Idahoans deserve leaders focused on their concerns

By Lauren Necochea
Reader Contributor

What political parties choose to fight for says a lot about their values and what they demand from elected leaders.

At a recent Idaho Democratic Party meeting in Coeur d’Alene, grassroots members passed three resolutions addressing concerns we have heard from Idahoans: rising grocery costs, protecting citizen-led ballot initiatives, and safeguarding our water and future.

Idaho is one of only four states that charges its full sales tax rate on food. Families pay another 6% at the register whether they are raising kids, living on a fixed income or stretching a paycheck.

A tax credit months later does little to help with today’s grocery bill.

We support ending that tax and replacing the revenue responsibly, without shifting the burden onto working families. We can start by revisiting deep income tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest households and profitable corporations.

Idaho Democrats also stood up for a right Idahoans have had for more than a century: the ability to take laws directly to the ballot when the Legislature will not act. House Joint Resolution 4 would amend our state constitution to remove one category of decisions from that process and reserve it for the Legislature alone.

The amendment goes beyond the policy at its center. The initiative process gives Idahoans a way to act when elected officials refuse to listen. Voters should think carefully before giving politicians more power and themselves less.

We also addressed the future of nuclear waste in Idaho. Idaho National Laboratory supports good-paying jobs, research and national security work. Idaho can support that mission while insisting the federal government honor the 1995 Settlement Agreement related to nuclear waste storage.

Significant legacy waste remains in Idaho, the country still has no permanent repository, and INL sits above the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer. Before Idaho takes on substantially more of the nation’s nuclear waste, people deserve clear answers about how much would come here, how long it would remain and how our water would be protected.

These priorities reflect what we hear from voters. Our candidates are talking with people on doorsteps, showing up to debates and forums, and organizing affordability town halls to hear from families struggling with the cost of living.

That stands in sharp contrast to the Idaho Republican Party platform, which calls for criminalizing abortion without exceptions for rape or incest; repealing the Affordable Care Act; taking away Idahoans’ right to directly elect U.S. senators; and abolishing the Federal Reserve in favor of currency backed by gold, silver or other stores of value.

Those priorities are far removed from the real concerns of Idahoans.

As you vote, look at what each party is choosing to fight for and ask which one is fighting for you.

Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.