In response to misinformation, I am writing to clarify the voting record of Michelle Stennett, who replaced her husband, Sen. Clint Stennett, in the Idaho Legislature this last session.
Idaho, by law, is required to balance its budget. The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, JFAC, reviewed the declining revenue projections sent to us by Gov. Butch Otter as well as from the Legislature's Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee. The 2010 budget had to be revised and the 2011 budget had to be built to reflect those figures. Since Michelle is not a member of JFAC, she did not participate in their deliberations, and is in no way responsible for decisions made by that committee.
She did vote "no" on some budgets. For example, she voted "no" against cutting Idaho's elementary, middle and high school budgets and the higher education budgets. She, along with many others, feels strongly that Idaho needs to continue to invest in an educated workforce to encourage economic development in the stalled economy of our state. She also voted "no" against cutting services for the deaf and blind, and for substance abuse treatment.
Michelle has also been criticized for her "no" vote on the "Idaho Health Freedom Act." At the time, the Idaho Legislature was considering using taxpayer money to sue the federal government over the health care legislation; the U.S. Congress had not even passed that bill. Furthermore, Idaho will now incur substantial legal costs fighting the federal government in court, a situation many of us thought an unwise use of limited state funds. And now we know that Idaho can opt out of this legislation without going to court.
Finally, Michelle's opponent claims that she voted "no" on reform of the urban renewal statutes. This reform legislation didn't even make it out of the House Committee much less to the Senate where Michelle could have voted for or against it. For information on Michelle's representation of your interests, and on her votes, go to www.legislature.idaho.gov, where you'll also find details on the 2010 legislature and budgets.
Michelle did a good job representing our citizens of Blaine, Camas, Lincoln and Gooding counties. These inaccurate claims about Michelle Stennett's voting record needed to be clarified so that voters can base their votes on reality instead of misinformation.
Rep. Wendy Jaquet
District 25, D-Ketchum
