Tammy Nichols — During the committee exchange, the speaker repeatedly addresses the chair as 'Mr. Chairman' while the question-and-answer continues, then later refers to 'my chairman' in the context of regularly consulting the chair to get a good market update or report. The mentions are part of one continuous discussion about addressing the chair and obtaining market information.
Julie VanOrden — The transcript appears to say 'Representative Leavitt'; likely a misidentification, but no confident match beyond the expected member list.
Nolani Vantile / Nailani Vantail (uncertain) — Witness introduces herself as being from Parma, Idaho and begins testimony.
Melanie Ventile — Introduced herself as a 15-year-old freshman at Parma High School and testified in strong support of the Working Animal Protection Act / Leilani's Law.
Lailani Gibbons — The speaker refers to their grandmother, Lailani Gibbons, as an important influence in developing the act and describes her as a strong supporter of animal ownership and the right of working animals to do the jobs they were bred and trained to do.
Tammy Nichols — Said to have pursued the issue in the Senate in prior years.
Tammy Nichols — Mentioned as having been involved when the bill was tried previously.
Todd Lakey — The speaker thanked Senator Shippey for bringing the bill forward and acknowledged Shippey’s role in moving the bill through the committee and into the House.
Todd Lakey — A brief, unclear exchange in which the speaker addresses Mr. Chairman and appears to say 'Rosent,' likely referring to Todd Lakey, but the transcript is uncertain and the identification is not clear.
Nailani Ventile — The chair thanked Nailani and opened questions; Representative McCann asked what school she attends.
Matthew Ventile — Introduced as the next testifier.
the testifier — The committee thanked the witness for speaking and indicated the next witness would be Matthew Ventile.
Matthew Ventile / Matthew Van Tile — Introduced himself as a 16-year-old from Parma High School and made a light comment about the ringtone before beginning testimony.
Matthew Anta / Matthew Ventile — Testified as a 16-year-old from Parma High School in support of House Bill 1241.
Matt — The committee thanked Matt and noted his family would be proud.
Russ Hendricks — Russ Hendricks was introduced as the next speaker and then testified on behalf of the Idaho Farm Bureau in support of Senate Bill 1241 as amended.
John Del Rio — John Del Rio introduced himself as a longtime participant in the exotic animal and aviculture business, then supported the bill and offered to answer questions. He followed up by noting that he had previously helped write California’s animal welfare and pet store regulations, and concluded that Idaho should adopt a similar approach through the Protection Act.
Camille Blaylock — Representative McCann asked a question and noted her background in a cattle-ranching, rodeo family with experience around working animals. The witness then responded by agreeing completely with her comments, continuing the same discussion without a topic change.
Tommy Eldridge — Introduced as the next testifier.
Tommy Eldridge / Tommy Ellage — Introduced himself and said his late wife was a strong proponent of working animal rights.
Mr. Elige / Tommy Ellage — The witness thanked the committee and asked for support for Layloni's law, then offered to answer questions.
Mandy Stuhan — Mandy Stuhan, executive director of Horse and Halo in Meridian, Idaho, introduced herself and then responded to questions about the bill, explaining that larger sanctioned rodeos generally have stronger animal-welfare protections than smaller community rodeos. She also indicated that the bill needs to be structured differently and began outlining her concerns with it.
Carrie Semmelroth — Representative McCann said she is a horse and animal lover who has attended many rodeos over her lifetime, and in her experience she has seen animals cared for when they are in danger. She noted that she has not personally witnessed the kind of problems being described and suggested the incident sounded like a one-off rather than a common occurrence.
Mandy Stuhan / Ms. Mandy — Mandy Stuhan testified that her organization’s main concern with the bill is its guaranteed right-to-work and guaranteed-use language, especially where it ties use of animals to loss of revenue. She explained that people often misunderstand animal handlers’ care for their animals, then described a pack-string example from Representative McCann’s district where a state veterinarian inspection took the operation offline for much of the day. She argued that this kind of language could discourage inspections and law enforcement from checking operations, and concluded that this is the main portion of the bill her organization struggles with.
Brandon Shippy — Brandon Shippy, Senator for District 9, introduced himself and then continued his sponsor closing remarks by explaining that amendments were added to address concerns raised by the previous testifier, pointing to specific bill language on line 31.
Christy Zito — The chair turns the gavel over to the vice chair to manage the meeting.
Samantha Parrott — Samantha Parrott, executive director of the Snake River Sugar Beet Growers Association, was introduced and then gave testimony on the impact of tier-two sugar imports and foreign subsidies, naming Brazil, Thailand, and India as subsidizing countries and suggesting that a Section 301 investigation against Brazil could help the industry. She concluded by offering to answer questions, and the chair then thanked her and asked for any final questions before moving to the next witness.
Roxy Cleverly — Introduced as a high school junior job shadowing the witness; her family raises sugar beets in Nampa.
Roxy Cleverly — A person in the gallery is invited to testify but declines.
Melinda Merrill — Melinda Merrill, representing Amalgamated Sugar, introduced herself and explained that the company is a grower-owned cooperative with 700 growers in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. She noted that Amalgamated Sugar accounts for about 9% of the U.S. domestic sugar market and emphasized that the issue is very important to the company, expressing support for the motion.
Candy Fitch — Candy Fitch, executive director of the Idaho Apple Commission, Idaho Cherry Commission, and Idaho Hop Growers Commission, is introduced and begins her annual report.
Ms. Fitch — Answered questions about the hop commission budget and grants, then transitioned to the Apple Commission.
one of my shippers — Provided market update information for the 2025 apple season.
one of our shippers — Provided the market update for cherries.