Candidate profile: State Senate District 2, Steve Vick (R)

Birth date: 05-23-1956

Profession:  Home renovation contractor

Educational background: Bachelor of Science Engineering, Montana State University

Public service (elected or appointed offices):  Currently Idaho State Senator, where I am Vice-Chairman of the Judiciary and Rules Committee and serve on the Health and Welfare Committee and the Agriculture Committee. I also previously served 4 terms in Montana House of Representatives.

Community service (service clubs, nonprofit boards, etc.):  Home group leader in our church, formerly a parenting mentor and also a youth basketball coach.

How many years as a resident of your city:  8

Marital status:  Married to Cheryl Ann for 28 years

Family: 4 children and 2 grandsons

Hobbies: Kayaking, biking, and traveling to see our kids and grandkids

1.       Why are you running for office?

I believe that most folks here in Idaho want a government that honors the promise of the Declaration of Independence. They want to live in a society that values all life, lets you have personal freedom and keep more of what you earn (liberty), and focuses on preserving opportunity (pursuit of happiness). I want that viewpoint to have a voice.

 2.  What do you see as the three biggest issues you’ll face?

How to deal with the impacts of Obamacare, the state budget, and job creation.

 3.  If elected, what steps will you take to resolve these issues?  

These three issues are all linked because dealing with Obamacare properly is crucial to the other two issues. Why? Because Obamacare intends to tax, regulate and subsidize 1/6th of our economy. The tax increase on the middle class, the regulations and compliance costs for business owners that come with its implementation will surely dampen if not outright kill the already slow economic recovery. So we must limit the reach of Obamacare into Idaho. Two parts of it are optional and should not be implemented in Idaho: expanded Medicaid coverage and a state run health insurance exchange. State spending on Medicaid is already going up at unsustainable rates and so adding another 100,000 to 150,000 to Medicaid seems out of the question. Obamacare impacts the other two issues because if the economic recovery doesn’t materialize then that limits revenue to the state budget and it constrains the job creators in the private sector. And we haven’t even started to discuss its impact on the medical community. So while many issues are important dealing, properly with Obamacare overshadows them all.

 4.  What specific skills or experience qualify you for this job?  

I have owned and operated my own business for over 20 years and understand what it is like to build a business and the struggles that go with it such as limited resources and intrusive government regulations. My private sector experience and my 9 plus years of legislative experience help me to be more effective as your Senator.

5.       Why should voters elect you, rather than an opponent?

 I don’t know too much about my opponent but it appears that she is opposed to the education reforms that we made and would work to undermine them. I believe that merit pay and the other changes in those reforms are crucial to getting a good teacher in every classroom and improving education opportunities for the school children.