Idaho Senator Christy Zito on Government Growth, Budget Reality, and the Future of Idaho

Dylan Stalker (0:01): Ladies and gentlemen, this is Dylan Stalker, your host of The Great Idaho Show, the greatidahoshow.com. Sponsored by Old Arms of Idaho. They are your ambassadors to America's heritage. They have the twenty four hour gun show. If it is firearms, western, or military, they deal in it.

Dylan Stalker (0:20): They are the experts right here in Idaho nationwide. Today, we have a wonderful program. You know, if you're from Idaho, you know that the great Idaho show is about me talking to the people that I'm a super fan of. I am biased, and that's okay. That's okay.

Dylan Stalker (0:37): I want people on my program that I certainly appreciate. And today is a first for me in that we are going to talk in the subject of politics, which isn't great, but there are great leaders in politics. Today, we are visiting with senator Christie Zitto of District 8. Christie, welcome to the program. Thank you for coming on.

Christie Zitto (0:58): Thank you. I I appreciate that introduction, but I'm not into hero worship so much. I just I I think it's so important that people feel like their elected representatives are approachable. You know, that that we're just people, but I'm just like anybody else. But thank you very much.

Dylan Stalker (1:20): Yeah. Absolutely. And I think, genuinely, Christy, that is why I do appreciate you is your approachability. And I'm with you, especially as it's related to elected official elected officials. There are people that you like, and there are people that you that understand the policy, and there are people that understand the process.

Dylan Stalker (1:40): And that I believe you certainly do, and I like both. So that's that's my opinion. So I get to have it. Thank you. But Yeah.

Dylan Stalker (1:49): Just opening it up for the folks across Idaho, how would you describe your role as a state senator?

Christie Zitto (1:57): Well, I think that in politics, if you when I when I think about my role in Idaho politics, yeah, I've been called everything from a a right wing extremist Sure. You know, a conspiracy theorist, tin hat wear. But when you look at politics and not just Idaho, but I think politics in general, you have to consider it from the view of an Overton window. Things naturally move to the left. Yeah.

Christie Zitto (2:28): It just seems like in politics, that's what happens. So if you don't have people who maintain what you would consider a hard right or a very, very strong originalist constitutionalist stand, it's like the goalpost. There there has to be that goalpost that holds politics from just moving too far left. And you can see states and even in our federal government, when you start to lose that, you see that drift. You see that drift to moderate and then left.

Christie Zitto (3:04): And and you even see it in Idaho politics. I I I've always say, I don't believe these jobs should be homesteaded, that you should come and serve, and then you should move on. No one should be there twenty years.

Unknown Speaker (3:18): Sure.

Christie Zitto (3:18): I don't even I'm going on I've been there ten, either serving or I lobbied for two years for the Idaho second amendment alliance, but so I've been there ten. And if you're not really, really careful, you can feel yourself starting to move into that the the friendship, the fraternity, so to speak, of the legislative body. And when I retired the first time, it's because I was sitting in my office one day. I was looking at some legislation I was going to have to vote on. And I remembered thinking, well, I kinda like the lobbyists that came in here and talked to me about this.

Christie Zitto (3:58): I can't I don't think I can vote for this, but I'm gonna feel bad because I don't wanna hurt their feelings. And I'm like, woah. Stop. Sure. Right there.

Christie Zitto (4:06): You know, I I was feeling myself flip into that. And I had promised myself when I started that I would never let that happen. Because I had a couple of really good experiences when I very first got elected that I keep in my mind that remind me, you know, that I'm I'm there to work for the people. And that if you're not careful, you slip into that. And we see that.

Christie Zitto (4:28): We see people who have been there ten, twelve years and more. They start out really good, really conservative, really strong. And then I don't know. I guess they get wore down. And so they buy into this, you know, that, well, if I had a seat at the table, I can get so much more done.

Christie Zitto (4:44): Sure. Which is a fallacy because you just don't. People that have been in office in the process itself has been here a long time. And if you're not careful, you will get worked in to that position of wanting a seat at the table, of thinking that if you follow the right person or buy into the right group, that you'll get your voice heard and you'll get your legislation too. And you might get a lot of legislation through.

Christie Zitto (5:13): You know, people brag about how many bills they carried, but how much of it was really meaningful and how much of it really improved the lives of the people of the state of Idaho? That's what's more important. I don't care if you carry not one bill as long as you vote to preserve and protect the republic.

Dylan Stalker (5:35): Yep. I have an interview guide here, Christy, and often it goes right out the window, and that's okay because

Unknown Speaker (5:42): Did I just do that?

Dylan Stalker (5:43): Not at all, my dear. That's what I'm saying is you're saying something that I personally believe in very much so. But it leads to the next question is how do you describe that seat at the table? I'm with you. Votes matter.

Dylan Stalker (5:59): Right? But what is that seat at the table? Because the outsider, like myself, it's like we are often wondering, like, what just happened?

Unknown Speaker (6:07): Well, because I don't have a seat at that table. I have a seat at a different table.

Unknown Speaker (6:12): Sure.

Christie Zitto (6:12): My seat at the table is with my constituents. My seat at the table is is with the people who feel like they can call me and walk up to me in Walmart and and and talk to me and express to me their concerns, and that's my seat at the table. So we saw a little bit of a of a conservative rift. Yeah. In the last

Dylan Stalker (6:35): I saw it myself as just a voting individual for sure.

Christie Zitto (6:38): Yeah. And so right after the primary, a person who was right in the middle of that called me and they said because part of the rift was caused by and it it surrounded support of one candidate in particular who had never been considered conservative.

Unknown Speaker (7:00): Sure.

Christie Zitto (7:01): In in my time in the legislature, they'd never been considered conservative. But there was a group of considered conservatives who decided that they were going to support this person over someone who definitely is conservative. And when we say conservative, when I say conservative, you know, let's define that so that we're pre

Unknown Speaker (7:20): Please.

Christie Zitto (7:21): I I appreciate that. This is the conservative gospel according to Christie Zitto, not anybody else. This is my opinion of conservative. So to me, someone who is conservative will always vote for freedom. They will never vote to encumber future generations with debt.

Christie Zitto (7:42): They will never vote to give the state or any bureaucratic agency in the state more power than any elected official, more more power. And let me clarify that. My my example I like to use for that is the sheriff is an elected official.

Unknown Speaker (8:01): 100%.

Christie Zitto (8:01): That should be where our focus is when we come to funding, when we come to supporting them because they answer directly to the people. I have nothing against state police. I don't hate state police. I don't hate any of them, and I fully support them. However, they are a bureaucratic agency, and they answer to the governor.

Unknown Speaker (8:20): One single person.

Christie Zitto (8:22): And they will follow his order like we saw in COVID. You know, Idaho was the first state in the country where a pastor was arrested for holding church in a parking lot. Idaho was the first state in the nation where small businesses were shut down. And the state police helped enforce that because they answered to the governor. So for me, a conservative is very conscious and aware of all those things.

Christie Zitto (8:50): A conservative is very fiscally responsible with the taxpayers' dollars. And just because it sounds like it's a good idea and it sounds like it's a good social program, I prefer for the people of the state of Idaho, the hardworking tax paying citizens of the state of Idaho. I prefer for them to have their money in their pocket so that they can decide who they wanna help and how they wanna help them. I prefer that rather than to be paying for veterinarians that are gonna service large animals for our dairies or medical students or anything else for money from the taxpayer to supporting that. Not that it's not a worthy cause.

Christie Zitto (9:33): It is. But I would rather see our Idaho families be able to send their own kids to college or their own kids to the school of their choice rather than to have to support everybody and everything else. Now do we have a social contract? Yes. Are we responsible to help each other provide things like roads and, you know, some social services?

Christie Zitto (9:57): Yes. We have to be very judicious in how we support that and where that money goes. So to me, that's what that's what a conservative is. That's my definition of it. So back to the original story.

Christie Zitto (10:10): So there was this rift. And right after the primary election, I received a phone call from someone who's in the middle of that. And they said, you know, if we play our cards right here, we'll finally have seat at the table, and we'll be able to get stuff done. We'll be able to get our bills heard. And I'm like, I don't know.

Christie Zitto (10:29): You know? I'm not going to compromise my values and what the people have sent me here to do to have a seat at a table just to get my bills heard. Now because I believe that bills, good legislation should get heard

Dylan Stalker (10:46): not because voted upon.

Christie Zitto (10:48): I understand. Upon. Yes. Thank you. And voted upon not because my personality, not because I get along with the speaker or the pro tem or the chairman of every any committee.

Christie Zitto (11:00): It should be because it's a good bill. Sure. You know? And we see a lot of stuff that gets hearings and gets through that maybe isn't such a good bill. But because this person has a seat at the table, they'll get this stuff through.

Christie Zitto (11:13): Now like we saw in this legislative session, some good stuff got through, but there was a lot of stuff that wasn't good that didn't get through that got through. And there was a lot of really good stuff that didn't because of this seat at the table.

Dylan Stalker (11:30): I know that you have many individuals that we could name in this program and things like that. And I'm also learning myself having been a very naive individual, just from the outside out, you know, wondering. It's it's very complex, and I give I have great respect for how you describe that. But I too see the rift transpiring in Idaho of what you described that it is now starting to lean left. And and, essentially, when I think of conservative right on the front page of the GLBP playbook is limited government.

Dylan Stalker (12:07): And that is where it boils back down to the people and things like that. We have a budget that's grown, you know, 60% in seven years, and I think I relate to what you're describing there. What would be something that you would describe or say that we should be paying close attention to as this rift gets wider?

Christie Zitto (12:35): I think and the the rift is growing in some ways, and in some ways, it's not because all of the people involved in it, right so far, we're still voting fairly conservative.

Unknown Speaker (12:52): Yeah.

Christie Zitto (12:52): There's just not enough of us to really swing a vote, so to speak. We were successful in a lot of ways in some votes during this past legislative session. There were some budget items that were, you know, budget bills that were basically killed, which is always a good thing because it sends a message. And when we talk about the budgeting process, the last couple of years, the the budget process has been different than it was previously. So in the last couple of years, to Scott Grove's credit, senator Scott Grove's credit, and I believe Wendy Horman supported him in this when she was there.

Christie Zitto (13:31): We do what's called a maintenance budget. And the maintenance budget, in theory, keeps the lights on.

Unknown Speaker (13:37): Sure.

Christie Zitto (13:37): K? Sometimes it can include, a yearly pay increase for stadium employees and stuff. But the maintenance budget is supposed to be the basic operating expense for the bureaucratic agency. And they come to us in groups of 10. So we get to vote on them in groups of 10.

Christie Zitto (13:57): And, like, last year, the gang of eight voted on all of the maintenance budgets, I think, except one or two. And I can't remember right now. I should be able to, but right this moment, I can't. But then there were very few enhancement budget budgets that we voted on. And the enhancement budgets are the ones that they come back and they say, okay.

Christie Zitto (14:14): Well, we've got what we need to operate, but we want to increase our budget this much, or or or we need more employees, or, you know, we've got these federal dollars we want to spend, or, you know, we need more technology or or just whatever it is, more cars and trucks or or whatever it is. So it enhances the maintenance budget that was passed. And the previous year in '25, the eight of us had made a budget pledge. And, like, the you know, no new full time employees, no increase in pay because we could see that if we weren't careful, we were going to have a a budget issue in '26 Sure. When we budgeted for '27.

Christie Zitto (15:02): And if we had if the legislature had voted like our pledge was in '25, we would have saved a billion dollars. That's That's a lot of money.

Unknown Speaker (15:12): Large percentage.

Christie Zitto (15:13): Would not find ourself in the fiscal position that we're in this year, you know, when we budgeted for '27. So back to that. So we we were very careful when we voted that way. So now what you see is gonna happen is because we voted against enhancements, like, for state police or health and welfare. But talking about the fiscal problems that we're we're going to have, the biggest problem fiscally that state of Idaho is is having is Medicaid expansion.

Christie Zitto (15:52): You know, people say, well, you know, why can't we more fully fund state police? Or why did you vote against this? Or why did you vote against that? Medicaid expansion is growing at a rate that will break the state. And we only fund 10% of it, and the feds spend 90% of it.

Christie Zitto (16:07): And this is the problem with federal money, and COVID was was the best example of that. So governor Little signed us into the FEMA agreement so that we could get all this federal money. You know, we declared a state of emergency in the state of Idaho. I think we had one one case of COVID when the emergency was signed, but it was so that we could get federal money so that we could get ARPA funds. And I can't remember the name of the other program that put billions and billions of dollars into the state, which is just not a healthy thing.

Christie Zitto (16:39): So most of the federal money, when it comes in in a specific program or needs to be spent, they last about five years. So this year and this past year, those funds are are drying up. So what happens is just like a lot of there was this a program that comes to my mind specifically right now because I had friends who were involved in it. It would pay family members to stay home and take care of people who had, like, ALS or were bedridden or or, you know, needed full time care.

Unknown Speaker (17:15): Sure.

Christie Zitto (17:15): So those were federal dollars that came in to do that. Well, the federal dollars ended in '25. So now all of these people had become dependent on that federal money. And then when it dries up, you know, these millions and millions of dollars dry up, they look at the state to pick up the difference. Well, the state doesn't have that kind of money.

Christie Zitto (17:38): The federal government

Dylan Stalker (17:39): didn't have it in the first place.

Christie Zitto (17:40): No. We didn't. And, really, seriously, in all reality, the federal government, which is us, you know, our federal tax return is the federal government, $39,000,000,000,000 and counting in debt. $39,000,000,000,000 in debt. Our kids, our grandkids, our great grandkids, we're not how are you gonna pay that back?

Christie Zitto (18:07): But they we become dependent on that money. And for some you know, the federal government just keeps borrowing. In Idaho, we can't do that because we're constitutionally bound to have a balanced budget. But we don't because 44% of our state budget is federal money. I had a congressman tell me once he believes it's closer to 50.

Christie Zitto (18:29): So, you know, this is just not good. This is not this is how civilizations collapse because you can't you can't carry that. The more borrowed money you pump into an economy, the faster inflation's gonna grow. And so think Venezuela. I had a friend who lived there when when that country collapsed, and she said, people you couldn't keep up with the inflation.

Christie Zitto (18:52): And when it finally did collapse, she said people were hungry, and there weren't even any animals left in the zoo. You know? And I don't know whether that was just her perspective, but, you know, it's not it's not a healthy environment no matter how you look at it. So I think that's when Medicaid expansion is doing that to our state now. Because when it was on the on the initiative and people voted for it, and you'll hear, oh, well, 63% of the people in the state of Idaho voted for it.

Christie Zitto (19:21): No. They didn't. Because only three to 4% of the people in the state of Idaho actually vote. So it was only 63% of that three to 4% people that both have voted for it. And the the numbers and the projections in their description of what it would do were wrong.

Dylan Stalker (19:38): Thank you for that clarification. What I feel like you just pointed out is how sound bites are picked that get people seriously motivated in these these little initiatives. You know? If if and isn't that a sad truth about what the percentage of voters really are? You know, I think about the state is the largest employer in our state.

Dylan Stalker (20:04): And I think of things that come to my mind in the sound bites like, we've got a budget surplus, and we've got a budget surplus. We've got extra money laying around and how quickly quickly that falls away, you know, if I go and mortgage out my house and I've got a budget surplus, you know, if it's completely mortgaged out and I spend out every dollar, but, you know, once that once that money's gone, I still gotta make that payment. It seems like it's it's things that we all can relate to in our daily living, but it's applied to at a multibillion dollar expense on the people of the state of Idaho.

Christie Zitto (20:39): Well, it really is. And and, you know, there when we when we talk about budgeting, and there are things that we don't even see. So, like, there's, continuous spending items. And I've was going to find out just how much continuous spending we had go through the state this year, and I haven't quite got to that yet. But those are budget items that we never seen.

Christie Zitto (21:03): It's in the millions of dollars. The legislature doesn't have to approve it every year.

Dylan Stalker (21:07): Because it's approved forever in the day.

Christie Zitto (21:09): Forever, and it just, you know, continuous spending. So it just goes on and on and on. And we we just we just need to be cautious and really aware of where this money goes because it's not the government's money. Governments don't generate income. It's the only money that the government has to spend is the money that you pay taxes.

Christie Zitto (21:31): And if you think of how many times you're taxed on your money so you get your paycheck and you pay state income tax and you pay federal income tax. Then when you go to the grocery store, you pay sales tax. If you buy a car, you pay tax. And then after you pay tax on that car that you buy, you're gonna pay a tax when you license it. And then you're gonna pay a tax on the fuel that you're gonna put in it and your insurance.

Christie Zitto (22:01): I I didn't realize that we were taxed that there was an insurance tax. And it just seems like by the time it's said and done, that dollar that you bring home from working hard is taxed how many times. And so at the end, what does that leave for you and your family to decide how you wanna spend it? And it's just I don't think sometimes we actually realize, and we heard that a lot this year in the legislature because the federal money was drying up for a lot of these programs. And a lot of us call it emotional terrorism.

Christie Zitto (22:36): You know? And people come in and and we hear all the worst case stories. And for me, they should it should never have happened anyway because our families, our churches, and our communities, we should be taking care of each other because my and I guess it's not that I'm that I'm hard about it, but my grandma was born in Albania. And she got married. She and my grandpa got married.

Christie Zitto (23:04): They were married for about two weeks, and then he came to America with his brothers to work. They were gonna work, make some money, and then go back to the old country. Well, World War one started, and they couldn't go back. So they were here for seven years. And in that seven years, you know, they worked back and forth across the country, and they decided to settle in Corinne, Utah.

Christie Zitto (23:23): And they bought a little farm there, And then they brought their wives over. Well, my grandma got here in 1920, and she and I checked this out. I, you know, did the genealogy search on it, and she gave birth nine times in twelve years. Now it's interesting because my grandma didn't read or write in her native language. And when she came to America, she didn't learn to speak English.

Christie Zitto (23:49): So she didn't read or write, and she didn't speak English. But she raised eight living children. My dad was the youngest. When my dad was six, my grandpa died.

Dylan Stalker (24:01): That's tough.

Christie Zitto (24:02): So here's my grandma not speaking English, had a farm, had a home, had eight children between the ages of six and 18. No welfare. No social security. No social programs at all. Some of the kids went to college.

Christie Zitto (24:23): Two of the brothers served in the armed forces. She did it. She she she did it because you had to. And it's it's not that I don't have sympathy for people. And, I mean, I I didn't come from money.

Christie Zitto (24:39): We didn't have a lot of money. I've been a single mom. I had three small children, and I was a single mom. But I worked and took care of them. You know, we didn't we didn't rely on the government to take care of us.

Christie Zitto (24:53): And I did jobs where I could take them. I picked tomatoes. I picked sweet corn. I worked in the field. I hauled potatoes and had three little car seats in my spud tratch, you know, so that I could work and still be with my family.

Christie Zitto (25:05): But I think it's we have looked to the government to be the nanny state. And I listened to Vivek Ramaswamy speak one day, and he said the only difference between a conservative nanny state and a liberal nanny state is whose idea it is. I think that's profound.

Dylan Stalker (25:26): I I mean, I have to agree. It's tough being a person who my family was on WIC. And, you know, it was a tough time. 2008 was tough for a lot of people. And I remember the challenges of WIC being issued paper checks where you had 16 or $32 to go buy all the vegetables that you could.

Dylan Stalker (25:48): And then going through the checkout line, people are looking at you like, you know, they're giving you looks like, man, you're clogging up the stuff. That difficulty, it's a matter of pride and motivation to come off of WIC. And I'll never forget my wife coming back at the moment that we achieved coming off the program, and she let them know. And in my wife's words, speaking for her, she goes, it was a surprise to me, Dylan. The the individual I was working with was like, what are you doing?

Dylan Stalker (26:18): Do you know what we have coming? You you can stay on. We can figure out a way for you to this is a great program. You need it. They if you need them, they need you because they know if you solve your own problem, then they're not needed anymore or something like that.

Dylan Stalker (26:36): And once you give it, you can never take it away. It's like that quote from Chris Troopas that I've I've heard that I appreciate, which is go drink your beer, ride your ATVs, and we'll run the country. And I really do. It it makes me nervous about our state and those dependencies on the federal money as a Medicaid. But, Christy, what do we do?

Dylan Stalker (26:58): How do we come out of this?

Christie Zitto (26:59): Well, it's and it's difficult because I don't begrudge anybody a hand up. Sure. Because there is such a difference between a hand up and a handout. And I, you know, I don't know. It's so hard because life is so different now than it used to be.

Christie Zitto (27:22): Our kids are raised different. You know, they have a phone or a tablet or a video game. And and we see it, you know, the make make America healthy again program and concept that, you know, our kids don't go outside and play like they used to. Our kids don't engage in the world like they used to. And we have this, it's almost like a helpless mindset in a lot of ways that, you know, if if we don't have that government program, I don't know whether it's a fear or or what it is.

Christie Zitto (27:56): It used to be that we took great pride as a country in being self sufficient. You know, even agriculture, when I was growing up, the farmers and stuff, you know, there was great pride in being an independent farmer.

Unknown Speaker (28:10): You know? Sure.

Christie Zitto (28:10): We fed America, all of that stuff. I was involved in FFA when I was in high school, and, I I did the public speaking. And that's what my public speech public speaking speech was about, which, you know, about the independence and sovereignty of the American farmer. But now, you know, our our dairies, for example, it it's a subsidized commodity. Sure.

Christie Zitto (28:36): So, you know, they get a government payment with every milk check. There were millions and millions and millions of dollars from COVID money that went into businesses and stuff. And so

Dylan Stalker (28:47): But can I can I interrupt you and clarify one thing? Yes. What businesses, Christy? Because I run a business. It seems like it's just big business.

Dylan Stalker (28:58): Right? Like

Christie Zitto (28:59): Well, it yeah. It kinda seems like that that it was big business that they got the money. But, you know, you still have the option to take it or not.

Unknown Speaker (29:07): Yeah.

Christie Zitto (29:08): You know, you could take it or you could not take it. And I remember at the time because I was serving in the house at the time Sure. When COVID happened. And, you know, when all of these loans or whatever they called them started to become available, you know, there were people that were warning, you know, this isn't everything that you think it's gonna be, you know, proceed with extreme caution here. And, you know, a lot of the small businesses didn't take it because, you know, they could see where maybe there could be a catch here.

Dylan Stalker (29:36): Oh, I you're talking about the COVID money. I did not take it either. I see what you're saying now. Sorry. Go ahead.

Unknown Speaker (29:41): That I understand. That's kinda where I was going. Yeah. Yeah. Did I misunderstand?

Unknown Speaker (29:44): No. No. I did. I did. I I misunderstood.

Dylan Stalker (29:47): That's all good.

Christie Zitto (29:48): Yeah. But but that's what is why would we shut down our country and then start giving people money to not work? And we saw that in agriculture in in the early nineties, I think it was, the crop reserve programs, ERP. So the government decided to pay these the dry farm areas that weren't as productive to not plant them. But that just made it harder on those of us who farmed on irrigated ground.

Christie Zitto (30:19): We call it in town, but, you know, ground, you know, that had, like, canal companies or canals and ditches and stuff like that. Because then the people who were getting the crop reserve payments could come in, and they have all this money to buy up land, you know, where we were trying to farm. And we were, you know, trying to make our living out of the dirt. So when the government gets involved in stuff like that and you start giving getting those government payments and it makes an unlevel playing field. You know, it's the government's way of choosing winners and losers, but nothing's ever free.

Christie Zitto (30:53): So what are the strings? What are the attachments? What hoops do you have to jump through and what commitments are you making that you normally wouldn't make? And money that comes into our state for our programs, you know, education programs. I had a lady call me.

Christie Zitto (31:11): It was I wasn't in the legislature. It was in that space in between, and it was about one of the schools. And she said that the school bathroom had to be open to boys and girls. I'm like, well, I didn't know about this, but, you know, I wasn't it was between when I wasn't serving, so I looked into it. Well, one of the programs that the school is getting federal money for, it was during the Biden administration.

Dylan Stalker (31:39): Sure.

Christie Zitto (31:39): They had to have the coed bathrooms. And so, you know, you have to be really careful because, again, nothing's nothing comes from these federal programs without some sort of strings, and they always have an expiration date. So we get used to having that program and get used to having that many men once gone away. People are left hanging.

Dylan Stalker (32:01): I appreciate this conversation very much because

Unknown Speaker (32:04): I feel like I'm monopolizing it. No. No. Sorry.

Dylan Stalker (32:06): Chrissy Chrissy, truthfully, I think that a lot of people just like me are wondering. I'm nervous for this state. I I love this state. This state has been an icon for independence for and a representative for many states, if not all. And, you know, I I understand what you're saying about essentially the it's like being federalized, right, through the use of money.

Dylan Stalker (32:35): It's it's it's being soothsayed. And being an independent state where it's like, no. This is us, and this is how it's gonna be. And I feel like I relate to what you're saying. But for a lot of the listeners who may listen to this, maybe they don't.

Dylan Stalker (32:50): That one thing that you're saying, it's like, hey. Here's fifth 50,000, 50,000,000, whatever a year. But, you know, when that money runs out, you are gonna have to replace it. So you talked about the Medicaid expansion, and it sounds like we got a good bit of that through COVID and all the different needs of that way. What do you foresee transpiring in the years ahead?

Christie Zitto (33:16): Well, it's it's going to be difficult because we keep seeing these programs come in. So in the big beautiful bill, in order to get Lisa Murkowski's vote, the deal that she cut was called the rural health transformation.

Unknown Speaker (33:33): Okay.

Christie Zitto (33:34): K? So that provides a billion dollars to every state over five years.

Dylan Stalker (33:43): Which we just participated in. Right?

Christie Zitto (33:45): Right. We we didn't have to take it. But the governor, he applied for it and was awarded the money, and now the legislature is going to appropriate it. I didn't vote for any of it because, again so when you look at what that money where it's really gonna go, it's supposed to help rural communities. Yeah.

Christie Zitto (34:07): According to the matrix, I don't believe that there's a county in the state of Idaho that doesn't qualify. So where is that money gonna go, and what is it gonna do?

Dylan Stalker (34:16): And which which counties do and which counties don't?

Unknown Speaker (34:19): Right.

Dylan Stalker (34:19): I mean, I'm in I'm in Boise County. And in Boise County, you know, we called the we called the EMS in November for my wife. I it was like life or death. It feels like life or death when it's a kidney stone. You don't know that.

Unknown Speaker (34:35): Right?

Unknown Speaker (34:35): Good.

Dylan Stalker (34:36): But it it was a two hour wait. Right? And and so I'm a very county focused individual where it's like my belief in government is real simple. It is sheriff roads, EMS clerk court. I mean, that's our government.

Dylan Stalker (34:53): And I've been doing a little bit of studying, and our our state budget is somewhere around 14.56, whatever it is. When you total up all the budgets of all the counties across all of Idaho, I think it's somewhere around a billion. Ada County, Canyon County, and Bonneville County take up half of all of that. So rural Idaho is is is a nothing in all of those aspects. So what are we real government or those basic services.

Dylan Stalker (35:26): I I just can't fathom where these billions of dollars are going outside of our most basic essential

Christie Zitto (35:33): service. Good questions. You know? And there there are fund balances everywhere in our state budget. There are rainy day funds everywhere.

Christie Zitto (35:42): I I can't even remember the number of of rainy day funds that, like, colleges and universities have. And and there's another really good example. I don't have anything against higher education. I think it's Of course. Yes.

Christie Zitto (35:55): What you wanna do, then that's what you should do. Do I think that the person who has a college degree should be held in higher esteem than the person who is a journeyman electrician or a welder or even the person who digs the ditch to get the water to the field to feed us all? No. I don't. I do not think that it makes you any better a person because you've gone to college.

Christie Zitto (36:19): But my thing is is we do not have a constitutional obligation to fund higher education.

Dylan Stalker (36:26): Absolutely.

Christie Zitto (36:27): We just don't. It's the the college of agriculture. That's the only one that we're constitutionally mandated to fund. So we put millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars in higher education. So I'm on the education committee, and I think the most shocking thing I experienced in the whole legislative session was in the education committee this year.

Christie Zitto (36:50): So senator Okonowitz from North Idaho had a bill to make it so that foreign nationals wouldn't be able to come here and go to school on scholarships. You know, I didn't really think too much about it until we got in committee. Right? I mean, you know, you think, okay. Maybe five or six, ten, whatever.

Christie Zitto (37:13): But I think and I wish I could remember for sure, so don't hold me to this. But I think there were over 500 foreign nationals coming into the state of Idaho and going to colleges and universities on scholarship.

Dylan Stalker (37:28): State state college. Right?

Unknown Speaker (37:30): Yeah. For Aflac.

Unknown Speaker (37:31): That's tax tax money.

Unknown Speaker (37:32): Tax money.

Unknown Speaker (37:32): Tax money. Gracious. Gracious.

Christie Zitto (37:34): So and I'm sitting here listening to this, and I'm like, okay. So you're bringing in these foreign students to play sports. And I I was at Lewis and State College. Their whole entire tennis team are foreign nationals. And I'm asking the coach, why?

Christie Zitto (37:54): You know, are there not enough Idaho kids that play tennis that we can't have Idaho kids? You know, our our our school money, our tax dollars going into supporting Idaho kids to play sports.

Dylan Stalker (38:08): Or have some young young program that gets them playing tennis young.

Unknown Speaker (38:12): Right? Yeah. From there. Whatever. And he said, no.

Christie Zitto (38:15): They're they're not that good. They're they're not gonna win, so we have to bring these foreign nationals and pay their way to get here so that we can win. And I'm like, how is that helping Idaho?

Unknown Speaker (38:26): Sure.

Christie Zitto (38:27): You know, well, this one stayed in the football coach from Boise State University. He says he gave a couple of examples of, you know, people who came here on these scholarships and ended up staying here and playing football for I forget what team. And but but the point is is how insulting was that to the students of the state of Idaho and the young athletes of the state of Idaho that, you know, you're not good enough, so we're gonna bring people in from other countries to play these sports, and we're gonna support it. You know? And to me, that was quite shocking.

Christie Zitto (39:01): I I just I think that was the most shocking thing that I that I experienced in the legislature this year. Next to senator Zaider Veldt and her husband's situation with, you know, losing a big chunk of their income because the Idaho Dairy Association put pressure on. People. People. But, you know, that's a different story.

Christie Zitto (39:23): That's her story to tell. But Sure. Those two things this year, I'm just like, I I couldn't believe that that a coach at an Idaho school could stand there and testify in a committee hearing that Idaho kids aren't good enough. So we need to bring foreign nationals in and pay their way just so we could win.

Dylan Stalker (39:45): I mean, at least Americans. Let's go. At least Americans.

Unknown Speaker (39:48): Yeah.

Dylan Stalker (39:49): Right? You can be from Alabama, play tennis from Alabama, but from another country.

Unknown Speaker (39:53): Somewhere. You know? And I'm just I I just could not believe.

Dylan Stalker (39:58): Yeah. So let's talk about real quick to give some people some context, the gang of eight. Who are these folks? What is it about? You hear it in the news.

Dylan Stalker (40:11): And I think that we'll hear more about it because it is a it's bringing out some conversations more of what we're talking about today.

Christie Zitto (40:20): Well, it's really simple. The gang of eight, there obviously, there are eight of us.

Unknown Speaker (40:25): Yeah.

Christie Zitto (40:25): I I served before. Senator Zydervell, senator Cole, senator or representative Leavitt, representative Hostetler, Marman, Thompson am I forgetting? And me.

Unknown Speaker (40:42): And you. Right? Yeah.

Christie Zitto (40:44): The eight of us. So it I guess it kind of started senator Zydervale was a member of the state freedom caucus. Got him. The Idaho Freedom Caucus. And it started out because I was there when the state freedom caucus network was launched.

Christie Zitto (41:02): So how it all started is we have to go back to the House Freedom Caucus. And Raul Labrador was a founding member of the congressional House Freedom Caucus. And they could they got it got so that they could see that real change in the way we were going to save our country had to happen on a state level. The federal government, it's it's big. It's it just we can see girls by massive numbers.

Christie Zitto (41:31): They weren't going to be able to affect the change that they felt like that they needed to make on a federal level, so they started the state's Freedom Caucus Network. And I was in Georgia on the steps of the the in the cattle rotunda when the state's Freedom Caucus Network was lash launched, and Georgia was the first state. So then not too long after that, Idaho became a member of the State Supreme Caucus Network. So I was a founding member of that. And then I, you know, left office, and it just continued.

Christie Zitto (42:07): Well, there was that's that's part of where the rip came is because the states the State Freedom Caucus Network, the Idaho Freedom Caucus made a shift. And so when I came into office and senator Zydervale got reelected and the rest of that left six were elected, we kinda got together and we were looking at this. And we decided that we wanted to go back to representing and following the guidelines that the State Freedom Caucus Network adhered to. And so we there were there were some some issues, and I don't wanna go into a lot of detail about it. But, like, it's a it's a branded thing.

Christie Zitto (42:58): So, you know, the torch, state freedom caucus, all of that, Idaho freedom caucus, Texas freedom caucus, whatever state it was, and and that torch and stuff, it was kind of a logo thing. So there were some issues over logos and stuff like this. But is it all sorted out? The gang of eight were accepted as a state freedom caucus network Okay. Caucus.

Dylan Stalker (43:22): So there's a foundation.

Christie Zitto (43:24): So there's a foundation. Yeah. So they are the official we are the official officially recognized caucus of the State Freedom Caucus Network. So what we did is, you know, we sat down and we looked at it. We looked at the bylaws of the network.

Christie Zitto (43:38): We created our own bylaws. And even before we were accepted as a caucus, we decided that we were going to vote together and that we were going to stick together and that, you know, we were gonna be tough on on the budget process and and that we would make sure that our all of our votes were votes for freedom and that we would, that that we would adhere to those constitutional values. And that as a group, we would hold each other accountable, and we would answer to our constituents and the people who elected us and got us there. And not only them, but all of the people of the state of Idaho. Because, yes, you represent your district.

Christie Zitto (44:18): Yes. You your people get you there and vote for you. But your votes make a difference in the big picture too. And so and so that's what the that's what the gang of eight is. And so because we couldn't use at the time, we couldn't use the Idaho Freedom Caucus name

Unknown Speaker (44:36): Right.

Christie Zitto (44:37): Because there was conflict over that.

Dylan Stalker (44:40): Sure.

Christie Zitto (44:41): And there was, like, a cease and desist letter sent out, but we had to get going. We didn't have time to wait for all of that. So we were just I think we were in my living room. We'd all gotten together, you know, to, like, solidify this and and come up with our bylaws and decide how we were going to govern ourselves and stuff. And I'm not exactly a 100% sure where the name the gang of eight came from, but it popped up and it kinda seemed to stick.

Dylan Stalker (45:07): I mean, I the first second I heard it, it made me as a voting idol and like, well, what what is this?

Unknown Speaker (45:13): It was catchy. Right.

Unknown Speaker (45:14): Perks. Right. Sure.

Christie Zitto (45:16): And and and we didn't do it necessarily to get attention because none of us are what you would really call attention seekers. We're just there to do a job. And the accountability of our caucus ensures that we stay there committed to doing a job. Sure. You know?

Christie Zitto (45:33): And the director, she's a paid director by the network, Maria Nate. She is phenomenal. She she researches, you know, helps us do research. And so we're supported. We have that that support and that guiding light from the State Freedom Caucus Network as well.

Christie Zitto (45:56): But I think that's the beauty of it is is we hold each other accountable. Do know what I mean?

Unknown Speaker (46:04): I do.

Christie Zitto (46:05): We we we look at pieces of legislation. We have a couple of legislators in our group that will read every bill. Kent Mormon reads every bill. Lucas Kaler reads every bill. The I try to read every bill.

Christie Zitto (46:19): I know that the rest of us read every bill that we vote on, like, on the floor and in our committees and stuff like that. And then we talk about it and we discuss it. You know? Who does that help? Who does that hurt?

Christie Zitto (46:28): We have what we call a legislative north star, a list of of criteria that we use. And then, of course, we we will after we after we vet the legislation ourselves and we talk about it amongst ourselves, we will look to see where it fits with the, Idaho Freedom Foundation. You know? And people like to bash the Freedom Foundation. You hear a lot of people talk about the Freedom Foundation and, well, they're this and they're that, and they're out of out of step and out of line and stuff like that.

Christie Zitto (46:59): But it's amazing to me, the people who listen to the Idaho Freedom Foundation. It's amazing to me the people who take their legislation to the Freedom Foundation and have them look at it. It's amazing to me the times on floor debate, especially when it comes about the budgets, that there's one senator in particular, he will say, well, there's this one organization who has rated this this this bill a negative one or this or that. And I'm like, well, if they're so bad and nobody cares about what they say, there sure is a lot of traffic over there about people making sure that, you know, their bills fit the matrix. Because it it's just about freedom and about limiting the size of government.

Christie Zitto (47:41): And isn't that what it's all about?

Unknown Speaker (47:43): It is.

Christie Zitto (47:44): I mean, limiting the size of government so that you can spend your money so that you can run your business without so many restrictions that you can't run your business. So that you can start a business without so many restrictions and government interference that you could so that you can live your life without waking up in the morning and wondering what is gonna come from the government today.

Dylan Stalker (48:06): Christy, I think so just a couple of comments on that having been very new to all of this. I I'm very new to all of it. I've sought to meet a lot of people in the past year. And I will say throughout all of it, you know, I've heard Ron Nate talk quite a bit. I've heard Ron Nate talk about the concepts of economics and the seven the seven factors of economics and what, you know, the things that you must go through.

Dylan Stalker (48:35): And it sounds very foundational. It sounds that there is some actual application to the thought of what that is. And I've reached out to members of the GOP like, hey, Spike. Can I get involved? And I've reached out to lots of different people.

Dylan Stalker (48:51): And I have to say the most welcoming of all, was the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You know? Of course, my business is Old Arms of Idaho. Right? I'm in the firearm business.

Dylan Stalker (49:02): And getting to know Greg Pruitt, the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, your association of that, the Idaho Freedom Foundation. I'm just looking around and I'm like, okay. Well, maybe this isn't everybody's home for where they get their information, but it sure is mine because what you talk about, I think, comes from a true basis. When I heard about the gang of eight, I'm like, is this just some brand name thing? What you just explained, I appreciate.

Dylan Stalker (49:28): It sounds like there's a foundation here. There is a concept. There are guiding principles, and there's a history. It's not just a everything's in sound bites today. You know?

Dylan Stalker (49:39): And it's like, oh, I'm in the gang of eight. Well, what does it mean? I hope you all look into it. I'm I'm learning more as we all sit here. I'd love to give an opportunity for you to talk about your district.

Dylan Stalker (49:53): You have an election coming up, and you're in District 8. In District 8, what decisions in this last session or future session, what do you think could possibly impact the the the members or the livers of District 8 the most?

Christie Zitto (50:12): Well, I think I think the budget is huge, and I I I know I sound like I'm like, you know, I I keep pounding that drum, but Legislative District 8 is the largest legislative district in the state as far as square miles. It takes me five and a half hours to get from one side of the legislative district to the other.

Unknown Speaker (50:33): Sure.

Christie Zitto (50:34): I'm going to do that tomorrow. Yeah. Well, not clear from because I'm gonna start with McCall in the morning. But from and if you go farther to clear down on the, you know, the Twin Falls where we border Twin Falls and go up, it probably would take you even longer. Sure.

Christie Zitto (50:51): But it is It's the heart of Idaho. It's right in the center. And we're probably the most diverse too because we have the air base in Mountain Home. We have mining. We have forestry.

Christie Zitto (51:02): We have rivers. We have the tourist industry. We have anything farming, ranching. Sure. Anything that's in Idaho is found in Legislative District 8.

Christie Zitto (51:16): So I don't think that there was a piece of legislation pass it in one way or another doesn't affect our legislative district. Because we are so few people, like you said about Boise County and stuff like that, it's we we don't have our emergency services. You know? It's hard on them. It's it's hard on our counties to function.

Christie Zitto (51:40): It's hard on our county road districts. It's hard on our sheriffs. It it's just hard on every facet of these less populated counties because, obviously, we don't have the property tax base and stuff. I was really upset. There was legislation that that passed that took part of the funds that counties get from the liquor tax

Unknown Speaker (52:06): Okay.

Christie Zitto (52:07): To increase the pay for state police. And the state police also got every vehicle that will be registered now. There's going to be an additional $5 fee that will go to the state police. And, again, I don't have anything against the state police or any of them. But, like, that 15%, that's just gonna be an additional burden on our counties.

Christie Zitto (52:34): You know? And I get that the counties, you know, are a subdivision of the state and all of this and that, but they are there, and they need funding because they provide these essential emergency services. And I think for the counties and legislative district date, that's what I'm most concerned about right now. You know, I spoke with a gal last night about emergency services in Elmore County, and they're scrambling, you know, to figure out how, you know, how they're gonna do it and where they're gonna get the money. And you mentioned Boise County.

Christie Zitto (53:00): And and, you know, I I look at what these smaller local counties are going through. And like you said about all of the money that will go, like, into Ada County and Canyon County and stuff like that, I've I'm not sure I'm not sure how we make this equitable. I'm not sure I'm I'm not sure how we are going to do this, but I'm not comfortable, like, with taking the money away from our counties like we saw.

Dylan Stalker (53:38): I mean, there's no money to take.

Christie Zitto (53:39): Yeah. There's there's no money to take. So so they're they're going to take that. And even if whatever purse the 15% or whatever it was from the liquor tax, our counties need that money.

Unknown Speaker (53:53): Sure.

Christie Zitto (53:54): You know? And so I I don't like it when stuff like that starts to happen. So I think that's, you know, that's going to be impactful. I wasn't really ready for this question.

Unknown Speaker (54:05): And so That's okay.

Christie Zitto (54:06): No. No. So so I'm just trying to think here, you know, think on my feet about about how this would happen.

Dylan Stalker (54:12): But Like, I have a comment, Christy. Oh. It's about partnership. Right? It's about partnership.

Dylan Stalker (54:19): Let's talk about tourism. Okay? We are in the gem of the West. Tourism, people travel from Germany just to go to Redfish Lake. People travel from all over the world to see the sawtooth, see the wonders of this beautiful place.

Dylan Stalker (54:35): Tourism does not pay for itself in the county. But if we have a situation where the counties are more apt to welcome tourism and fund the safety and security for the problem that it creates, it seems like the state could partner with, like, a good sales organization. You reward your salespeople that do a good job with the commission and the reward for doing a good job rather than just giving them a base hourly rate and stealing all the profits from it is what it seems like. Right? You know?

Dylan Stalker (55:08): Airbnb is one of those that that the counties, I believe, in private property. Right? So if we're gonna if we're gonna grow in the Airbnb space because we don't we've given the people that choice, it seems like some of that sales tax money a percentage on could just go back to that county to pay for the fact that the sheriff's getting called more, that the EMS is getting called more, and all this stuff. So I have a lot of thoughts about that. But, you know, I I hope that in the future that the state and the counties can recognize that that that partnership is ultimately boiling down to our our most what government is to me, but the most basic service.

Dylan Stalker (55:47): So I appreciate that conversation very much, Chrissy.

Christie Zitto (55:51): Well, and and I agree with you. I really do. But see, it is hard for us. It's and when I say us, I mean, all of us. Sure.

Christie Zitto (56:02): On a state level and a county level to look at this when we have these millions and millions and billions of dollars going into all of these other social programs and Medicaid expansion and stuff like that. So, you know, when we talk about kindness and compassion and taking care of one another, those basic county services are how we should that that's where it's at. Sure. But just like your wife. When I I live in Elmore County.

Christie Zitto (56:28): I've lived in Hammett until two years ago. And I knew that if I needed a sheriff's deputy, because, you know, county, so that's all we had. And I'm not dissing the sheriff's office at all. This is this is the price you pay for living in rural rural Idaho. It could be a forty five minute response time.

Christie Zitto (56:47): That's part of why the second amendment's

Unknown Speaker (56:48): so hard with

Christie Zitto (56:49): me because even the supreme court has ruled that law enforcement has no duty to protect you. That's your job. You know? Your safety is up to you. But we need to we need to support these, and and we're seeing our sheriffs being put in a position where a lot of times they'll enter into agreements with, like, fish and game with federal agents to help kinda cover the area.

Christie Zitto (57:16): And we should be funding those local entities. They they should have the funding that they need. And I think this is discussion that we need to have. I think that, you know, you and I and other county commissioners, whoever want to, we should sit down and and we should look at the whole entire big picture and the funding of all of this, and we should we should see what we can do to make it better. Will it be an uphill battle?

Christie Zitto (57:41): I'm pretty confident it will be. You know? Because

Unknown Speaker (57:47): I I think

Christie Zitto (57:48): wasn't going to be, we wouldn't be where we are with it now.

Dylan Stalker (57:51): I think there's a conceptual trouble there that I was corrected by a a a very wise person in our attorney's general's office because I'm like, local control. You know? I should we we as a county should be able to make these decisions and do these things the the way you imagine the fourteenth amendment and state. And then ultimately, they came he came down, and he was like, well, you gotta understand. Right?

Dylan Stalker (58:16): The The United States is made up of the state. Right. And and the state is who we are having a representative government to decide how we engage in all of this stuff. So if you're gonna be part of the county the association of county commissioners, you know, they're they're kind of drawing a line saying it's us and them. And, ultimately, it's created, I think, a little bit of a divide in there.

Dylan Stalker (58:42): And it's like, look. The state government is being these are the representatives. This is our legislation. This is how it's working. But hopefully, we can open up some lines of communication and get to something sensible and rewarding on a business machine that works.

Unknown Speaker (58:57): Well, it shouldn't be an up against them.

Dylan Stalker (58:59): Right? You know? Yeah.

Christie Zitto (59:00): Yeah. It it shouldn't be the states against the counties or anything like that. You know? And I understand, you know, that The United States exists because the states it's compact between all of the states. And I understand that the cities and the counties exist because the state does.

Christie Zitto (59:16): You know, I I get that. I understand that. But at the same time, we're all citizens of all of it. Absolutely. Basic needs, that social contract for, like you said, roads.

Christie Zitto (59:27): I mean, that's that's the job of government to provide services like the EMS and stuff like that. That that is one of the basic, I'd hate to say duties, but one of the basic things that government should do, you know, to provide that law enforcement. Okay. Fine. And that's what we really have to look at is what is really the proper role of government.

Christie Zitto (59:51): And Ezra Benson was secretary of agriculture for eight years. And I think he's the only person in the history of The United States who has served that long in a cabinet position ever. And he wrote a little book. It's just a simple little book called the proper role of government. And somewhere at my house, I can't find him since I moved.

Christie Zitto (1:00:09): I have, like, 200 copies of it that I like to give out. But the thing that impressed me the most about the the most impressive line in that whole entire book for me was when he said, if you if your neighbor came into your yard and did something to you, like, took money out of your pocket, told you you couldn't plant this in your yard, whatever it was, and you felt like your neighbor didn't have a right to do that, the government shouldn't have a right to do it. It's just that.

Dylan Stalker (1:00:41): Super simple concepts. Right? If you can take one statement and boil it up to the whole complexity of it all. I love this conversation. You are very candid and very, you know, just very genuine.

Dylan Stalker (1:00:53): I appreciate that. I'd like to give the listeners an opportunities for you to have any final thoughts, any final comments, anything that comes to your mind. What what's going on with with Christy Zeto on the mind today?

Unknown Speaker (1:01:08): Well, I just I I guess I I know I feel like I'm stuttering because I have

Dylan Stalker (1:01:19): It's okay. This is an unedited, unscripted conversation. It's not like I gave you questions. You know? Right.

Dylan Stalker (1:01:26): And I appreciate that.

Christie Zitto (1:01:27): Well, and I appreciate it too. I I like the candid discussion. Christie said I was doing really good. I've I'm so blessed when I think about yeah. I'm a second generation American.

Christie Zitto (1:01:42): Grandma, who didn't speak English, farm and ranch people on both sides.

Unknown Speaker (1:01:45): Sure.

Christie Zitto (1:01:46): And where else in the world other than The United States Of America can a mom and a grandma ever expect to be a sitting senator? And what an honor it is to be able to be the voice for 55,000 people in the state of Idaho. You know, it just it's it's like not that not that being a senator is, you know, the most important thing in the world that you can do because being a mom and being a grandma are it's the best thing I've ever done. Sure. The the highest honor I think I could ever achieve.

Christie Zitto (1:02:24): But in a lot of ways, sometimes I feel like I'm a mom and I'm a grandma to all the people in my legislative district because I feel that kind of stewardship for the people of the state. And I'm just I think what I would like to say today is I am so grateful for the faith and the trust that the people have put in me for the the two terms I served in the house and the two terms now I've served in the senate. I am I'm humbled, and I'm grateful, and I'm just in awe of the fact that that they trust me with their futures, with the future of their grandkids and their great grandkids. And, you know, we we see all the things that are wrong in the world, and we've talked a lot today about, you know, all of the things that are wrong, but there are so many things that are good.

Unknown Speaker (1:03:11): Yeah. And we do need

Unknown Speaker (1:03:12): to remember that. Focus on that good, and we need to enhance that good. And and we need to remember the difference between a handout and a hand up. Sure. You know?

Christie Zitto (1:03:21): And and fellowship each other and help each other and and be there for each other. And I I'm just grateful. I'm just grateful for all of it. I've met people that I would never have gotten to meet. I've had experiences that I would never get to have.

Christie Zitto (1:03:36): And where else in the whole entire world but The United States Of America? And just god bless this country and god bless this state, and I'm just so grateful.

Dylan Stalker (1:03:48): God bless Idaho, everybody. Christy, it is my greatest thanks that you would come on my show. I'm a junior at best at this, and so it is it is much appreciated that you would come on the great Idaho show, the greatidahoshow.com. Of course, we're gonna have a sponsor. Ladies and gentlemen, it's my business.

Dylan Stalker (1:04:08): I'm a little biased. Old Arms of Idaho, they are your ambassadors to America's heritage. There's a twenty four hour gun show. Anything you would find at a gun show, you can find it at oldarmsofidaho.com. They are your firearms, western, and military specialist.

Dylan Stalker (1:04:26): Anything under the sun, you can check it out. And we will get back to you in another episode here very soon. Thank you, Idaho. Have a wonderful day.