Your attendance is encouraged at Pocatello town hall this weekend - East Idaho News
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Your attendance is encouraged at Pocatello town hall this weekend

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POCATELLO – The last Democrat representing Pocatello voters will hold an event this weekend to hear what issues are most important to them.

Sen. James Ruchti is hosting a “non-partisan town hall” on Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. in the council chambers of Pocatello City Hall. People will have the opportunity to hear from him on what he thinks are the most important issues facing the state, and share their thoughts on what they see as most important.

“This is open to everybody, all constituents. You don’t have to be somebody who is a Democrat or a Republican to come visit and share your thoughts,” Ruchti said.

Ruchti will share some opening thoughts at the beginning of the meeting, and then stand up and address the representative when called on by the town hall’s moderator.

Some issues that Ruchti plans to bring up are school vouchers, also called private school choice, proposals headed through the legislature this session. This would allow families to use public funds to pay for private school.

RELATED | Legislature introduces two private school choice bills

“(School vouchers are) a dramatic shift in how we have funded public education. If we go down this road … those monies (will compete) with our traditional neighborhood schools,” Ruchti said. “Everybody needs to be aware of it. You don’t want this to happen, and hopefully it won’t.”

Ruchti also plans to address the way that the state of Idaho is spending its money in general.

“As the population increases and as our tax revenues increase, are we spending the right amount of money to maintain our infrastructure? That’s roads and bridges, that’s school facilities and teachers and court systems,” he adds. “We just have to constantly be vigilant about what we do with our tax revenues. And if we’re gonna do tax cuts, they should probably be targeted and done smartly.”

Ruchti expects a wide variety of issues to be brought up in the town hall.

“In a democracy, people have different interests. I’m sure people (who) show up (will) have something they want to share with us,” Ruchti said.

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