District 6

State House

The House members in District 6 represent residents of Latah County. One seat is contested. The Legislature convenes annually in January.

Term: Two years

Annual salary: $15,646 a year, plus housing expenses during the session and $1,700 for office expenses.

The race

Seat B

In District 6, the University of Idaho is considered by many to be the lifeblood of the economy. So it makes sense that education issues are at the forefront of the district’s only contested legislative race.

Republican L. Roger Falen, a UI researcher from Genesee, is challenging Rep. Shirley Ringo, a former schoolteacher, for the seat. Falen said he’ll be more effective than the Moscow Democrat because of his GOP ties.

The money UI received through the state budgeting process last year was inadequate, Falen said, and he thinks he can do better because of his ties to the university and to the Republicans in control of the Legislature and the budget process. “I think I could probably give better representation in this area than we’re getting now,” he said.

But Ringo points to her committee appointments and her tenure in the Legislature as a sign that she can get things done.

As a member of the budget-writing panel, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, Ringo is directly involved in doling out tax money, meaning she “can work for better funding for programs to support our district,” she said.

She said one of her main focuses is funding for higher education. “We’re really having problems with losing some of our excellent professors and researchers at the University of Idaho because they’re getting paid vastly higher salaries at other institutions,” Ringo said.

She said her three terms in the Legislature have given her the opportunity to form working relationships with members of the Republican Party – relationships that can help her get bills passed and get District 6’s issues addressed. Besides, a one-party system isn’t good government, she said.

Ringo said one of her biggest priorities if re-elected would be to increase the minimum wage, now $5.15 an hour. She plans to introduce a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour and tie it to the inflation rate.

Falen said he supports higher wages for everybody but is undecided about how much the minimum wage should be increased. “You may wind up putting people out of jobs,” he said.

Republican L. Roger Falen, 68, Genesee: “I’m a Barry Goldwater-type libertarian that’s conservative on economic issues.”

Democrat Shirley Ringo, 65, Moscow: “I just want to try to assure that people in my district and in Idaho have access to good educational opportunities.”