Increasing Access to Healthcare, Strengthening Schools, Combatting Inflation

In the last two years, I have achieved significant strides in enhancing access to healthcare for Idahoans by eliminating unnecessary, outdated, and unwarranted bureaucratic obstacles that hindered physicians from practicing in our state.

Moving forward, my commitment remains steadfast in further expanding healthcare access across Idaho. I will continue to advocate for reforms that streamline processes, reduce unnecessary regulations, and empower healthcare providers to better serve our communities. Together, we can ensure every Idahoan has timely access to the quality healthcare they deserve.

Idaho boasts an array of incredible schools that are the cornerstone of our state's future. I am deeply committed to ensuring their continued success. By partnering with educators and school leaders, I aim to support and enhance our school systems. Together, we will address weaknesses and build upon our strengths, fostering an environment where every student can thrive.

Over the past two years, we have achieved significant progress in reducing the tax burden on Idahoans, allowing them to retain more of their hard-earned money. However, our mission is far from complete. I am dedicated to continuing this crucial work and collaborating with my fellow legislators to further alleviate the financial pressures on our hardworking citizens. Together, we will strive to implement policies that ensure even greater economic relief for all Idahoans.

Fighting Inflation:

While inflation continues to be a concern amongst many families, we have people in our state trying to pass Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). There are many reasons Ranked Choice Voting is not good for Idaho, but the cost alone should make anyone pause. The cost to implement it is estimated at 25-40 MILLION dollars to purchase and install the new software. That money will be tax doll money. It will be Idaho tax dollar money. While, we are fighting to reduce taxes and keep money in your pockets the people behind this initiative are fighting to spend your tax dollars.

Breaking down RCV:

• On election day, voters receive a ballot with the names of all the candidates running for a particular office. Voters rank the candidates in order of preference, marking their first choice, second choice, and so on. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they wish.
• Once voting is complete, all first-choice votes are counted. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they are declared the winner.
• If no candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. The votes for the eliminated candidate are then redistributed to the remaining candidates based on the voters' next preferences.
• This process of elimination and redistribution continues until one candidate receives more than 50% of the votes and is declared the winner.
• Ranked Choice Voting is extremely complex. It leads to longer lines and longer wait times. Voters find RCV more complex than traditional voting systems, leading to confusion about how to rank candidates properly. This results in ballots being filled out incorrectly, which may lead to votes not being counted.
• The process of tallying votes in RCV elections is more complicated and can take longer than the simple plurality method. This complexity leads to a lack of transparency and trust in the results.
• The process of counting and recounting votes can be more expensive and time-consuming, especially if manual recounts are required.
• If voters do not rank all the candidates and their top choices are eliminated, their ballots become "exhausted." This means they have no impact on the final outcome if all their ranked choices are eliminated, which can lead to feelings of disenfranchisement.

Conclusion:

Currently, our voter turnout is low. We are fighting the cost of inflation and working to return taxpayer dollars. We are working to ensure that ballots maintain their integrity. We have a system that works well. This is a new complex system that does not solve any problems for Idaho. It would cause additional problems and cost taxpayer money.