Pocatello Democrat holding town halls to discuss issues with community

POCATELLO – The only Democrat elected to the state legislature in eastern Idaho has scheduled a series of meetings to hear directly from his constituents.

Senator James Ruchti is holding three town halls within the next two months, where people can share their hopes and worries for the upcoming legislative session, regardless of their party affiliation. The first of these events will take place on Saturday. There will be another this morning and one more in March.

“Especially in a year where we have potential budget cuts, I just think it’s really important that legislators are out in our communities, finding out how those potential budget cuts might affect their constituents,” Ruchti said.

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Here is the schedule for the upcoming events from Ruchti’s press release:

Town Hall #1: Medicaid Listening Tour

• Date: Saturday, Feb. 7
• Time: 4 – 6 p.m.
• Location: Pocatello City Hall

Town Hall #2: A Nonpartisan Community Conversation

• Date: Saturday, Feb. 28
• Time: 3 – 5 p.m.
• Location: Pocatello City Hall

Town Hall #3: A Nonpartisan Community Conversation

• Date: Saturday, March 21
• Time: 3 – 5 p.m.
• Location: Pocatello City Hall

According to the release, the events will “cover a broad range of topics including education, the state budget, and current legislation. All of our events are open to everyone regardless of party affiliation and are intended to foster respectful, bipartisan discussion.”

Ruchti expects that potential budget cuts, which would aim to address Idaho’s projected $40.3 million deficit, to be the main topic of conversation at these town halls.

The calls from constituents coming into Ruchti’s office have been particularly about potential cuts to Medicaid.

“Losing your Medicaid, losing your health insurance, is a huge deal. And Medicaid is more than just health insurance. It does so much,” Ruchti said.

The way Ruchti sees it, making cuts to Medicaid doesn’t have to be the first solution. Ruchti points out there is money set aside in rainy day funds that could go towards relieving the budget deficit.

While there are other strategies that Ruchti thinks could be utilized to address the deficit, and plans to talk about them at the open houses, his primary goal is to get a better understanding of how budget cuts would affect his constituents.

“All of these things have a cost to them, to real people and real families and businesses,” Ruchti said.