Proposition 2 and education reform took center stage during the League of Women Voters candidate forum Wednesday night.
Proposition 2, the Medicaid Expansion Initiative, is a statute that will be on the ballot on November 6. This statute is meant to address the “Medicaid gap” which refers to a group of people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to be eligible for insurance through the state health exchange.
Candidates running for county commissioner, treasurer, assessor, state senator and state representative all answered questions about their positions on these issues.
The forum is hosted by the League of Women Voters annually to inform Latah County residents about the stances of individuals running for office.
Dan Foreman is a Republican and the incumbent Idaho state senator. Foreman said the foundation of his career so far has been propoing legislation in support of the “pro-life” initiative and serving as a watchdog of unnecessary state spending.
Foreman explained that he believes education in Idaho is adequately funded and that he would not support spending more on education.
“A college education is a product, you have to pay for it,” Forman said.
He proposed alternatively that the University of Idaho should find ways to cut costs and lower tuition.
Foreman’s position on proposition 2 is that it encourages welfare and that there are better ways to handle healthcare in Idaho. Foreman stated that instead he would support programs aimed at encouraging Idaho citizens to be healthier.
Bill Goesling, a Republican running for state representative seat A, said that he supports proposition 2. He also addressed another healthcare related issue, saying that Idaho needs to address the problem it is having with losing doctors to neighboring states.
On education, Goesling said he would support programs like dual-credit courses in high school and combining smaller scholarships into “opportunity scholarships” so that students can attend college in Idaho while accumulating minimal debt.
Margaret Gannon is a Democrat and the incumbent state representative for seat A. She was appointed after gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan stepped down from the seat to campaign for governor. Gannon said she supports proposition 2 and commented that she is disappointed Idaho waited so long to vote on the proposition.
Gannon said that she plans to encourage funding higher education and warned that if colleges are forced to keep cutting programs then eventually they won’t be able to recruit students effectively.
“There is a gem in this town called the University of Idaho and we need to be good stewards of that,” Gannon said.
David Nelson, a Democrat running for Idaho state senate, said he is concerned education is not well funded enough in Idaho. He said he would especially like to see more money in teachers’ salaries.
Nelson stated he fully supports proposition 2 and hopes that it will be passed and that the elected legislators will implement it fairly.
“Passing proposition 2 will save the state of Idaho money in the long run. It would be financially unconservative to not vote on proposition 2,” Nelson said.
Caroline Nilsson Troy is a Republican and the incumbent state representative for seat B. Troy said that she is in favor of proposition 2 but will support whatever the state passes at the November 6 election.
Troy said she will continue to back education in Idaho like she has in the past.
“I have voted in support of all bills that increase funding to public education and universities,” Troy said.
Laurene Sorensen, a Democrat running for state representative seat B, confided that she has “a fire in her belly” about proposition 2 due to her husband’s death from a preventable illness because he waited to go to a hospital out of fear it would be too costly.
Sorensen supports funding education and added that she hopes to see more registered apprenticeships and better college preparation in the future.
“I believe in education from age four all the way through university, it needs to be adequately funded and it needs to have the physical infrastructure so that everybody can excel,” Sorensen said.
Gavin Green can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @gavingreenphoto.