Where I Stand:
Real Solutions for Working Idahoans

True leadership means being transparent about your positions.

Below is my detailed policy framework. As a former State Representative, I don't just view these as talking points—these are issues where I have actively cast votes, debated in committee, and fought to protect Pocatello.

Workers' Rights & Economic Dignity

As a 36-year union electrician and former member of the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee, I know that Idaho’s workforce is the driving force of our economy. Workers deserve the dignity and respect that comes along with that status. In Boise, I actively stand against corporate exploitation and fight to improve protections for workers’ wages, conditions, and safety

  • Wage theft is the number one form of theft in our nation, and Idaho is no different. It comes in many forms: requiring employees to work while off the clock, forcing unpaid mandatory meetings, withholding tips, or illegally paying "comp-time" instead of standard overtime hours. These practices are an indignity forced upon workers, and our state laws must penalize employers who cheat their staff.

  • The environments in which we labor are a vital part of the dignity of work. When workers face conditions that are hazardously hot, cold, toxic, or unsafe, they deserve strict legal protections. While lunch breaks and mealtimes are technically required, too many workers lack a protected, set time to eat, rest, or even use the restroom without fear of retaliation.

  • The catastrophic building collapse at the Boise Airport hangar, which tragically killed three workers and injured nine others, demonstrates the critical need for absolute workplace safety diligence. Workers must have an ironclad, state-protected right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions without facing employer retaliation. While federal protections exist, they do not go far enough to save Idaho lives.

  • Having personally experienced an on-the-job injury, I know firsthand that navigating the workers' compensation system is an incredibly difficult process. If you are injured while building a company's profits, you deserve the dignity of full, swift compensation without being forced to battle through a complex legal gauntlet just to get your healthcare covered.

  • During my time in the Legislature, I watched special interests introduce bills like S1300, which sought to strip away over a century of child labor laws under the guise of "liberating" youth to fill cheap labor shortages. Our children deserve to be protected from exploitation, injury, and the loss of their education. Idaho must never allow our kids to lose their childhood experiences just to pad corporate profit margins.

  • Many young adults enter the workforce completely unaware of their rights as employees or the legal requirements of their employers. I strongly support introducing basic Labor Law education in our schools. When both sides understand Idaho labor law, we reduce turnover, increase productivity, and establish clear standards of mutual respect in the workplace.

  • The so-called "Right to Work" law is a corporate-sponsored deception designed to weaken union organizing and exploit individual workers. It does not protect freedom; it strips away the collective bargaining power that allows workers to negotiate for fair wages, healthcare, and stable retirement benefits. When working people stand together, we build a stronger economy for every family in Pocatello.

Schools, Apprenticeships & Higher Education

My constitutional oath is non-negotiable. Article IX, Section 1 of the Idaho Constitution explicitly mandates that the legislature maintain a general, uniform, and thorough system of public, free common schools.

I am fully committed to holding state lawmakers accountable to that oath.

  • Private school vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax-credit schemes are a coordinated effort to divert public tax revenues to private businesses without any public accountability. These programs systematically drain funding from public schools and create massive state budgetary black holes that ultimately spike local property taxes. Even the Idaho Homeschoolers Association opposes vouchers because they know state money always comes with government strings attached. I support our current system of public charter schools, while protecting the total independence of private and homeschool families to educate on their own dime.

  • State data reveals that nearly 60% of Idaho’s public schools are in fair or poor condition, requiring an immediate $847 million in repairs just to meet basic safety standards. The Legislature must fund these repairs immediately. Furthermore, all contractors hired to build or fix our schools must be heavily vetted for performance, safety, and a commitment to employing local Idahoans so our tax dollars stay in our communities.

  • Registered apprenticeships are a powerful, underutilized pathway to a financially secure life without lifelong student debt. I am a fierce advocate for protecting these training paths for electricians, plumbers, operators, and carpenters. Additionally, I fully support the Idaho Launch grant program. It provides critical vocational funding for our graduating high school seniors, allowing hundreds of local students from our district to secure high-demand careers at public Idaho institutions.

Local Control & Affordable Housing

One of my core principles is that the government closest to the people works best. Counties, cities, and local school boards should make the decisions that fit their communities—not a heavy-handed State Legislature in Boise.

  • Our working families are being priced out of their own neighborhoods. In Pocatello, a starter home that sold for $150,000 in 2017 cost roughly $340,000 by 2024—a massive 127% increase. This is a barrier for young families, local workers, and seniors alike. We must incentivize investments in sustainable, affordable starter-home inventory to ensure that housing remains a fundamental, accessible right for Idahoans.

Infrastructure & Energy Independence

During my term on the House Transportation and Defense Committee, I worked directly on the complex funding mechanisms that keep Idaho moving. Reliable infrastructure is not a one-time project; it requires an ongoing, fully funded state plan.

  • Idaho received $600 million in federal funds to bring high-speed internet to rural areas. Shockingly, the Idaho Broadband Advisory Board quietly stripped away local wage protections from these funds, allowing out-of-state contractors to win bids using low-wage labor. We need the political will to rewrite these infrastructure rules so that Idaho taxpayer funds directly benefit Idaho businesses and workers.

  • Our families deserve safe commutes and our kids deserve safe school bus routes. Idaho businesses rely heavily on highway infrastructure to transport goods and remain profitable. I will fight for stable, recurring state investments to repair our aging roads and bridges before they degrade and become costly safety hazards.

  • Currently, Idaho produces only 20% of its own electricity. I strongly back major utility initiatives to hit 100% clean, independent energy generation by 2045 through local investments in hydro, renewables, nuclear, micro-nuclear, and advanced storage. Achieving energy independence keeps utility bills low, protects our outdoor spaces, and creates hundreds of highly skilled trade jobs right here at home.

Individual Rights & Personal Autonomy

True liberty means the government stays out of your private, personal life.

Our choices are our choices, and as long as they cause no harm to others, they are fundamental human rights.

  • Stripping a woman of her fundamental right to control her own medical and reproductive decisions is a dangerous government overreach. Regardless of individual political perspectives on abortion, we must find a legislative path to safeguard personal liberty. If we do not protect basic bodily autonomy, everyone’s individual rights will remain vulnerable to ideological politicians seeking total government control.

  • Freedom means being free to choose who we are, who we love, and how we express our identity without fear of discrimination, harassment, or state-sanctioned hostility. I will always vote to ensure that every individual in our community is viewed and treated as an equal citizen under the law.

Fair Taxation & Public Access

Our state government likes to boast about sweeping tax cuts, but their math is broken. They are simply shifting the tax burden away from corporations and placing it directly onto the backs of small businesses and working families.

  • Skyrolling property taxes are a direct symptom of state legislative neglect. When the state refuses to properly fund public education and cleanly share revenue with local municipalities, school districts are forced to pass local supplemental levies and bonds. By forcing Boise to meet its constitutional funding obligations, we can naturally drop local property taxes.

  • Idaho remains one of the few states that forces families to pay a tax on their food. The state's current $100 year-end tax credit is an inefficient gimmick. It is your money—you should keep it at the cash register when buying groceries for your family rather than giving the state a zero-interest loan every year just to get it back as a credit months later.

  • Our state wilderness lands are a foundational part of our heritage and must never be sold off to out-of-state developers for short-term financial gains. Camping, hunting, and fishing on public land should remain open, accessible, and entirely free of corporate gatekeeping so that future generations can enjoy the Idaho outdoors.