I received a letter in the mail criticizing IPEA's recent newsletter, but the writer didn't sign it so I can't reply directly. I don't know if this letter was from a member or someone else who read our newsletter. I sent a copy to all candidates for the Idaho legislature. For that reason, I'm addressing the letter here.
The letter said "I find it somewhat disturbing that you would ... criticize the Republicans in the Idaho Legislature". Here's a link to IPEA's
Political Action Statement. Please make a special note of #5. IPEA focuses on issues, not parties. The letter accuses us of "bashing" Republicans, but it is a reality that the Republicans in the Idaho House of Representatives moved in lockstep to kill the PERSI retiree's COLA in the last session. We criticized them because of their actions on this issue, not because they are Republicans. We sang the praises of Sen. Andreason for stopping the legislation. Sen. Andreason is a Republican.
The letter asks "Have you been told that the Republicans force them to vote the party line?" Yes. Republicans are often strong-armed by the majority party leadership to vote the party line. Some of them lean towards supporting our issues, only to withdraw support after the majority party leadership puts the screws to them. That doesn't mean we should give them a pass. We wish more Republican legislators had the courage to stand up to party leadership. When Sen. Cameron, a Republican, stood up to Mr. Gwartney, we sang his praises as well.
The letter said we "add fuel to the argument for Republicans to close the primary election". That may be true. But even if that happened, it wouldn't stop someone from registering and voting as a Republican in the primary and then voting differently in the general election.
The letter says "It appears that you only contact Democrats, except for Rep. Trail and Sen. Andreason, to carry your legislation. Have you tried working with any Republicans on any legislation?" The answer to that is an emphatic "YES!" IPEA staff and volunteers spend far more time lobbying Republicans than we do Democrats. We know that in a legislature controlled by one party, that's what we need to do.
So here's a challenge to the writer of that letter and to all of you: If you are a member, please attend IPEA's General Council on May 8 in Boise. You can voice your opinion on how we should move forward. This is a much more effective way to influence IPEA's policy than an anonymous letter. Here's a registration form:
http://www.ipeaonline.org/Registration.pdf
