ATTN: Idaho Legislature, Mind the Gap!

From the gaps in our teeth left by the gaps in our healthcare coverage to the gap many Idahoan workers face on the first of the month, all of us mind our respective gaps – all but our politicians.

It may have come as a shocker to some when Prop 2 Medicaid Expansion passed with a smashing 61 percent. I, however, was not surprised. After working with ReclaimIdaho.org as the first to join and hearing the many stories from struggling Idahoans who had fallen through the cracks caused by Idaho’s welfare queen legislature. They are elected by us, paid by our taxes, and then hop on what Rep. Heather Scott calls the “gravy train” of big money interests, much of it from out of state (like the forces behind anti-democratic SB1159) – and neglect the needs of workers.

That is why Prop 2 passed with a landslide mandate. It is also why they continue to botch the roll out with work requirements while some have even considered not funding it at all. It is also why Sen. Grow and Rep. Dixon lead the charge to take away our ballot initiative rights. They are scared of democracy. For this, these “small government” Republicans barred cities from raising the minimum wage on their own. For this “Chicken” Dixon refused to face voters at a Town Hall about the initiative process. Rep. Jim Woodward came to show support for the people’s voice.

As Sen. Grow put it, while defending the bill that would take away our constitutional right to ballot initiatives, the word democracy does not appear in our state nor national constitutions. It should. Perhaps our do-nothing elected officials are worried they will be replaced by initiatives – or by people who actually work in, for, and with our communities. They should be.

But the Medicaid Gap is just one of several gaps affecting working Idahoans. It is also one of several gaps that has been neglected and exacerbated by our crooked politicians for far too long. The minimum wage for Idaho still rests at the federal minimum of a dismal $7.25 an hour. (For tipped workers it is even worse. Idaho law allows for employers to claim a tip credit of $3.90 an hour, which means Idaho employers may pay tipped employees a measly $3.35 an hour!)

FairWageID.org seeks to raise the wage to $12 an hour over 5 years for non-tipped workers and to $8.10 an hour for tipped workers while also restoring the right of cities to raise the wage to the level necessary for them to sustain healthy communities and economies. Activists and volunteers from all walks of life and all political persuasions around the state have come to agree that Working families can’t survive on 7 dollars 25! This has become a popular slogan while we work tirelessly to collect the 6 percent of signatures in 18/35 districts in 18 months for a petition to become a ballot initiative. (Greedy Grow’s SB1159 sought to make it 10 percent in 32/35 districts in 6 months!)

Luckily, under significant popular pressure, Governor Little vetoed the bills after they passed (which were virtually written by a lobbyist for payday lender Money Trees). Had he not vetoed these bills, the process would be nearly impossible for grassroots, small money groups like ReclaimIdaho.org, who fulfilled the requirements for Prop 2 with a budget of less than $50,000 and an army of volunteers or FairWageID.org who seeks to do the same for the minimum wage. The cowards in our legislature lack the integrity to serve working Idahoans over wealthy elites.

Hindsight is 2020, and 2020 will be when we remind them who they should serve.

Another gap, a gaping hole, rather, is Idaho’s school funding. State funding for our schools remains dismally at less than 75 percent of what it was before the Great Recession. This is under President Trump’s supposed greatest expansion in history. With state tax revenue consistently exceeding projections, this is not only an unacceptable and outrageous failure by our legislature to care for our society’s greatest resource, our young, but it is also unconstitutional. The Idaho constitution states that it is the duty of our government to fund schools adequately and equitably.

There is not adequacy nor equity when Bonners Ferry High School is open for only 4 days because they cannot afford to keep the lights on, when kindergarten teachers are facing classes of 40 students and while school districts in wealthier suburbs of Boise are expanding their programs and increasing staff. Many state legislators can afford to homeschool their children or send them to expensive private schools and, thus, do not care for working class youths.

This is despicable and un-American. Your child’s chances at a good education and a better future should not depend on your zip code nor your income level. This is why ReclaimIdaho.org is fighting for another ballot initiative to fund our schools in accordance with the Idaho Constitution. Let’s ensure a bright future for our youngest citizens and the great state of Idaho.

Failure to do so indicates a persistent abdication of the legislature’s duties, including by our very own “Chicken” Dixon. Call him at (208)610-4800, email him at sdixon@house.idaho.gov, and give him a piece of your mind at the Bonner County Fairgrounds on August 21-24. I know I will. (Especially since he chickened out of the #IdahoSpeaks Town Hall put on by ReclaimIdaho.org at Sandpoint Community Hall on July 23, put on to give him a chance to explain – to rationalize – his attempts to rob Idahoans of our voice in our governance.)

The rising tide of progressive movements all over the state has never been just about one issue or one group. It has always been and will always be about closing the gap between the political cowardice of our so-called leaders and the community needs and popular will of the People. It is long past time that working Idahoans reclaim our state government for our communities!

This is why we have founded North Idaho Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We believe that we can and should live in a society that cares for its members. One that, to start, provides affordable, quality education, that ensures accessible health care, and that guarantees decent paying jobs!

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Daniel Radford is a resident of Sandpoint, currently studying philosophy and history at Emory University.