Newcomer Roseth Makes Abortion Issue Rep. Pischner Claims Opponent Has Misconstrued His Votes On Bills

Hank Roseth is taking his first stab at a legislative office using one of the most sharply contentious issues of the 1998 session: abortion.

He says he’s for parental consent for teenage abortions. He contends his Republican primary opponent, Rep. Don Pischner, is against it.

Pischner says he agrees with the need for parental consent, but that it was included in flawed legislation earlier this year. That’s why he voted against it, he said.

“I voted for it the first time, and then it was amended by the Senate … and even the sponsors vacillated,” Pischner said of the bill, which the governor vetoed. “I’ve never thought of myself as pro-choice, and I’m sorry the vote branded me as that.”

The two Coeur d’Alene men are vying to represent sprawling District 4, which covers part of Kootenai, part of Benewah, and all of Shoshone counties.

Pischner said the “ugly politics” behind the abortion bills this year was one thing he didn’t like about serving in the Legislature. Other than that, he’s enthusiastic to take on a third term.

“I had a good time,” he said.

Pischner, 59, is a construction manager for Idaho Forest Industries.

Roseth, 65, is a semi-retired investor who said he is eager to give something back to the community. He ran unsuccessfully for city council last year.

In addition to supporting parental consent, he is against partial-birth abortion. Pischner also voted against a bill that included a ban on that procedure.

On other issues, one of Roseth’s goals is to improve the economy in the Silver Valley, which has long been dependent on mining.

“Even with the tourist industry, it still is in dire need of further economic diversity,” he said.

The state could work with industry to provide job training there, he said.

Roseth said he also would:

Support either the current two-thirds majority vote for passage of school bonds, or reduce that figure to 60 percent. He doesn’t think a simple majority vote is adequate for such major expenditures of property tax.

He would support some state contribution to school construction.

Reduce the property tax burden. The best way, he said, is to expand the tax base through business expansion.

Reduce spending. The government, he said, tends to “overmanage” problems.

Pischner believes that one of his biggest accomplishments in the Legislature has been focusing attention on U.S. Highway 95.

He said he’s been a spokesman for the vital north-south highway.

“In a budget motion, I included instructions that the Idaho Transportation Board make the Fighting Creek segment the No. 1 highway improvement segment in the state,” he said Pischner, who helped build part of U.S. 95. “The motion failed in vote count, but it did not fail in getting the notion across.”

Pischner is proud of his role on the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee. He said he will continue to fight to spend more money on drug education in the schools, rather on the prison system where drug addicts often end up.

“Ninety-nine percent of people would agree that drug and alcohol abuse are a problem,” he said. “With abortion, it’s more like 50-50, or maybe 40-60,” he said, adding that he’s not sure whether the majority of people favor allowing abortion.

1. I have stood up for what we need 2. Taxes are too high for services rendered