Walking the Idaho State Capitol main floor, longtime association executive and lobbyist Suzanne Budge recalls a time before legislative hearing rooms were moved to large underground wings completed in 2010.

“This is where all the action was,” she said.

But Budge, a former mining geologist who has been involved in organization advocacy and lobbying in Idaho for 35 years, has maintained a listen-first, fact-focused approach regardless of the environment in which she uses it.

“I am fairly quiet,” she said.

Budge directs the Idaho Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association and the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business. She represents Thompson Creek Mine, and volunteers for other groups. In those roles she often deals with issues that directly affect rural Idaho and agriculture.

Pioneer family

Growing up in an Idaho pioneer family with a rich history of public service instilled an early appreciation of people, issues and potential policy solutions.

“I grew up having those conversations at the dinner table,” Budge said.

A relative on her father’s side was Alfred Budge, a county prosecutor and member of the territorial legislature before becoming an Idaho Supreme Court justice.

Alfred’s son, Hamer, served in the U.S. House of Representatives and later as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.

Suzanne’s father, Reed Budge, left medical school to serve as a medic in World War II. He went on to become a first-generation rancher, resort operator and Caribou County commissioner. He served in the Idaho Senate from 1967 through 1986, including two stints as president pro-tem.

Sen. Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, runs the former Budge Ranch, which his family has owned for many years.

“The Budge name is still quite a prominent name in our community,” Harris said. The ranch “is still known as the Budge place, and it’s fun to share with her pictures and stuff we are doing.”

Suzanne’s brother, Randy, is a well-known attorney and a past member of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.

Public service

They grew up watching their father take calls in the early morning and late evening.

“Being steeped in that — Dad being a good public servant who takes care of his constituents — that was our house,” Suzanne said.

Her approach is helped by an interest in science and natural systems — applicable to environmental policy, on which “the low-hanging fruit has all been found,” she said. “Now, changes are mainly at the margins.”

On behalf of NFIB and Idaho Petroleum Marketers members, many of them rural, she often deals with regulations, taxes and state and federal policy that can impact business strategy and operation.

“Working with Suzi has been one of the most rewarding parts of working with the association,” Petroleum Marketers board president Derek Brewer said.

In the fuel industry, operators are constantly busy as they deal with many issues at once — from markets and regulations to transportation and cost control, said Brewer, senior manager of finance at Nampa-based Valley Wide Cooperative.

“And so we need someone on the ground at the Statehouse who understands our business, and can effectively reach out to and connect with elected officials and regulators,” he said.

Budge seeks specialized information and help from people who work in petroleum marketing, Brewer said. And she connects with her fellow association directors in other states — significant because many members of the Idaho organization also operate elsewhere.

“Suzi is pretty humble,” Brewer said. Her approach conveys “the idea that she is just the messenger” and shows “the importance of relationships and connections.”

The association benefits greatly from Budge’s knowledge of Idaho history and politics — largely a function of her family background, and “something you can’t learn in books,” Brewer said.

Rural perspective

She also has a rural perspective, valuable to marketers who operate in communities where they are among few sources of vital, constantly needed supplies.

“Other states have modeled the success we’ve had with this association in Idaho,” Brewer said.

Budge knows state legislators, their communities and issues, said Stephanie Camarillo, a fourth-generation Idahoan who owns a business and chairs the NFIB Idaho Leadership Council.

“This is her secret sauce,” Camarillo said. “She understands rural Idaho, legislators and their constituents. And she will listen to them.”

Camarillo, a legislative page during Reed Budge’s tenure, worked for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who served 1999-2005, and for the state Department of Commerce as head of its international trade division.

“It’s rare that someone will sit back and listen until she feels like she understands the person and the issue,” Camarillo said. Budge “doesn’t come out with opinions until she understands those issues.”

From geologist to lobbyist

Budge worked as a geologist in the oil and gas industry in Texas and Oklahoma. She decided to move home to southeast Idaho, where she did environmental work for Idaho National Laboratory.

Her career shifted when she was hired to start the Idaho Council on Industry and Environment in 1989.

Early influences included longtime Idaho Mining Association executive director Jack Lyman — who conveyed the idea that what may seem easy and instinctive to industry advocates and lobbyists may not be so for others — and John Michael Brassey, longtime Boise attorney and government relations professional.

Lobbying “is to a large degree an educational process,” Brassey said. “So people have to be able to trust your word and rely on what you tell them.”

Budge is “very honest, forthright and intelligent,” he said. “Her skills are well demonstrated by the fact that she’s been able to build a good lobbying practice — which is not an easy task. She’s well thought of by legislators and her fellow lobbyists.”

These fundamentals hold true regardless of the composition of the legislature or who is governor, Brassey said.

Budge was at the table for all of the discussions about trespassing legislation that passed a few years ago, said Rick Waitley, Food Producers of Idaho executive director.

“I can often hear Suzi say in a meeting, ‘Have we thought about this or that?’ related to an issue,” he said. “This has opened some minds.”

Waitley often observes lobbyists who prefer to work alone on an issue, or who are always looking to build a partnership or coalition to get behind an issue.

“The interesting characteristic about Suzi is that she is comfortable either way,” he said. “She is a team player but can be very independent and willing to go it alone for what she is fighting for.

“It’s not hard for Suzi to lose, but it is hard for her to back down on an issue she feels is worth fighting for,” Waitley said.

‘Always professional’

“Suzi is always professional,” said Elizabeth Criner, managing partner at Veritas Advisors LLP, a Boise-based public affairs firm. “She is an excellent person to partner with on an issue and a respectful opponent.”

Budge “has always been straightforward and honest, and she’s always been a pleasure to work with,” said Harris, the state senator from Budge’s home area.

In legislative committees, “if a problem has been identified and a bill addresses that problem, it usually gets more support,” Harris said.

And because it is a citizen legislature light on support staff, “from lobbyists and legislative advisers, we look for information. There has to be a level of trust there.”

For information and advocacy work, the best guidance Budge received was to “ask for advice, make the connection and have that relationship,” she said.

She offers similar advice to newer practitioners, in addition to first working in another field.

“Keep your powder dry,” Budge said. “Listen more and talk less. Experience things. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing for a while. Just be calm. Don’t react.”

Suzanne Budge

Age: 65

Titles: Idaho Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association executive director, National Federation of Independent Business Idaho director, SBS Associates manager.

Education: B.S., geology, Utah State University; M.S., geology, Colorado School of Mines

Hometown: Soda Springs, Idaho.

Residence: Boise.

Family: Two adult daughters.

Hobbies: Bogus Basin Ski Patrol, gardening, photography, travel, historic preservation