The issues at stake.
Our Education & Children
Every child in Idaho, no matter where they live, deserves a top-quality PUBLIC education so they have the foundation they need to succeed. I do not support vouchers for private and religious schools.
Our legislature isn’t fully funding schools, forcing local bond initiatives that shift the burden onto property owners. Idaho families deserve an adequately funded education system that will ensure a bright future for their children and attract better jobs to the state.
This begins with paying our teachers a competitive wage that will keep them in Idaho. By investing in early childhood education, we can better prepare our children for a lifetime of learning. Through the improvement of our technical training programs, we can equip more students with the trade skills necessary for a successful career.
Our Healthcare & Lives
The issue of healthcare is a top concern for Idahoans and the largest threat to financial stability. As the pandemic of Covid-19 has made abundantly clear, inadequate health care for others can dramatically affect all of us.
The voters’ decision to expand Medicaid has provided thousands more with the adequate care their family desperately needed. We must continue to hold the many elected officials accountable who are still trying to undermine that decision. We can improve the livelihoods of so many by actively proposing solutions for lower premiums and prescription drug costs.
Our Public Lands
Idaho’s public lands are the envy of the nation. We must protect them. Yet, too often, we are denied access to traditional recreation areas. While respecting private property rights, I want to seek solutions such as conservation and recreation easements. I will also support legislation to keep public roads across private land open.
Idaho’s hunters and anglers have provided funding for non-game wildlife for years. They shouldn’t be the only ones to do so. I want to work with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to seek a solution to funding non-game wildlife programs that includes other stakeholders that enjoy the benefits of healthy wildlife populations.
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An Ethical Government
It is essential that we elect leaders who will work hard to restore faith in government and keep it accountable to the people it serves. Many of our elected officials refuse to cooperate with standards of transparency. Our legislature lacks an ethics committee and inspector general to keep actions in check.
The legislature has been chipping away at the Idaho Public Records Act by making it more difficult to find out where legislation is coming from. We need to stop this trend and strengthen our ability to monitor what the government is doing. We are seeing efforts to weaken citizen-led initiatives and skew the redistricting process. It is critical that we put a system in place to protect us from these sorts of actions.
Abortion Restrictions
Politics is the art of the possible. Idaho is a very conservative state, so it is likely that there will be restrictions on abortion for the foreseeable future. My goal is to see that those restrictions do the least harm to women as possible.
Under current abortion restrictions in the state, there are three exceptions. Abortions are allowed when the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, or when the life of the mother is in danger. Additionally, the family of the mother and the father—including family members of a rapist—can sue healthcare providers for up to $20,000 if they assisted with an abortion.
Even those narrow exceptions would be eliminated if politicians who signed on to the 2022 Republican Party Platform have their way. That includes my opponent. No abortions would be allowed regardless of circumstances.
I will work to ensure that Idaho women retain the right to abortion access.