Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) has represented the First Congressional District since 2019, and he's seeking another two-year term in Washington, D.C.
Fulcher is facing several challengers, including Democrat Kaylee Peterson, who's running against him for the third time.
There's plenty to talk about this election year, from the economy and the cost of health care to immigration, public lands and the direction of the country.
Fulcher joined Idaho Matters to talk about his record, his priorities and why he wants another term.
We reached out to all candidates running for office. To see the full interviews for those who responded, click here.
Read a transcript of the entire conversation below:
Gemma Gaudette: From the studios of Boise State Public Radio News. I'm Gemma Gaudette, you're listening to Idaho Matters. Idaho voters will head to the polls November 3rd. And among the races on the ballot is Idaho's first congressional district. Republican Congressman Russ. Fulcher has represented that district since 2019, and he's seeking another two year term in Washington. Now Fulcher is facing several challengers who are running against him, and there is plenty to talk about this election year from the economy and the cost of health care to immigration, public lands and the direction of our country. Congressman Fulcher is joining us now to talk about his record, his priorities and why he wants another term. Congressman, we really appreciate you making time for us today.
Russ Fulcher: My pleasure. Thank you.
Gemma Gaudette: So, Congressman, my first question for you, as I mentioned, is you've been in the you've been in Congress since 2019. When you look back at your time in Washington, what do you consider at this point to be your biggest accomplishment for Idaho?
Russ Fulcher: Probably the no tax or no federal income tax on on overtime pay. That was a that was my legislation. It took 3 or 4 years to get it across the finish line and quite frankly, some help from the president. But the impact of that nationwide has been huge. And that is tens of billions of dollars in people's pockets already. And that's on an ongoing basis. So they know no federal income tax on overtime pay has got to probably be the most impactful. However, also very, very pleased with our work on geothermal energy and getting the federal leases expanded for geothermal energy. That's a great source of baseload power that we desperately are going to need in Idaho is a is a pioneer in geothermal. So this gives us a real opportunity to lead the world again. And so I'm ecstatic about that. Also, the some of the lands work that we've done, the Good Neighbor Authority expansion Where? Where the counties and tribes are able to participate, with the revenue coming from federal and state based projects, whether it be timber or grazing or whatever. Uh, allowing counties and tribes to be able to participate with the revenues has been a big deal. So we feel like we've had some real good success. And frankly, that's one of the reasons why we're staying in place.
Gemma Gaudette: Is there something that you are hoping to still accomplish that you've been working on that you just can't, you know, get to that finish line?
Russ Fulcher: Oh my Gemma uh, you know, yes, a lot of things. Uh, this thing called, uh, Congress is, is not for the faint of heart. And, and there's a lot of debate. There's a lot of issues that are on the table. But I'll just start with some of the data privacy stuff. We we are in the middle of a lot of the data privacy efforts and, uh, trying to help navigate some of the new technology that quite frankly, is, is, uh, is uncharted territory. Start off with credit cards and having your ID and your financial interests being accessed illegally. That was prevalent for a long time. And, and then it was cell phones. And it still is where people are surveilling your, your phones and pulling personal data off that. And now your car information pulling from your automobile about your personal driving habits, your location all the time. And now flock cameras. And so, uh, as we reach out to our constituency, which is quite large, uh, that's, that's like one of the top 2 or 3 issues all the time. And it's getting more and more prevalent that is in my committee. And, uh, it is kind of uncharted territory. So we're working on that, trying to, to, uh, to, to get some attention to that. Affordability issues are big right now. Uh, we've got the price of fuel, the price of groceries. Uh, that's, it's an ongoing battle. However, there are several specific efforts we're were attempting to, to, to work on to, to make things more affordable. Idaho in particular has got higher costs of housing because of our the population growth. I have the largest congressional district in the nation by population. That's because people want to be in Idaho. But that also raises home prices. So we're trying to work on those things. We have a lot to do.
Gemma Gaudette: So let's talk a little bit more about that if we could, because as you know, I mean, cost of living for Idahoans, it continues to be a big, huge concern, as you just stated. And you did support the president's big tax and spending bill last year. What would you say to Idahoans who, you know, who maybe aren't necessarily feeling better off financially? And what can Congress do to make everyday life more affordable?
Russ Fulcher: Well, first of all, on the housing front specifically, we just recently we, as in Congress, just recently passed the 21st century, uh, Road to Housing Act. And I think that's going to help. It's, it opens up a number of new pathways to potential buyers of homes to make homes more accessible. For example, the ability to get a loan on a manufactured home, not just a traditional stick based home. The ability to access loans from rural areas, not just the urban markets, which technically are often is is accessed. It drops some of the regulations on the construction and the permitting processes to try to lower some of those costs. I think those items in particular are going to be helpful for Idahoans. And I'll just cut to the probably the elephant in the room on, on some of the fuel prices. I think we need to, to, uh, wrap up our efforts in Iran and specifically, uh, open up and make sure that that Hormuz Strait is, is open and running again. It's, uh, it is not constraints on US or Idaho supply, for example, but as a worldwide market, it definitely impacts our overall fuel prices. And when fuel prices are impacted, that means your grocery prices are impacted because of the. Transport is usually by trucks. So when diesel and gas are high, that means your other things are high. And so I'm, I'm actually in, in that camp that thinks that I think that we have done a good job in making sure that Iran does not have access to a nuclear weapon. And now I think it's time to migrate to the next step and try to put some stability back into that region of the world.
Gemma Gaudette: Well, and as you know, you know, as you said, right. This has impacted gas prices. It's impacted grocery prices. And then when we go back to that same legislation from last year, it made significant changes to Medicaid, including new work requirements and then changes to federal funding. Now, supporters say that those changes will help control spending. And then you have critics who are worrying that people could lose coverage. And then let's talk about those rural hospitals, right? That they could be hurt. You know, we are a rural state. How do you respond to those concerns? I mean, particularly to your rural constituents, where access to health care. I mean, it's already a challenge.
Russ Fulcher: Okay. So there's one of the two most complex issues in Congress. And so there's not a short answer, but I'll do my best. So, um, first of all, we learned some of us saw this coming when Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act got put in place back in 2010, I think it was. And, uh, and our fears have kind of come true with that. When you put government in charge of your health care, when you involve so much government, you're going to drive up costs, you're going to limit access to care and, uh, and overall make an allocation necessary in order for people to get care. And that's exactly what's happened with Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act. Since that was put in place, we've seen somewhere between 80 and 100% increase in our health care costs. So we've got to insert market forces back into the health care system. It's not going to be at the at the cost of eliminating the Affordable Care Act. It's too ingrained, ingrained now. I think it's too difficult to remove. However, I am a sponsor of a bill. It's called H.R. 1776. What that bill would do would create kind of an alternative where a constituent, where an American citizen could opt in to a program where they got their benefit directly from the government, their federal tax dollars back directly through the government, and they can choose their own health care with it, as opposed to go through some mandatory other program, such as the Affordable Care Act.
Russ Fulcher: It's not going to be the all end all, but I think it's a good start to the market forces back into the system. Here's the other thing. Gemma with the size and scope of Medicare and Medicaid, it has been very difficult to keep a control on all the fraud. And we're seeing more and more of that coming to light. And I think that we've got to drive that at the federal level, the state level, the local level. And it's happening. We're pushing the buttons. We're we're starting to find things. And the more that we look, the more that we find. And that's another one of the problems with government running health care. Believe me, you don't want me or the collective me as in Congress, uh, choosing your healthcare channels. And right now with the Obamacare plan, that's basically what we do because Congress has to set those reimbursement rates. And I'm not a health care professional that needs to be left in the hands of those that are. And so let's empower the patients and the citizens to do that directly.
Gemma Gaudette: So I want to switch now to immigration. Um, you have supported stronger border enforcement and deporting people who are in the country illegally and committing crimes. With that said, Idaho also has industries, I mean, particularly agriculture, right, that rely on that immigration, labor. How do you balance tougher enforcement with the workforce needs of Idaho businesses? And I'm sure you've heard from constituents who are feeling this.
Russ Fulcher: Yeah. Great question. And, uh, big issue, big issue for Idaho. Here's the deal, uh, about, I think it was five years ago, uh, I supported the workforce, immigration, uh, legislation that was put on the table. Basically. It would have, um, restructured how some of the visas are issued, the number of those visas and so on for in particular, ag and seasonal workers, but also had some other provisions. Since that era, we had about a four, four year window where our border was open. And there's somewhere we don't know for sure, but it's between 10 and 20 million people that came into the country that we have no idea who they are and what their what their background is. And, and frankly, that's it's been a significant added cost and risk. That's why all the homeland security issues and all that. But nevertheless, it's it is what it is. So you have to deal with that. I think in in our case, we do. And I'm open to this. We do need to take another look at. Okay, what is the H1A situation? What is the number of visas that are allowed and what are the time periods for them? And I'm very open to having those discussions and possibly making some changes on that front. I do want to point out though, Gemma, that, hey, look, I'm there is a temptation for employers to try to exploit lower cost labor.
Russ Fulcher: And we also have to ride that, uh, that fine line and say, okay, there needs to be some accountability on the employer side to here where you just where you may have access to US labor, but you're choosing to take the low cost, uh, legal labor, if you will. And so it's, it's one of those things where you're going to see more legislation coming through. It's not going to be exactly like the Workforce Innovation Act again, but it will deal with adjusting the number of worker visas. And here's probably the bottom line on this issue. We've got to do it legally. We have to keep track of the people that are coming in. We've got to keep the border secure. We have to know who they are. We know the background, and quite honestly, they need to pay their share into our economy in order to get some of the benefits that they get in return. And so a huge issue. It's not going to be handled by one single solution. And we're in the middle of it. But look for some changes in the visa policy and also some accountability for our employers in the next round of legislation that we come up with.
Gemma Gaudette: Do you believe that this current administration's immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far in any instances?
Russ Fulcher: Oh, well, look, when you have some 10 to 20 million people that have come in unabated, and in some cases, we know where literally prisons in other countries have been dumped into the U.S., the population of those prisons, you're going to have issues. I mean, and so it's they have been homeland security has been put in one heck of a place. But we have tasked them with identifying that problem, finding the worst of the worst, and getting them out of here. And frankly, I do support that. Is it going to be pretty? No. Uh, but look at the situation they're in. And look what got them there. It was a four year policy of an open border that okay, now we got to deal with it. And we are.
Gemma Gaudette: For an Idaho voter, Congressman, who may agree with you on on some of these issues, but maybe they're at a point where they are really frustrated with Washington and just, you know, politics in general. Why? Why should they send you back for another two years?
Russ Fulcher: You know, we've had some good success. We've talked about some of those successes and we're in a good spot. Uh, Idaho has been blessed not just with my committee assignments, but with the committee assignments and the roles that the rest of the delegation is is in. I serve on the Energy and Energy and Commerce Committee, which is arguably the most desired committee, the biggest jurisdiction for sure. And I am in a senior role on that committee. That's a big deal. Natural resources. Same thing. I'm on that committee as well. So the placements are really good. We're in a spot now where we've got a track record with our constituent services, where those who work in offices in Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston and Washington, of course, Washington, D.C., of course, and Meridian, and where we've been able to identify $26 million plus and return those dollars to Idahoans who had struggles with IRS and veterans access issues and all that kind of thing. So we've got a good performance record. And, and I think that we've had some good legislative wins and maybe stopped a few bad things along the way. And, and so it takes a little while to get that experience. It takes a little while to get that placement, but we're in a strategic place for Idaho like no one else can be right now.
Gemma Gaudette: Well, Congressman, I want to really thank you for taking time to talk with us today. I know you've got a busy schedule, so we appreciate your time. So thanks so much. Thank you. We've been talking with Congressman Russ Fulcher. He is running for another two year term in district one.
