05/14/2026
"Last week, the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators recognized and thanked several legislators who have been consistent, dependable advocates for Southeast Idaho water. The list included the following:
— Sen. Van Burtenshaw
— Rep. Rod Furniss
— Rep. Jerald Raymond
— Sen. Kevin Cook
— Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen
— Rep. Erin Bingham
— Rep. Mike Veile
— Rep. Josh Wheeler
— Sen. Mark Harris
— Sen. Jim Guthrie
— Rep. Richard Cheatum
— Rep. Dan Garner
— Rep. Britt Raybould
— Rep. Jon Weber
— Rep. Mike Pohanka
— Rep. Ben Fuhriman
— Sen. Julie VanOrden
— Rep. Marco Erickson
— Sen. Dave Lent
— Rep. Dustin Manwaring
I’ve had the pleasure of working with several of these legislators over the last few years on water, power and other ag-related issues. Se. Van Burtenshaw and Reps. Furniss and Raymond have attended numerous water meetings that most people will never know about. They stay involved, ask questions and share ideas. Sen. Cook has worked tirelessly to find ways to increase our region’s water supply. Rep. Mickelsen, who serves as one of IGWA’s co-chairs, is deeply committed to protecting east Idaho’s water. This session, she, Reps. Dan Garner and Mike Veile, and Sen. Jim Guthrie, successfully crafted, negotiated, and carried legislation that protects existing power customers from rate increases that are driven by data centers and other large consumers.
Our own Sen. Julie VanOrden and Rep. Ben Fuhriman are deeply engaged in water and other issues that matter to those of us in Bingham and Butte counties. I’ve enjoyed getting to know and working with them over the past several years. They care deeply about our communities and approach bills with careful thought and consideration.
On social media, I’ve criticized the increasing dysfunction we’re seeing in the Idaho Legislature. Far too many of our legislators seem more interested in making headlines or scoring cheap rhetorical points than in reasonable, well-thought-out lawmaking. I watch with frustration as some lawmakers in Twin Falls vote directly against their own constituents’ desires and interests to instead bolster an arbitrary 'freedom score' or to please the faraway GOP chair. I was disappointed this session when, instead of doing the hard work of determining whether and where it makes sense to cut our state budget, legislators took the lazy path and simply applied a uniform percentage reduction to every state agency. As Sen. Cook so aptly put it, that kind of cut means you’re slicing through meat as well as fat. And in the words of our lieutenant governor, when you do that: 'You are saying that a dollar spent on aquifer recharge is as expendable as a dollar spent on administrative overhead. You are saying that a classroom in Caldwell and a redundant program nobody can explain deserve the same treatment. That is not fiscal conservatism; it is fiscal avoidance dressed up as discipline.'
Many of east Idaho’s legislators provide a refreshing alternative to that kind of lawmaking. They research the bills before them and consider all their impacts. They reach out to law enforcement, healthcare providers, and those of us who each proposed bill will benefit or burden. I’ve been proud when our lawmakers have done the right thing, especially when they knew it would open them up to opportunistic critics who knowingly omit relevant facts or key context. This doesn’t mean I agree with everything they do or would vote the same way on every bill, but we in east Idaho are fortunate to have a cohort of legislators who are focused on their constituents first, and who bring a level of reason and professionalism to their job that we should demand of everyone we send to Boise to represent us."
Last week, the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators recognized and thanked several legislators who have been consistent, dependable advocates for Southeast Idaho water. The list included the following:
