05/17/2026
Ben Fuhriman sat down with Community to discuss his campaign and set the record straight.,
QUESTIONS ASKED OF BEN FUHRIMAN DURING THIS VIDEO
00:53 –
02:34 1. Over the past decade, the Idaho Legislature has seen a dramatic surge in activity, culminating in record-breaking volumes during the 2025 and 2026 sessions. While the number of bills becoming law has remained relatively stable—averaging roughly 340 to 350 per year—the volume of "draft legislation" (pre-introduction concepts) has exploded.
According to the Idaho Capital Sun, the data highlights a widening gap between the work being proposed and the legislation actually enacted. In 2026, bill drafting reached an all-time high with 2,665 pieces of legislation prepared by the Legislative Services Office, more than double the volume seen just a few years ago. Despite the Senate bringing a bill restricting how many bills a legislator could bring in a session, the bill died in the House.
In this condition, how can you, as my representative, State that you have reviewed and understand the bill before you for voting?
2:35 –
6.28 2. You have spent two years now in the state legislature representing District 30 House Seat 30B. What are some of the accomplishments that you made that you would like the voters to know about?
6:29 –
8:04 3. What are some of your disappointments while serving in the House of Representatives?
8:05 -
9:22 4. What committees are you over? Are you assigned to a committee by the leadership, or do you have a choice in the matter?
9:25 –
10:14 5. You are currently running against Julianne Young. He ran against her last time and beat her by four votes. That was one of the closest elections for a state house or senate seat in the past 30 years. You unseated a three-term House member the first time out of the chute. How did that feel?
10:15-
19:14 6. It appears, based on the last two forums, that you are in a pretty intense race against Ms. Young. I want to play a clip for you from the forum at the Shelley Citizen Center last week and get your take. Tell me about the accusation she's made against you in this clip?
19:15 –
21:86 7. I have read online rumors from people in Julianne Young's camp that you don't want to debate her, that she has wanted to debate you, but you refused. Is that true?
22:00 -
25:24 8. Tell me about political scorecard and why you vote a certain way?
25:25 -
35:00 9. I want to discuss some consequential bills that were passed in this last legislative session and how and why you voted on them.
House Bill 752, also affectionately known as the bathroom bill. How did you vote on it and why?
House Bill 516, aka the "prohibition of taxpayer funding of teachers' unions" bill. How did you vote on it and why?
House Bill 542, aka the "Adds to existing law to establish the Stop Harms from Addictive Social Media Act." How did you vote on this legislative act and
House Bill 822, or the act that adds to existing law to establish the Pediatric Secretive Transitions Parental Rights. How did you vote on it and why?
Senate Bill 1352 restricts cities from creating or enforcing ordinances that prevent the construction of "compact" single-family dwellings of 1,500 square feet or less on r esidential subdivisions of at least 4 acres. Little signed it, and it takes effect July 1st. How did you vote on this bill.
35.10 –
41.41
10. I want to turn your attention to water. You said in the Shelley Forum, and correct me if I wrong, that you thought the legislature had no place in dealing with water restrictions imposed on junior water-right farmers in the eastern aquifer plain? Am I stating your view correctly?
41:42 –
45.86
11. One area I think that should be discussed about this last legislative session is how the State 45.86 went from having a $1 billion surplus to requiring a 4 percent budget cut for each State agency in the 2025-26 budget year and a 5 percent cut across all State agencies in the 2026-27 budget year.
