Agenda and Budget Negotiations
Main Street Town Hall Episode 12—Representative Britt Raybould
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Returning to the podcast is Representative Brit Raybould out of District 34. She joins us straight from the House floor to discuss the current policies up for debate. Raybould sheds light on what her constituents from Madison County want accomplished in Boise, as well as her work trying to solidify budgets for the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC).
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Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (00:00):
Welcome to Main Street Podcast, an opportunity to talk to I Idaho's elected leaders about the issues that matter to you. Welcome to the Main Street Podcast. I'm your host, Brennan Summers. We're here with the representative out of district 34, Madison County, representative Britt Rayd representative. Thanks for joining us.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (00:22):
Hey, Brandon. It's good to be with you.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (00:25):
We know you came off the floor just barely lively debate, some exciting bills going on. It seems like it's never a dull moment over there.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (00:33):
So it's that time of the session when March Madness applies not only to college basketball, but the Idaho legislature too.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (00:40):
Are there brackets floating around?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (00:43):
There are brackets floating around currently. There's the women's teams that are making the rounds, but I have no doubt that the men's teams will be not far behind.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (00:52):
Love it. Are there brackets that include bills of what you think will get eliminated, which bills will get your time and attention
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (01:01):
As the month goes on? It won't surprise me at all if something like that doesn't show up on the floor. Right now we have bingo cards. The bingo cards were distributed the other day, and so now we get the opportunity to see how often our colleagues use certain phrases.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (01:14):
Oh, can you give us a little insight onto what phrases may be on those bingo cards?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (01:21):
I did happen to see on one bingo card facts don't matter, which struck me as an interesting bingo spot, second Amendment precedent. What else was that popped up on there? There's just a few, but there are definitely phrases that we all end up using in our debate on a more than regular basis, and so it makes for pretty easy pickings when you want to play bingo.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (01:41):
Oh, that is fantastic. We give Representative Wheeler a hard time with how often he references CTE.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (01:47):
Well, in fairness, representative Wheeler CTE is incredibly important and so I'm all for bringing that up whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (01:56):
Yes, we agree. We're big fans of career technical education Now representative, last time we spoke, you were gearing up towards the session. We were able to talk about a lot of things you were hoping to accomplish. Now as you mentioned March Madness, the session in theory is drawing to a close as you prepare to end the session. If you had to grade the legislative session based on efficiency, what would you give it?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (02:20):
Well now Brandon, you're painting me into a corner. I've got to talk about how things are going and things aren't quite done yet. I think this session's been a struggle when you want to look at how effective we've been at getting things done, and I think in large part it's because there isn't consensus on some of the bigger issues. So for instance, if we're talking about potentially redoing the funding formula for our K through 12 schools, we haven't reached consensus on that, and yet we still need to ensure that we're fully funding our public schools and that requires us looking at not only the 330 million that was passed during the special session back in 2022, but also accounting for the fact that there are just fewer support units that are in the formula. So there's the possibility that it's going to look like we're sending out less money to our school districts, but in reality we just have had a shift in what public schools look like. And that's really put some pressure on the need to update that funding formula
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (03:12):
Is the hope that next session or even before the end of this session, that consensus will be found on some of those issues.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (03:20):
I want to applaud Superintendent Critchfield. She spent a significant amount of time with a working group during the interim last time and they worked through a lot of things and they pulled together a lot of really important data to help us better understand how we can support students within these districts. I am optimistic that we are getting closer. We've had a lot more of the unknowns addressed and answered. Now it becomes a case of how do we best put it together to get to a solution.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (03:45):
Yeah, my Bingo card is full of applauding Debbie Critchfield. We're huge fans of her and whenever she's on the podcast, she updates us on all things that education related. Now you have a reputation with your colleagues as being somebody who does her homework and that isn't afraid of digging into the policy and to the details and to the data. And would it be safe to say that you love policy and tolerate politics?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (04:10):
No question. Policy is the area where I'm most comfortable in large part because there are so many opportunities to figure out solutions. I don't think there's such a thing as a one right answer when it comes to policy. There's a bunch of different ways that we can look at a problem and come up with solutions, and that's part of what makes policy so powerful and so important. There's these avenues that we can get to areas of common ground and we can work together. I think there's this misconception that sometimes it comes down to, oh, well you guys, you can't agree on anything and well, no, we have agreement about where we want to go. The disagreement often lies in how we get there and that's where those policy discussions become really useful.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (04:51):
We think most of our listeners view a lot of what's done through a lens of politics and policy tends to be what a lot of what you are doing. Walk us through the balance of why the politics is so important to get the policy done.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (05:09):
Well, politics matters because I can't assume that the priorities in every district mere my district. And so if I'm thinking politics, that's what it comes down to is what are the priorities for my fellow legislators in their districts. Sometimes those priorities line up with my own, but a lot of times they don't. And so if I'm proposing a policy solution that doesn't fit within the politics of another district, then it's going to make it hard for me to get those 36 votes I need in the house. So that's why paying attention to the politics matters is that I have to have respect for the fact that there are different needs that each legislator brings to the table. And by being responsive to that, I increase the likelihood that I can gain support for the policy initiatives that I care about.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (05:48):
Yeah, I like that a lot because a Madison County Republican doesn't necessarily look the same as a Coney County Republican or an ADA county Democrat.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (05:57):
Yeah, that's the reality of it is that we all have our own districts that we're representing and the politics allows us to help navigate to that point where we can find agreement.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (06:07):
When you've made it a priority in your political career to stay in touch with what those priorities are in your district and you keep in close contact with whether it's your mayor or your superintendents and then your town halls and just the everyday neighbors and voters, what are a few of the things that the voters in Madison County really want accomplished in Boise?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (06:28):
So for Madison County, we've had significant growth and one of the questions that comes up on a pretty regular basis is help us figure out a way to pay for growth in a sustainable way that doesn't put the burden on the people who are already here. So there's a lot of discussion that circulates within our local officials about this idea of how do we reach some sort of solution that provides us with a local option tax. Now, I haven't yet seen a particular proposal that I think makes a ton of sense, particularly from a statewide perspective, but I appreciate those discussions and what our local officials are bringing to the table on those issues. Just today we had a meeting with our local Chamber of Commerce. They brought questions to the forefront about, well, what's happening over there? Can you give us a little bit of insight into how this legislation might impact our county?
(07:11):
Can you help us have a better understanding of where this is at in the process? So for example, house Bill four 15, which was the piece of gun legislation that involved concealed carry within Idaho schools. It passed the Idaho House, it went over to the Senate and there were negotiations about making some changes to that. That would've created a provision for local schools to come up with their own plan that would've allowed for training and some other amendments to that. It ended up getting held in committee. That's an issue that was brought to our attention by our locals that they indicated they had some concerns about and wanted to provide us with feedback. And today I was able to go back to them as part of that conversation and get them up to speed and give them additional insight into where that bill sits, that kind of back and forth, that exchange, that engagement. That's what our locals are counting on from us, from their elected officials because they can't be over here in Boise. We've got to do our part to get that information back to them.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (08:04):
Yeah, it's so refreshing when feedback doesn't just exist during a campaign, doesn't just exist when it comes time to beg for votes. And so I love the communication that happens with thoughtful legislators. Now, a lot of what you're able to deliver for your community largely comes from your work on the committees. So you serve on four committees, correct?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (08:25):
Technically three. So one of my committees is a joint committee, the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee, and then I'm on resources and conservation and then the Environment Energy and Technology Committee.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (08:37):
Okay. Now how much of your workload of that, how much of that time is spent on J FAC or the appropriations committee?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (08:46):
I would say probably half to two thirds of my time is JAC related. And then as far as the additional work, it's not so much the committees themselves, it's any additional legislative work that I'm involved in. So for instance, tomorrow morning I'll have two bills up in House Health and Welfare. They both deal with the foster care system. One of 'em deals with creating some sideboards around the short term stays that have been happening at Airbnbs for foster kids. The stories that we've heard come out related to that have just, they've been troubling. I mean, that's the kindest thing I can say about them. And there's legislation that addresses that and requires the director of the department to be much more heavily involved in the decision about kids ending up in those situations. And then the second bill and one that I just think is absolutely vital for protecting kids in Idaho involves the creation of an ombudsman office for health and social services.
(09:39):
And we're starting with the foster services as being the individuals who can file complaints. This office is independent of the agency. It's funded using dollars that we will have moved from the agency itself along with ftp. So it's a net neutral in terms of what the cost is to the state, but it's for the first time individuals who are in the foster care system are going to have an avenue that they can pursue for independent review of complaints that are related to whether they are a child who is a recipient of foster services, they're in the foster care system, they're foster parents, their biological parents. The stories I have heard where whether it's the child in question or the foster families or any of the other individuals involved in the process, and they feel like there's not only retribution if they complain, but there's clear evidence that in some instances children are being removed from homes. When foster parents stare speak up and they're told that because of the complaint they'll never have a child in their home again. It is both alarming and just absolutely heartbreaking to hear the stories from these families. And I am just absolutely thrilled that there is an avenue available through this legislation to help give them some redress for their grievances.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (10:53):
I mean, as I've been following this issue, it just seems radical that this hasn't already existed as a reasonable check on the system. Is Child Protective Services concerned about this legislation?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (11:08):
No one from the agency has come and spoken with me directly. I think if I had to guess in some respects, I think it does remove some of the burden from the agency to take this out of an internal agency action. While they may feel that they're operating in the best interest of the child and doing their job to the best of their ability, putting them in the position of being both judge and jury and also the executioner in terms of carrying out these actions that carries its own burden. And so by separating out this particular piece of the process, we're frankly putting them in a position where they can just focus on doing their job and not only doing their job, but doing so in a way that meets both the intent and the spirit of the law. And I would hope that knowing that there's going to be independent eyes looking at their actions, give them pause when they start to make some of these decisions and say, what am I really doing? What's in the best interest of the child?
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (12:01):
And for those listening that haven't dealt with the foster care system, these are just the most vulnerable little souls that they're dealing with. And the goal is to reunite families in a healthy unit. But when that's not possible, adoption comes. But none of this is done quickly. And I guess what you're doing here is key in helping whatever the process ends at ensuring that these kids are protected throughout that process. Representative tell us
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (12:27):
An obligation. I mean, that's just ultimately it. The state has an obligation to these kids.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (12:31):
Yeah. Where do you see the legislation moving?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (12:36):
Well, like I said, it has a hearing in a house committee tomorrow. It's already passed through the Senate with only four no votes on the floor. I am going to choose to be optimistic that my colleagues will see the need to protect kids and to ensure they and their foster families have a way to make sure that they're protected in the system.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (12:53):
Look at you being optimistic. I love that.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (12:55):
Can't help myself when it comes to doing good for kids and families.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (12:59):
Agreed. That'll be a fantastic one that we'll look forward to the governor signing when the day comes. Let's circle back to your work on JAC with these budgets. Where are we at? Are we getting close to being all done?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (13:12):
So we're really close. I anticipate that by next week we should have most of the main budgets set. Now, once the main budgets are set, there may still be a need for us to meet as a committee to do what we call trailer bills, which is the funding that follows with any legislation that passed during the session that also requires funding. But in terms of the big standard budgets, everything should be set by next week. At least that's the current schedule and plan.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (13:38):
Okay. Is launch teed up to be funded for This
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (13:42):
Launch came through the jfa committee with a 16 to four votes. It came through clean. There's no language attached to it. I have every confidence that the legislature will meet the obligation that's currently on Idaho's books and will fund this program separately in the Senate. There's a piece of legislation moving that provides a clarification around the definition of what an in-demand career is. I think that will go a long ways to helping address some of the concerns that I've heard raise that somehow we're not really dialing in on the kinds of students and careers that we were talking about when we initially debated the program. This basically puts in place the ability for the Workforce Development Council to build out a matrix. That matrix takes into account the length of the program, the need for the program, the transferability of skills. We would be funding any careers that required a Master's degree or more in order to be considered a career,
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (14:32):
Which is nice because advocates of Launch, like you aren't just writing a blank check and saying, Hey, let's just hope launch works, but you're following it. Having accountability, ensuring that what it was intended to do is what it does. And if it doesn't do that, then I mean already we're making adjustments to make sure rather than just scrap the whole program, ensuring that it accomplishes what the policy was designed to do. That's great.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (14:54):
Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's an iterative process. I want to see the data. I want to see what comes out of this year. I want to see how many students who not only applied for the program and received money, where are they at a year from now? Are they still in their program? What's their progress look like? And the more information that we can collect inform as part of this process, the better we are going to be able to refine launch to ensure that it's meeting the intended need.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (15:16):
Okay. So on my Bingo card for you representative is of course, I want to see the data. We know that you are known for not being afraid of numbers and being a data-driven legislator. As you're in a unique seat on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, you deal with a lot of data. Are there data points that you see that kind of spark your interest, whether they excite you about the future of Idaho or concern you about what's coming? What have you seen data-wise that you think Idahoans should be aware of?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (15:49):
When I'm looking at the numbers, the things that I'm paying special attention to are how our economies diversifying. So agriculture has played a critical role in our state, and I anticipate that it will continue to do so going forward into the future. But I can ignore the fact that technology continues to play an important role as does healthcare and as does education. These are all elements that contribute towards a diversified economy for our state and frankly just ensure that we have a strong economy overall. So I'm looking at that piece. I'm also looking at the demographics of what's happening in our state. If I'm concerned about ensuring I've got a workforce, what matters to me is whether or not I've got work age individuals in the state. There's quite a few people that have decided that for their retirement, they want to come to Idaho and be in Idaho.
(16:33):
And that's fantastic and I welcome them with open arms. But ultimately we're going to have to ensure that we have enough work age individuals who are here to provide the services to ensure that we are able to meet the demands as there's increased population. So I'm tracking those demographics very carefully. And I'm also looking at when we're talking about state revenues and what those numbers are doing, are we keeping up when new people come into the state? That means that there's going to be increased demand. If we're talking about young families, that means ensuring that there's enough access in the classroom. If we're talking about older Idaho Idahoans, it's ensuring that there's access to good roads and safe communities so that they feel like the thing that they came here for is being maintained and looked after. All of these pieces come together and help paint a really complete picture of what our state needs going forward. And I think we have to be really careful to not get focused on any one thing and just ensure that we're taking all of those pieces when we're making decisions for the state,
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (17:30):
Which is a hard balancing act because you talk about diversifying the economy, which you just made a very clear and wise argument of why we need to do it. But also as the former president of the National Potato Council, you're also a strong advocate for making sure we don't lose our agricultural roots. And we're all very familiar with what Rexburg and Sugar City do for feeding the world. So what are you doing in the legislature to ensure that the family farmers can still continue to keep it?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (18:02):
I think there's some important legislation that moved through this session. Representative Raymond put together a grazing management act that ensured that we would have the framework available to us that we could support when the funding is available projects to protect our grazing lands. There was another bill that went through that addressed some of the concerns that have happened about agricultural land being converted for development purposes. And the questions around how easements are managed and how those lands get converted, the ability for us to stay in touch with our heritage while at the same time acknowledging that change is happening, I think matters. And that's why you also saw some water legislation moving through just today. In fact, I carried a piece of legislation that dealt with ditch easements. Why do ditch easements matter right now? Well, if I'm someone who's using my ditch to convey water to where my property is, I've got to make sure that that route remains unimpeded and clear.
(18:56):
And as development increases to come up next to these ditches, we've got to maintain the easement for the purposes of not only the maintenance of the ditch itself, but ensuring that the water flow remains unrestricted. And the legislation I carried today cleaned up what was frankly antiquated language and ensured that the water user still has the ability to go in and maintain access to their water because of prior language in in the law. It was meaning that some of these situations were ending up in the courts when they really didn't need to be because the access needed to be maintained. So things like that, maintaining access to our resources, ensuring that we're staying on top of things and being proactive in that regard. That's how we maintain our agricultural heritage is that we not only engage with what we have now, but we look down the road to the future to make sure we can continue it.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (19:47):
And I think this brings up an interesting point because you don't lend yourself to necessarily the trending issues on social media. There are a lot of social issues and cultural issues that eat up a lot of oxygen in the room that are absolutely going to take the headlines. Ditch easements is not one of them, but I mean I understand and I think most do, but why don't you speak to the fact of why you choose to take on ditch easements rather than the most evocative issues that might not move the needle?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (20:18):
I think the state legislature is the form of government that is genuinely, I won't necessarily say closest to the people because that's your city councils, your county commissioners, but if I'm comparing the state legislature to what goes on in Washington dc, the things that we do in this building on a daily basis have the greatest likelihood of having an impact on your or anyone else's life in a more direct way than anything that happens in Washington dc. And so from that standpoint, I weigh my actions and where I invest my time and energy from the perspective of is this going to have a net positive impact on the lives of the people I represent and everyone who lives in Idaho? And that's where I invest my time and energy is focusing on those issues that I know will have a meaningful difference in people's day-to-day lives.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (21:02):
Well, and we know that one issue that has constantly come up, it actually goes back to when we first spoke a few months ago, you talked about how to be a fiscal conservative. You have to invest money at the right time so that you're paying for things before they become too expensive. And how it's this strange dichotomy that sometimes spending money is actually the best way to save money. And we're seeing that with what governor Little wants to do with school facilities. I imagine you're a pretty big fan of what he wants to do to update some of these antiquated facilities.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (21:39):
I think about the stories we've heard from some of these school districts and the workarounds that they've had to put in place to address the fact that they have facilities that are years, if not decades behind the curve in terms of where they're at in comparison to other buildings in the community. And the frustration that I hear from folks about their inability to ensure that they've got working HVAC systems, that they've got enough space for students that they have to keep bringing in modular units to make sure they've got space. I understand the frustration because the only avenue that the legislature has left open for school districts to fund school facilities is through property tax. And what did we hear all last session long? What was I want lower property taxes. So we have this conflict and this tension between this is the avenue that's available to schools for funding their facilities, and yet at the same time, they know that their patrons are frustrated with the rate of property taxes.
(22:36):
And so 5 21 does present an avenue a formula to help alleviate some of that. Now, I want to stress House Bill 5 21 does not solve the school facilities problem. It just doesn't. The reality is is that for most school districts, the cost to bond for a school will not be covered by the funds that they'll receive through 5 21. So I think the legislature needs to stay engaged. We need to continue working the problem and figure out how we can help some of our school districts, particularly in our rural communities that have struggled to bond for new schools, figure out a way forward that doesn't place all of the burden through the property tax system.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (23:18):
Well, that wasn't the most optimistic, but it's a step in the right direction.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (23:23):
And this is the thing about government that I think people sometimes lose sight of. We don't swing for the fences all the time because frankly that's not very practical. Instead, we come in and we take it a bite at a time, and the idea that forward progress is somehow not good enough because it didn't get us all the way there. I think that's why people end up getting so frustrated is they think how it should be. And instead, this is just the normal way of going about fixing things, right, is you take it one step at a time, you take the progress you can get, and then you come back and you keep working towards that next step in the process. The only time you're losing is if you refuse to believe that you can't take that next step.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (24:04):
Yeah, step by step incremental improvements. We love that. Now let's talk about something that could prove problematic. You've said you have concerns with the joint resolution four related to elections. I don't think that's on a lot of people's radar right now. Why don't you briefly just give us some background on what this resolution actually does.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (24:26):
So as some of you may know, there is an initiative circulating that would put rank choice voting on the ballot. This proposed constitutional amendment would also appear on the ballot if it had gained enough support. And what it would've done is essentially removed the mechanism that drives rank choice voting. Now, the resolution itself specifically calls out elected offices, but it also included judicial elections. And I don't think most people know that we handle judicial elections differently than we do other elections. First, they're nonpartisan, which means no judge runs under a particular party banner. And second, the way that it works is that if there is a challenge, so however many candidates run for a judicial seat, they appear on the May primary ballot, and then if an individual doesn't receive a majority vote in the May primary, then the two top vote getters advance to the November general election.
(25:26):
And the reason that that process is in place is to ensure that a majority vote is required in order for a judge to end up sitting on the courts. Now, I personally think that's really critical, right? We can't have judges ending up on the bench with just a plurality of the vote and the way the amendment was worded is it would have allowed for that outcome. And so a number of others voted against the amendment not because of any strong opinion on rank choice voting, but because of that particular piece that included judicial elections in this process, because we've got a really great system currently in place for the election of judges, and it doesn't require special elections, it doesn't require runoffs. It just basically says in May and November we're going to ensure that for judges to end up on the courts, they will have had to have secured a majority vote. And so for that reason, I said I couldn't go there regardless of what it may have meant for other elections as it related to rank choice.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (26:24):
Yeah, there's some good background there. And is that, where does that exist right now? You voted against it. Is it in the Senate?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (26:31):
So for a resolution that's a constitutional amendment. To end up on the ballot, it has to secure two thirds vote of the body in both the House and the Senate. It fell short of securing that two thirds majority in the house. And so for now, that resolution has been set aside.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (26:48):
I love all that we get to learn. It's like being back in government class, but a little bit more engaging. So that's helpful.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (26:53):
Hopefully a little more interesting than high school government.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (26:56):
It's a little bit, I'm at least paying a little bit more attention now. Representative, we've covered a lot of policy. We've talked a little bit about politics, but I want to get personal now if that's okay. Since we talked last, somebody who's been a great mentor to me and you had passed away and everybody who in eastern Idaho who's dealt with anything in the Republican party, interacted with Bob Jones. And Bob and Carmelita have been strong advocates, veteran of foreign wars and a number of other things. But because he was just such a larger than life figure in Madison County, I wanted to give you a little bit of time to talk maybe about Bob and what he was able to do to you as a legislator, but also to so many in the community who are going to be listening to this, who knew and loved him.
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (27:41):
So Bob Jones was the guy who was always at a Republican event. First there was something scheduled, you'd show up. Bob was already there. And oftentimes the reason Bob was there is because he had arranged for an honor guard in order to do the flag presentation. Bob felt really strongly about the importance of honoring our nation and doing so in a way that did it justice. And so Bob was often the guy who made the effort to get folks there to ensure that there was the right procedure and process in place for that to happen. And along with that, he always brought just such a high level of enthusiasm to everything. One of his common phrases when you greeted him was, it's a beautiful day in Rexburg, or it's a beautiful day in Madison County, and you of course adapted it based on where he was at and just his utter belief in the ability for there to be good in the world set Bob apart.
(28:41):
He was one of the first people that I spoke with when I decided to run for office back in the day. And he was supportive, but he was also very blunt. And I could always count on Bob to give it to me straight. And I have so much appreciation for him and for his wife, Carmelita. It was a loss. Bob meant a lot, not only to the community, but I think to the state, given all the work he did for veterans. He just was one of those people who I think woke up in the morning and just said to himself, what can I do to make the world better? And Bob went and did it.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (29:15):
Yeah, and one of just the many greats. I think there's something in the water up there because not only has Madison County produced the Bob Jones' and your grandfather Del Rebel, but people that have mentored me like Kimber Ricks and there, there's just so many good people coming out of there. As you think about your legacy representative, Ray Bold, what is it that you hope when somebody long after us is on a podcast talking about how Representative Raybould is no longer with us, are the things you hope they say about you?
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (29:44):
Oh man. I think, I hope they say less about me and more about what I showed them could be done. I hope people look at the time I've spent over here and see the value, understand that there is a direct benefit to taking the time to serve in a position like this, and that it matters for our community to have someone over here speaking up. I hope at the end of the day, I've done justice to my district and to my community, and that they feel like I have represented them in a way that, well, they may not agree with me on every issue. They can, at least in the spirit of things say yes. She stood up for us when it counted the reality of this job. And I think about this often in the hallways, there's pictures of prior legislators and they're arranged by the term that they served.
(30:31):
And you walk down the hallway and you see these legislators from going clear back to the early 19 hundreds. And it is a reminder that we are all here on a very temporary basis because I look at some of those names and until I get up to the 1990s, I can't tell you that I really recognize a ton of those people. And so it's a lesson in humility to see that there are plenty of people who have come before and there will be plenty of people who come after. And the only thing that we can do right now is manage for what can be done in this moment and represent our best selves and represent our districts to the best of our ability.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (31:13):
Yeah, very well, very well put. We know that you are busy and you still have a lot more work to do in Boise, but you are chomping at the bit to get done and to get back to Madison County representative Ray Bold out of District 34 loves policy tolerates politics. That
Representative Britt Raybould, District 34 Idaho (31:28):
Sounds great, Brendan. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for the time.
Brennan Summers, Main Street ID Executive Dirctor (31:32):
Thank you.
