Weekly Meeting – Trent Clark, ‘The Problems with Open Primaries’ – Snake River Event Center (Shilo Inn, Idaho Falls)

Trent is a lifelong Idaho Republican and he has concerns with the ‘Open Primaries’ initiative that is being promoted for Idaho. Trent will be here to discuss his concerns and hopefully begin an open dialogue to help stop the initiative.

Trent L. Clark is President and CEO of Customalting, LLC, a manufacturer of Idaho-based barley malt products. He started that business after three decades as a botanist and senior executive in phosphate mining and manufacturing in Soda Springs, Idaho.

Trent served two terms as Chair of the Idaho Republican Party, was inducted twice, in 1996 and again in 2022 as Outstanding Republican Worker in the Idaho Republican Hall of Fame and was presented the Eisenhower Commission for Service to the Republican Party by the Republican National Committee.

Previously Trent headed the USDA in Idaho and served as Chief Environmental Economist on the Republican Staff of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Through this time he was instrumental in passing a number of bills, including the Foreign Agricultural Investment Reform (FAIR) Act (Public Law 99-472), the National Environmental Policy on International Financing Act (Public Law 101-240), a bill imposing EIS requirements on multi-lateral organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank, the “Take Pride in America” Act (Public Law 101-628), and the National Recreational Trails Fund Act (Public Law 102- 240), a bill reserving gas taxes paid by recreationists for the maintenance of recreational trails. Trent also authored the federal Private Property Rights Act (H.R.1572 – 102nd Congress) and the Idaho Regulatory Takings Act (Idaho Code 67-8003). Both measures prevent the government from seizing or regulating into non-use the property of innocent citizens without offering just compensation.