LaRocco is a better fit for Idaho as lieutenant governor

The race for lieutenant governor is far and away the most fascinating of any on the ballot. Idahoans will be asked to choose between their current governor (Republican Jim Risch) and former U.S. House of Representatives (Larry LaRocco) for Idaho’s second-in-command.

While our current governor is certainly capable of filling the position he was forced the leave when President Bush selected former Governor Dirk Kempthorne for the secretary of the interior position, we still find LaRocco to be the more deserving of the two candidates.

LaRocco understands the needs of Idaho students and supports the idea of a local community college. He touts community colleges as a cheaper alternative for students’ first couple years of post-secondary education and still is able to
see them as great feeder systems into the workforce for those wishing not to pursue a typical bachelors degree. 

He also understands the need to raise the minimum wage to $6.15 per hour. Based on minimum wage earnings, a college student has to work 55 hours a week in order to pay for college. LaRocco knows this is unacceptable and will champion the cause for the increase.

LaRocco also has the forward thinking needed to understand that the best way to eradicate the methamphetamine problem sweeping this state is not locking up non-violent drug users and throwing away the key.

This option provides no treatment or rehabilitation and results in the makings of a harder criminal who will just use again upon release. This expensive course of action has been tried over and over again, and each time proves to be entirely ineffective. 

Instead, LaRocco is open to the idea of following the state of Montana in segregating non-violent drug users from violent offenders into a special “meth prison.” Here the focus is on intensive drug treatment and rehabilitation and less on punishment.

The results of this model thus far have been fantastic, with
prisoners less likely to re-offend upon release.

Whereas LaRocco has been energetic about the issues and his platform, Risch has seemed annoyed – he even has to campaign to get his old job back. His only idea is to continue his work in focusing on the state’s economic development – the same platform he ran on four years ago.

While a worthy notion, the state already has a team of
economic developers on the state’s payroll in the Department of Commerce to the tune of a nearly $9 million budget.

Risch’s lack of ideas and general arrogance to the Lt. Governor election process has turned us off.

Idaho will be better served with a man like LaRocco who seems to generally want the job compared to Risch who seems to genuinely respect the job.

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