The Idaho State legislature is in its ninth week and so far legislators have drafted 717 bills, which is a record pace over the past five years. Idaho Legislators are working to pass what they believe to be good legislation, and Republican Sen. Doug Ricks, who represents District 34 in Madison County, is trying his best to make an impact.
Senator Ricks is in his second term with the Idaho Legislature, serving his first term in the Idaho House of Representatives and now serving in the Idaho State Senate. Ricks loves representing Rexburg.
“My favorite part is really just trying to, represent the good folks back home in the district and try to carry our values and views, to the state house,” Ricks said.
Ricks draws inspiration from his father, who also served as an Idaho State Legislature for 16 years.
“He helped me get over that hump and realize that there's some good public service that can be done,” Ricks said. “And sometimes good people need to step up and grab the bull by the horns and take charge.”
Ricks says the number of bills drafted and introduced is more than he expected.
“What surprised me the most is that it actually started off quite slow. I thought there would be less legislation,” Ricks said. “But, given the fact that we had a little bit slow session, and this is ultimately a campaign election year, the legislature is usually pretty diligent about trying to get out in a timely basis. And by having more legislation introduced, it sometimes puts us on a timeline to either really hurry and get that done, or it pushes us a little bit longer.”
With bills being drafted at such a high number, Ricks took an opportunity to introduce Senate Bill 1291, which would prohibit companies from boycotting Idaho industries.
“But any company that boycotts industries that are important to Idaho, like fossil fuel-based energy, timber, mining, hydropower, nuclear energy, agriculture, and firearms, this bill would require our state and local governments to do business with companies that don't boycott those industries,” Ricks said.
As the Idaho State Legislative session continues forward, more legislation will be introduced to the House and the Senate.
“There's still quite a bit of legislation that has to be passed on both floors, the House and the Senate,” Ricks said. “And it's kind of exciting to see what comes up and what goes through, but I'm looking forward to getting the work done that's necessary.”