Johnson letter: Tommy Ahlquist’s plans

Tommy Ahlquist’s plan to cut insurance funding for state employees shows how little he knows about government. He wants them self-funded? Where does he think they will get funding from? They don’t make a profit by teaching kids K-12, providing licensing services, park services, road repairs, etc. The only way they would get any funding would be to raise fees and put in new fees. You want to pay for parking at the park? You want to double Licensing and Vehicle Titling fees? You want to double property taxes and sales tax so they can “self-fund” insurance? And his theme about doing more with less, all state agencies have been singing that tune for the last six or seven years — or more. I am not alone when I say that state employees (except the legislators) are already trying to get by on less.

Do another story on the cause and effect of what his proposals will do. And how lame for him to use Trump’s slogan of “in the first 100 days in office.” We have all seen how hollow that is. I sincerely hope that reporters in Idaho start asking the hard questions of candidates.

This story was originally published September 30, 2017 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Johnson letter: Tommy Ahlquist’s plans."