Heinrich running for District 8 senate seat

Leland Heinrich is running for the Republican nomination to the District 8 Senate seat.

He was raised on a seed potato ranch in Valley County and was involved in 4-H while he was growing up. Heinrich was awarded a Union Pacific Railroad scholarship and attended the University of Idaho were he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics.

After college, Heinrich worked for Idaho Farm Bureau and then Arizona Farm Bureau. He came back to Idaho and worked for Idaho Farm Bureau Insurance in southern Idaho, before come back to the family ranch after his father had a heart attack. It was also about that time he was divorced.

He and his wife, Brenda, met and were married. Her folks had built a resort with 16 cabins and boat rentals on Cascade Reservoir where the couple was involved in running a tourist business. Heinrich was also involved with the West Mountain Snowmobile Club to help bring in winter tourists. While involved with club, he got "crosswise" with his predecessor who was the Valley County Clerk and decided to run against her in the next election. He has been the Valley County Clerk since that time.

Heinrich is very involved with the Idaho Clerks Association and on the board of Idaho Association of Counties. Three years ago when there were some improprieties in the handling of money in some counties, he was appointed to work with the Attorney General and State Controller to develop an Ethics Manual. The manual has Best Management Practices that give county clerks the tools if they are inclined to do it ethically, he said. Due to his forte in budgeting he also helped with revision of Uniform Accounting and Budget Manual. He has also taught budgeting policy to newly elected clerks for the last 10-12 years.

He just retired from the Cascade Medical Center board and is on the board of the Cascade Rural Fire and EMS. He feels it is time for him to stand down on some of his local involvements.

The present senator from District 8, Skip Brandt encouraged him to run. He and his wife decided this bid for state office is something they want to make at this time of their lives.

Heinrich feels that taxes are one of the biggest issues in the Idaho Legislature. The lawmakers have been "bandaiding" the structure for years and it is his opinion that they have done that again this year. He feels that there can be some tax shifting to take the burden off property taxes. Some school districts have more revenue than they need and some do not have enough. Valley County has had an influx of revenue and others like Clearwater County are withering. A different distribution formula is needed. Though he may not have all the answers, he does feel that he has the background to lead the discussion about changes.

County governments are under some pretty stringent rules and he feels that the state should have to live by their own rules. Money for education needs to be put in specific funds and not spent for anything else. He feels it is also very important to maintain control of schools at the local level and if money came from the general fund, it would have strings. He said that over 80 percent of local dollars are mandated and he does not know of any county with "fluff" in their budget, so funds with strings may not get where it is supposed to go.

Heinrich said he does believe that a fetus is a human or baby, but does not feel that morals can be legislated. Changing those must be in people's upbringing.

He feels that everyone ought to be able to shoot a wolf because things have become so out of proportion. Heinrich would like to see the state managed wolves and come up with scientific controls. If wolves are the problem with ungulates, they need to be taken out of it, but it needs to be on a scientific basis, not just emotion.

Continued access to public lands is another issue in the legislature. He feels that people need to be vigilant and not lose access. He said that forest plans are coming out now that with access closed, unless it is marked open and roads are being closed for ease of management. That is not the answer, though there are some scientific reasons for closing and posting.

Heinrich feels that people would be satisfied with his representation. He would vote his conscience, but that would be pretty much in line with fiscally conservative voters. He has been a small business owner and feels he could see issues through their eyes. He would make a "statement of obligation" to be in the counties during the off season so people would have access to their senator.

When he ran as clerk of Valley County, he made a promise to leave the door open and be accessible and he makes that same promise now.

Photo: Leland Heinrich