Ranking the state's priorities

Idaho is among the national leaders in job growth, yet lags far behind many others in compensation.

By mid-December, the Idaho health insurance exchange was financially self-sustaining as 93,000 citizens had enrolled in private plans for 2016. Still, tens of thousands of Idahoans remain without health insurance.

Education — the means to so many good ends in life, from better employment to enjoyable retirement and endless joy in learning along the way — continues to be under-funded, although Gov. Butch Otter has pledged increased investment in higher ed this year.

The state’s tax code, as arbitrary in whom it helps and hurts as it is unnecessarily complex, deserves intense legislative scrutiny and level-headed, far-sighted revision or outright reconstruction.

And our state’s infrastructure — its highways, bridges and other structures vital to public safety and commerce — is in deplorable condition. Small steps have been taken for improvement; much, much more is needed.

So with these critical issues and others demanding our legislative leaders’ full attention, it was with surprise and disappointment that our first pre-session press release from legislators dealt with a different topic entirely.

Constitutional carry.

On Wednesday, Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, and Rep. Ronald Nate, R-Rexburg, let media know about “important legislation for Idaho.” Their press release touched on many of the talking points that eight other states have used to pass similar legislation that would virtually end permitting requirements for most citizens to carry concealed firearms.

According to the release: “Representatives Scott and Nate encourage all Idahoans to contact their legislators and remind them that Idaho citizens value freedom, natural rights, and our Constitution — which was established to protect those rights. The Constitutional Carry Bill is an opportunity for Idaho’s Legislature to demonstrate its respect for individual freedom and for the Second Amendment.”

We’re all for individual freedom and we support the Second Amendment. We also encourage legislators to focus first and foremost on the issues that will have the greatest impact on Idahoans’ actual quality of life.