District 2 Race All Republican Candidates Differ On Abortion, Grass Burning

Politicians are scarce in the District 2 House race.

Incumbent Rep. Wayne Meyer, R-Rathdrum, takes pride in the fact that after two terms, constituents still call him a grass farmer, not Mr. Representative.

And the political resume of challenger Kevin Krieg of Post Falls is punctuated with experience as an auto mechanic.

Voters will decide in the May 26 primary which Republican citizen legislator will go to Boise. No Democrats are vying for the seat in the November general election.

Meyer, who was elected in 1994, sees education as his top priority.

Abortion and dousing grass burning on the Rathdrum Prairie top Krieg’s platform.

Meyer, who sits on the House Education Committee, says education prevents many long-term problems. A believer in early childhood development, charter schools and school funding, Meyer said he wants to see more local control.

“Local people know a lot better how to operate (their schools) than the state does,” Meyer says. “Not all situations are the same.”

Krieg also supports local control. Krieg made headlines last winter while lobbying the Post Falls School District to teach creationism alongside evolution. If elected, Krieg said he wouldn’t push the issue in Boise, because local people should make curriculum decisions.

Idaho schools are sucking up tax dollars, but aren’t providing children an adequate education, Krieg says.

“Public schools spend 2.5 times more to educate a child than a private school and the education level is average,” says Krieg, whose children attend public school. “As a taxpayer you’re forced to pay for lesser quality.”

Meyer and Krieg hold similar views on education, but differ drastically on issues such as grass burning and abortion.

Krieg says field burning is an economic burden besides a health risk. “The only people that benefit is the grass-growing industry and that’s on its way out,” Krieg says. “We need to prepare to replace the economy.”

He supports the development of small businesses and wants to lure high-tech companies to the area. Controlling property tax levels and lowering the tax burden on small businesses is as crucial to development as providing educated workers, he says.

As a Kentucky bluegrass grower, Meyer argues field burning is an economic necessity to both farmers and people who want to save the Rathdrum Prairie from subdivisions.

“If I can’t raise grass seed and burn it on the Rathdrum Prairie, I’m not going to be farming on the Rathdrum Prairie,” Meyer says. “It’s going to be sold for development.”

Meyer says he supports the creation of more jobs, but problems such as crime and increased service costs accompany rapid development.

Besides wanting to ban burning, Krieg also wants Idaho to ban abortions.

He condemns Meyer’s prochoice voting record and says abortions should be “limited to rape, incest, and medical concerns.”

“Yet the political system has enough power that the minority view is being pushed forward,” he adds.

Meyer, a pro-choice Republican, says state lawmakers have no business debating the issue.

“There are instances where this needs to be a medical decision and not a political decision,” he says. “What are we going to do at the state level?”

Meyer voted against the two anti-abortion bills that dominated the 1998 legislative session because he says the measures were unconstitutional.

Gov. Phil Batt signed the “partial-birth” abortion bill and vetoed a measure that would have required minors to obtain parental consent.

But Meyer is more interested in protecting the Spokane-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer than debating abortion.

Batt vetoed a bill backed by Meyer that would have given $58,000 to the Panhandle Health District to continue the aquifer protection program. Meyer vows to reintroduce the measure before small water districts must pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for additional water tests.

While Meyer makes plans for another term, Krieg says he wants to bring new ideas to the state Capitol.

“You can’t take for granted that the system can’t be changed,” he says. “God’s given me a good ability to look at a problem and come up with a solution that’s viable.”

and ‘The freedom to control their own lives’