Democrat Stransky seeks District 2A seat

Cheryl Stransky has announced she is running a second time for Vito Barbieri's state House District 2 seat A.

"There are clear differences between me and my opponent," Stransky said. "I have lived in Idaho for 37 years. I have worked and raised a family here. It is my belief that cooperation is the best approach to problem-solving."

She said Barbieri has spent his time in the Legislature arguing about national politics and blaming the federal government for Idaho's problems.

"Meanwhile, we have sunk to last in commitment to public education, last in median income, last in the percentage of students earning a college degree and first in the percentage of people working for minimum wage," Stransky said.

She supports properly funding public education, adding that the state Constitution requires it.

"I have spent my working life in the public school system," she said. "My experience in education gives me an informed background into what works for our students and families."

Education remains the great equalizer in this country, she said.

"Education produces results," she said.

She said it has been established that a college degree is worth more than $1 million more in lifetime income compared with a high school diploma alone.

"When we give $30 million in tax breaks to our richest corporations while turning down a $270 million funding source in Medicaid expansion, we are not using common sense," she said. "Using available funding sources is part of smart government. Extending Medicaid to working families would have freed up money at the county and state level to lower your property taxes or increase funding for education."

Turning the money down was a mistake driven by ideology, she said.

"Idahoans pay federal taxes," she said. "Federal tax dollars fund Medicaid expansion. Turning this money down means Idahoans pay for Medicaid expansion in other states, rather than taking care of our own people."

Refusing Medicaid expansion in a state with the highest percentage of people working for minimum wage makes no sense and hurts many hard-working Idahoans, she said.

Cheryl supports the Common Core standards for our public schools.

"Performance matters in life," she said. "It's a competitive world, and we must set high academic standards for our students to meet these challenges."

Common Core does just that, she said. The curriculum encourages critical thinking and problem solving, she said.

"There is much misleading information in our community about Common Core standards," she said. "I believe if all parties met and discussed the central issues regarding Common Core most of the fears would be resolved."

Stransky supports honoring the dignity of work with a living wage.

"If we set the expectation that people should work for what they get, how can we justify paying a wage they cannot live on?" she said. "Minimum wage employees are no longer primarily high school students working an after-school job. They are now adults, often women, trying to take care of their families."

If paying a living wage is so disastrous to the economy, she asked, then why are other states that have raised it doing better than Idaho?

"When people cannot live on what they earn, we end up subsidizing them through food stamps and other public assistance programs," she said.

She said underfunding education while promoting a low-wage environment created the race to the bottom. Adequate funding for education combined with living wages is the key to reversing this trend, she added.

"My opponent has chosen radical ideology over common sense," Stransky said. "Idaho deserves a better effort from its legislators. It is time for a change.

"My opponent has said, 'If you want a moderate Republican, vote for a Democrat.' I think now would be a good time to follow his advice.'"