Idaho Examiner: FIELD NARROWS IN DISTRICT 14 SENATE RACE "My Idaho...My Planet Rocks!"

Pro-family conservative Henry Kulczyk announced yesterday that he is dropping out of the GOP primary for the senate seat in District 14 (Western Ada County: Eagle, West Boise).

Since Saundra McDavid did not return the Gem State Voter Guide questionnaire, voters there are left to compare the profiles of incumbent Stan Bastian and challenger Chuck Winder.

On education issues, Winder supports merit pay for teachers based on student performance, as long as a provision is made for special education teachers whose students will face challenges other students do not. Bastian indicates that he also supports merit pay, but told the Idaho Statesman that “it cannot be based upon a single test like ISAT scores,” leaving it unclear exactly how student achievement would be measured.

Bastian is opposed to ending “tenure” for public school teachers, while Winder supports the concept. (The current “tenure” system makes it exceptionally difficult and expensive for school districts to remove underperforming teachers.) Winder is in favor of removing the artificially imposed cap on charter school expansion, while Bastian is “not in favor of removing the cap completely.”

Both indicated they oppose “state funding for pre-K programs,” but Bastian’s response was a bit disingenuous: he told the Idaho Statesman he believes “investing in early childhood education can produce extraordinary benefits” but that the funding should come from local taxpayers rather than from state funds.

While Winder supports complete elimination of the personal property tax on businesses, Bastian supports it only on the condition that an “offsetting revenue stream” be found, which is usually a code phrase for a tax increase somewhere else.

Bastian gives unqualified support for raising taxes for transportation, while Winder wants to direct sales tax receipts on the sales of automobiles and auto parts into transportation so that taxes do not need to be raised elsewhere. In addition, Bastian supports granting local option taxing authority for light rail systems, while Winder says “we do not need light rail at this time.” Winder would support local option taxes “with a 2/3 voter approval.”

On gun rights, Winder supports “car carry” legislation, while Bastian opposes it. On energy, Winder supports facilitating the building of nuclear and/or coal-fired plants, while Bastian opposes them until “new technology is developed that will enable nuclear or/and coal-fired plants to produce energy with very limited environmental and/or health impacts.”