in that area. And they felt like that they had been, you know, shorted on their water. So they have made calls against the groundwater users, clear from Twin Falls clear to the Montana, Idaho line. And that has caused a lot of problems. In fact, the director issued an order in April that he was going to shut off 700 to 900,000 acres so that those, those canals could get 75,000 acre feet of water. Well, then yesterday he came out and said, oh, oops, I made a mistake. Really, it, it, there is no shortage, but you had to have everything in place in April or otherwise everybody was gonna get shut off.
(23:53):
So we need to really start probably taking a look at what is beneficial use. And when you're, you're talking about shutting down 900,000 acres of, of irrigated farm ground, when we have food shortages across this country and across this planet, I think we've gotta figure out how to be more efficient. We have to recognize and target that every drop of water in the state has to be well used and used correctly. And currently, there's no incentive in the first in time, first in Right. Priority system to make sure that the senior is using their water appropriately before they make a call on the junior. We also have some problems with the department itself. Instead of having going through the promulgated rules process, which is what every agency's supposed to do, they just have internal memos. So as, as a water person, water user, and you go in and you wanna, you know, file to change some things, you're never sure what the playing field is. 'cause It's constantly shifting. And so we need to look at some of that. We also need to look at making sure that everybody has to have efficiencies in their system to make sure that Idaho doesn't have a race to the bottom, like the Colorado
Brennan Summers (25:03):
River. Sure, sure. Well, I think there's two types of people in the world. There's the people that when you say water issues, they tone out and fall asleep. And then there's the people who jump outta their chair. And so may maybe there's room here for, for you to be able to maybe there's an op-ed in the works for you to kind of communicate public the importance. This is a complicated issue, but it's so important. Right.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (25:21):
Well, I think everybody thinks it's a farming issue, but what most people didn't realize was that it's actually affects every single city around the Twin Falls area. Clear up. Sure. So you have the city Vital Falls, the city of Pocatello, you have all these different groups that are, that are going to be affected. It's going to affect the ability of the site to grow. It's going to affect the ability of the city of idle falls to grow. Right. So if we don't figure out and solve this problem, somehow, we are basically shutting down the economic activity of the entire Upper Valley region. And that could bankrupt the state. I mean, you think about having that much, you know, that much injury. There's no way that the state can survive if they lose all the economic impact because it's not just farmers then it then it's equipment dealers, it's, you know, the car dealers, then it's this fast food places. And so it's a, it's a rippling effect.
Brennan Summers (26:12):
Yeah. Agriculture just touches everything in Idaho. Idaho. It's not just the guy with dirt on his boots. It affects all of us. My grandpa would always say Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting. And we're seeing that right now in the state. So,
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (26:23):
Right. And I think we, you know, we need to come together and figure out a solution. Because what they did in the Colorado River system is they didn't, when they had times of plenty, they didn't, they didn't, you know, masterfully use that. And so then it, it ultimately has, has created a massive problem. And we wanna make sure that we have water for future generations. I wanna make sure we have a healthy aquifer because my sons and my grandchildren and, and my grandsons and granddaughters and those people, they may, they wanna farm someday. Yeah. So we have to have a healthy ecosystem for those, for water. And if we don't, we lose
Brennan Summers (26:58):
Water. Big issue, not just a farming issue. Love that. When it comes to a farming issue, you wrote an op-ed recently kind of criticizing the federal government allowing foreign entities coming in and purchasing a farmland. That's something I don't think most Idahoans knew was happening, that you've got other countries coming in and buying farmland. What's the motive behind there and why is that something that you want to get your hands on?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (27:23):
Well, it's really important because you, when you think about it, if, if we end up in war with China, or you know, some of the Russia and some of those places, if they own farm ground in this country, think about what that does for our food security. Now, we will have a food problem, a food insecurity problem if we don't make sure that the land is owned by, by Americans.
Brennan Summers (27:49):
Are the, are China, for example, they, they're bought quite a bit of land in the us.
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (27:54):
China's been going across the planet, buying a natural resource things all across
Brennan Summers (27:58):
The planet Yeah. And buying it just 'cause it's a good investment, much like stocks or is there maybe some other motives on why they might be purchasing the land they're purchasing?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (28:06):
Well, in some places where they have been purchasing ground, it's actually next to very sensitive intelligence like operations of the United States government or our military bases, those kind of things. And we know we can't trust China. So why in the world would we allow them to buy land in this
Brennan Summers (28:26):
Country? Sure, sure. Especially when they're taking their balloon tours across our country and Right,
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (28:31):
Absolutely. And Russia the same way. I mean, and what's to stop them if they own the farm ground? If we got into a wharf with them of coming in and saying, well, the prop's off that ground, they come to China. Yeah. Or they come to Russia.
Brennan Summers (28:43):
Yeah. It's, it's something that I think the federal government's looking at working on. It looks like the administration hasn't made it a priority. And try and kind of move into that topic. How, how do you, would you rate the current administration? Are you as an idahoan, as a small business owner, as a conservative legislator? Where do you, where are you frustrated with the president right now?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (29:02):
Well, I'm really frustrated because for one thing, I think the amount of regulation that's coming out of this administration is just phenomenal. And ESS was a great which was Waters of the United States, a great ruling that came out of the Supreme Court that basically said the federal government cannot control everything, every drop of water across this country. And so the Biden administration has done a very poor job. They've done a poor job on figuring out this immigration issue. We all want safe borders, but we can't have safe borders if we have executive orders to bypass legislation passed by the, by Congress. And we need to figure out a guest worker program that makes sense for people in this country. Because if you've eaten food a last day or so, you've probably had food that's been touched by a, by a foreign worker. Mm-Hmm.
(29:52):
<affirmative>, no question. So the H two A wage program, they're supposed to set the, the wage like in December, well, they came out in February or March. It was during the legislative session. And the wages that farm workers were gonna be paid in Idaho, if they drove any kind of truck, over 26,000 pounds went from $16 to $26. So, needless to say, I talked to our congressional delegation, they're working on it. I know Senator Repo was working on it specific situation where they're going to have to go through Congress before they do those kind of things because they're basically bypassing Congress by their, all their regulations through agencies.
Brennan Summers (30:27):
Right. And, and it's just been a pile of things that the Biden administration seems to be throwing at us. And the question I always get is, you know, who's running this office? 'cause Biden seems to be so asleep at the wheel. Hopefully we can get a Republican elected in the next cycle. But here at home, there seems to be some challenges with the Idaho Republican Party. You as an Idaho Republican, you've kind of expressed some, some things that you're disappointed in with the party in ways that we may be able to improve to elect more conservatives throughout the state and the country. What are some things right now that we need to improve on as an Idaho Republican party? Well,
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (31:01):
I think first off, the Republican Party is supposed to help and assist. I don't think they're supposed to control. And so I think that they've lost, kind of lost their direction as to where they are supposed to actually, what their role is. And if all they're going to do is tell legislators how to vote, they just will have robots in our seats rather than making us go move to Boise for, for, you know, three, four months of the year. We, we forget too that voters vote for candidates and they choose those candidates. And if this, if our Republican party gets to be this purity party, they're going to have less and less Republicans in the state. They're going to have less and less people want to be engaged in the process. And the Republican Party right now in the state of Idaho is trying to, to usurp the power and of democracy with the voters and letting the voters choose and letting the voters decide. They're trying to go to a a Republican caucus, and they're gonna blame that on the legislature when in fact, it was Dorothy Moon who came in and killed the bill that could have fixed that problem. And so she wants to go to a caucus system because ultimately they want a very small group deciding who we support for a presidential candidate. They want to, to remove the voters at every turn in the road. And that's wrong.
Brennan Summers (32:16):
Yeah. So a lot of things coming out of the Republican party right now in Idaho that you're finding you know frustrating. I mean, guess for lack of a better term,
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (32:24):
They're, they're censoring me on a bill that I didn't even know that they were taking a position on. Right. And that bill, if you read the bill, there were significant problems with that bill. So am I supposed to vote the way the party tells me, or am I supposed to vote the way my constituents
Brennan Summers (32:40):
Don't? And, and so answer that, when you're there voting, what's the, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you are hearing legislation? Is it I need to call the party? Or do you go to your voters?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (32:50):
My first consideration is for my voters. I actually will call people within the community that are, you know, my constituents. I get lots of emails and I read those emails and then, you know, then I take a look at what's in the bill and I say, is this, you know, is this constitutional mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, is this gonna work for you know, the people in my community? And one of my guiding principles has always been the government closest to the people is best. And so specifically on the bill that they are, you know, coming after me for, it's a local control issue. Local boards, local people pay for those libraries. Local people are the ones that should con, you know, contact the, the library boards and have them do something different if they don't like what's going on. Instead of it being a top heavy, top down decision, it needed to be at the community level.
Brennan Summers (33:40):
We, yeah. Like, that's one issue that next time we'll have to get much more in detail on. As we're running short on time here, I kind of want to give you an opportunity to talk next session. Any priorities on your list? What are, what are some things that are keeping you up at night as a legislator as a representative that you're thinking, you know, we gotta do something about
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (33:58):
This. We've gotta do some stuff about mandatory minimums for fentanyl dealers. We have to do some, some work on, on people that abuse children. Right? Right now it's very discretionary towards the judges. So either we've gotta start, you know, outing the judges that are handing, you know, these, these sentences that are, you know, basically slapping somebody on the wrist. But we've gotta make sure that people that are hurting children have some minimums so that they stop doing it. And we know that the damage that they do to these children doesn't just stop with that child. It's generational. So we've got to get this. We've gotta, we've gotta do something to, to protect our children in the state.
Brennan Summers (34:35):
Sure, sure. Well, anyone that knows you, knows that you're not scared to take on a fight, you're always gonna speak your mind. And we're glad that you're able to come here and talk to us today. Any last words you wanna share with the, the voters out there?
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (34:47):
No, I just think that I, I appreciate the voters. I appreciate their contacting me. I appreciate the dialogue that we have and I appreciate that every dialogue or discourse that I've had that we've, although we may not always agree, it's been awesome to see how respectful people can be in having and communicating what their needs are as a voter.
Brennan Summers (35:09):
Sure. Sure, sure. Well, thank you so much for being on. We're gonna let you get back to the farm and the 14 grandkids to chase around. Stephanie Mickelson, Idaho State Representative 32 A thank you for joining us today. We'll have Stephanie back undoubtedly to talk about more of these issues. Thanks. Thanks,
Representative Stephanie Mickelsen (35:24):
Stephanie. Thanks Brendan.
