Republican Rod Furniss running for District 31B seat against Democrat Wayne Talmadge

SALMON — Incumbent Rep. Rod Furniss, a Republican, is running for the Legislative District 31B seat against Wayne Talmadge, a Democrat, in this year’s general election.

District 31 covers Jefferson, Lemhi, Clark, and Fremont counties.

Click here to learn more about Furniss’ campaign.

Talmadge does not have a website, but there is information about his campaign on Ballotpedia.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. EastIdahoNews.com is publishing the answers in their entirety, and without any grammatical or style editing.

Talmadge declined to answer the questionnaire.

The general election is Nov. 5.

Candidate Questions & Responses

Tell us about yourself — include information about your family, career, education, volunteer work, and any prior experience in public office.

Furniss: I am beginning my 7th year in the House. I am a 6th generation Idahoan as my family homesteaded a farm in Menan, Idaho. I served an LDS mission to Argentina. I married Jan Burtenshaw from Clark, Idaho and we have 5 children and 11 grandchildren. I love Idaho. I want my kids to live here, work here, educate their kids here and recreate here. I have worked with business owners my entire life and Idaho capitalism has proven to be the best driver for prosperity. We need to keep Idaho unregulated to promote enterprise. I have championed education bills by funding teachers’ salaries and health care. I believe in quality education and vocation for those that seek it. I graduated from Rigby High, BYU-I, and ISU. I worked for Idaho First National Bank for one year and have been in the insurance business since 1986. I have served in my church and the Boy Scouts in many capacities. I have been a precinct committee person and past president of the local education foundation. Past president of the Idaho Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Past President of the Idaho Falls Society of Financial Service Professionals. Past president of the Idaho Falls Estate Planning Council and qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table. I currently serve as vice-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, on the Business Committee, and on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee. I also served on the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee, Your Health Idaho Committee, High Risk Pool Committee, Chaired the Teacher Health Insurance Committee, and was on the Property Tax Committee.

Why are you seeking political office? Briefly explain your political platform.

Furniss: I am a Republican. 2nd amendment rights are very important to me as I grew up on a farm where hunting and shooting was nearly a daily occurrence. The sanctity of life and the belief that life begins at conception is an ideal that cannot be compromised. 1st amendment rights to speak my conscience without fear of retribution or harm may be the greatest God given right we have. Freedom of religion and to worship as I see fit without fear that the government will dictate to me who my God is or who I should pray to or even if I can pray is most important to me. The family is the backbone of this great nation, and that mothers and fathers should raise their children as they see fit. I believe that we can achieve peace through strength and that we need to honor and respect our military and police by funding them properly. I believe business should operate without burdensome regulations or red tape, capitalism will solve most problems if we get out of the way and let it work. I believe we need to secure our borders and enforce the immigration laws. As well as work with those that contribute to our economy and that are here legally. I believe we must balance our government budgets and remain out of debt in Idaho and on the federal level as well. God bless America and God bless Idaho.

What are the greatest challenges facing people and communities in your district? What is your plan to meet those challenges?

Furniss: Taxes, inflation, affordable housing, overcrowding of schools, and high interest rates affect the everyday households in Jefferson, Fremont, Clark, and Lemhi counties. Even though we have lowered Idaho income tax rates significantly inflation has eaten away at the spending power of families in Eastern Idaho. Wages have not kept pace with inflation even though they have risen substantially. Idaho sales tax has increased over the last 6 years I have served but again inflation has eaten away at its purchasing power. I have voted every time to reduce property tax with H381, H292, and H521. With these bills property tax has or will decrease over 20%. Interest rates have affected affordable housing and stopped young families from the American dream of owning a new home. School funding formulas and facility funding needs to be addressed with less burden on property taxes. We are seeing this change incrementally over the years. The Governor and the Idaho Legislature have done a great job at keeping Idaho a desirable place to raise a family and be educated. The federal government under the Biden Administration has done a terrible job. It could be fixed! Secure our border and provide meaningful work visas, open drilling permits and finish pipelines to reduce fuel prices, and vote in a Republican President, House, and Senate in Washington DC.

Have you seen any mistakes made by the Idaho Legislature in recent years? How would you work to correct these errors?

Furniss: 2021 HJR4 was a resolution by House members to keep marijuana out of Idaho and has been the biggest disappointment and mistake of the Idaho Legislature. It failed by 3 votes. Unfortunately, those 3 votes came from Eastern Idaho. Ron Nate, Chad Christensen, and Karey Hanks all voted against a constitutional change to limit schedule 1 drugs unless voted on by the Idaho Legislature. Many legislators including myself, drafted the resolution to be put on the ballot and voted on by the public to keep marijuana from our children. We worked tirelessly with leadership and members to obtain the votes and we were assured we had them till the vote failed. Drugs have become the scourge of our nation and Idaho stands alone in keeping marijuana out of Idaho so far. HJR4 would have solidified this effort. Many states are now regretting recreational marijuana as health concerns have arisen with more dui’s, work force problems and the tripling of teen suicide. This bill should come back.

What parts of the state budget could use more funding? Are there places in the budget where cuts could be made?

Furniss: I serve on JFAC, and we go over every agency budget and evaluate their base budgets as well as new requests for one time money and/or ongoing money. Agencies and the Governor do two separate budgets and then JFAC members can approve those budgets or make changes to those budgets. We meet as working groups and split the budgets into categories. This has been most productive as we are able to call the agency directors and ask specific questions to understand each request. A request may be for new cars, employees, desks and computers, software, additions to or maintenance on buildings, rent increases, janitorial contract increases, and many more items. The working groups can ask the tough questions like how many miles do the current vehicles have, how long have you had them, why do you need more employees, what is the contract for software, can we consolidate with other agencies, can we fix the current building or add on instead of building new? The working groups were able to find $35.9 million in savings in the Health and Welfare budgets this year. The goal for JFAC is to dig deep into the base budgets for 20% of the agencies over the next 5 years. By doing this we will see if appropriations that have been done years ago are still needed or obsolete. Many states are envious of how Idaho does budgets with both the Senate and House members agreeing before most of the legislature votes and are signed by the Governor.

What is your position on Idaho’s Proposition 1 ballot initiative that would end closed-party primary elections and create ranked-choice voting?

Furniss: I am a no vote on Proposition 1. Prop 1 is not the answer to our election problems. The answer is to have the GOP be more inclusive and inviting and less exclusive. We should be educating people on the planks and at the same time welcome all views in civil debate. There should be room in the GOP tent for those with views around the edges and in the middle. Rank Choice Voting is not an Idaho answer and is expensive and time consuming to administer. It will change how campaigning is done. If you don’t like me, put me down as #2 and #2 may win! #2 should never win. 4 candidates to the general election are too many and will further divide the party and extend the primary to November and increase costs. Party affiliation is important in the legislature when we are caucusing and making important decisions before a vote. Choose a party and vote in who you want, this has worked in Idaho.

What is your position on Gov. Brad Little using Idaho State Police resources to bolster security at the United States southern border? How does illegal immigration impact the constituents in your district?

Furniss: In Idaho we fund the police, not defund the police. We increased the allocation for Idaho State Police by 10%. More than any other budget. Also included in the budget were dollars for vests, guns, salaries, and cars. I am in favor of sending the ISP troopers to the border. They reported back insights to keep fentanyl out of Idaho and away from our children. Illegal immigration is a disaster under the Biden/Harris administration, and we have been a country without borders for the last 3 ½ years. Shame on them for canceling the wall and the policy to stay in Mexico to be processed that was working under the Trump administration. The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers visa program to bring workers into our area is functioning even though it is cumbersome administratively and slow to react. Congress needs to streamline this program and deregulate the policies. Illegal immigration will hurt Idaho in the long run as more criminal elements move about the country. We are seeing that happen now as well.

A battle over the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer recharge led to a temporary water curtailment for thousands of acres of farmland in 2024. How should the the legislature respond to this issue?

Furniss: Water is the life blood of Idaho and careful thoughtful dialog has occurred for the most part to seek an agreement. The 2015 agreement must be reworked with new data and more area inclusion now in the equation. Kudos to those that have sat around the huge ring of tables and sacrificed time and family on behalf of Idaho. It truly has been a monumental event and much needed to keep the federal government from gaining rights to Idaho water. That would not be a friendly takeover. The Governor and Lt. Governor have circled the wagons and Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, Jeff Raybould, and Alan Hansten have taken many arrows but survived and thrived to a new agreement. One of the most important for the future of Idaho. If and when legislation is required, I am ready and willing.