District 2 Seat A: Vito Barbieri

Idaho needs to sue the federal government for control of the land within the state's borders, according to State Rep. Vito Barbieri.

As he seeks a third term in District 2's Seat A, Barbieri says his chief concern is the amount of Idaho real estate - 63 percent, or more than 33 million acres - owned by the U.S. government.

"It's very clear that the states that own or have control of all the land within their borders don't have school funding issues," he said. "They do not have funding issues across the board unless they have deficits and have spent beyond their means."

Barbieri said gaining control of the land in the state - save the federal parks - would give the state control over natural resources within the state.

"This will help immensely with budgeting issues, educational funding issues and job issues," he said.

The retired attorney from Dalton Gardens is being challenged by Fritz Weidenhoff, a 43-year-old firefighter from the Garwood area.

Barbieri is owner of Vap-It!, a vapor cigarette store in Post Falls, and has a concession stand. He served on the House of Representatives' Business, Local Government and State Affairs committees this past legislative session.

Adding the words does not make sense, Barbieri said.

"For these individuals who have chosen this lifestyle to equate themselves with the civil rights actions of the '60s doesn't make sense to me," he said. "One of the individuals that I spoke with (in Boise) needs public help to get her hormone drugs to keep her feminine."

Barbieri said she was "a perfectly nice person, but to ask taxpayers to foot the bill for this type of treatment doesn't make sense to me."

"Medicaid expansion is a bad idea," Barbieri said. "It, along with the Obamacare scheme are designed to push the entire nation into a single-payer system. If we can't return to a market-oriented delivery system, we're doomed."

He suggests creating accounts for first-dollar expenses for the indigent.

"They are intelligent enough to make decisions with their own money," he said. "If we were to give them first-dollar accounts they would save money because they would be more discerning as to where they would shop for medical treatment."

Mental health is more difficult to address, he said.

"The number of individuals in the country that are issued psychotropic drugs for mental health issues is expanding," he said. "To pretend that the federal government can somehow afford these expanding costs and for the state to say 'we'll save money, let's put it on the feds' is not reasonable."

"Idaho must understand that we are part of a nation," Barbieri said. "We can't pretend that taxpayers are somehow saving money by allowing the federal government to make the payments, to take the burden on."

"When we talk about minimum wage jobs, I agree there is an issue," Barbieri said, "but to pretend school can fix that or more enterprise can fix that or raising the minimum wage is somehow going to fix that is to ignore the reality of economies."

Barbieri said the wage an employer can pay requires employees producing more than their wage.

"It's a matter of mindset," he said. "People must be educated to realize they are responsible for their own future."

In the past, he said, employers provided training and workers started at the bottom and worked their way up.

"If education focused on the concept of liberty - individual economic freedom - we would have jobs grown organically," Barbieri said. Barbieri does not support raising the minimum wage, but supports removing restrictions for young entrepreneurs.

"Why should a 9-year-old need a health license to sell lemonade?" he said. "Why must we make barriers so high that no one can get over them even if they tried?"

Urban renewal creates undue competition for existing business owners, Barbieri said, and is a burden on those who don't benefit from urban renewal development.

"I do not support urban renewal despite the fact it has been used, purportedly, successfully in other parts of the state," he said.

He related the closure of local movie theaters following the opening of another in Coeur d'Alene's urban renewal-funded Riverstone development.

"Urban renewal has allowed competitors a leg up in a brand new facility to the detriment of individuals that were already in the industry to which they compete," he said.

He said urban renewal is a waste of money and requires taxpayers to foot an increased tax bill.

"Other taxpayers in the community have to foot an increased amount because such a huge percentage of the tax base in these urban renewal areas goes to servicing bonds," he said. "While we're using the taxpayer money to pay the rich for these bonds, we complain about the inability to service the needy community. The contradiction should be obvious to all."

Profile:

Vito Barbieri

Age: 62

Profession: Retired attorney; Owns catering business and Vap-it! electronic cigarette store in Post Falls

Educational background: Law degree from Western State University College of Law

Public service: Idaho House of Representatives 2010 to present, serving on Business, Local Government and State Affairs committees

Community service: Chairman Open Arms Pregnancy Care Center and Real Choices Clinic

Resident: Dalton Gardens

Marital status: Married

Family: Wife, Joy; Children James, Paul and Tina

Hobbies: Guitar, chess, Madden Football, "struggling with gardening"