Gen-Z for Change Questionnaire November General Election 2024

Welcome to the Gen-Z for Change's Voter Guide Questionnaire!

We appreciate you taking the time to share your views with voters.

Email *

loren@lorenpettyforidaho.com

Please enter your name below exactly as it will be shown on the ballot. *

Loren Petty

Please enter your campaign website URL.

https://www.lorenpettyforidaho.com/

Please select the office you are running for in the upcoming General Election on November 5, 2024. *

State House of Representatives

Do you support protecting access to abortion, IVF, and birth control?

Yes

Idaho's anti-abortion law, passed by the Republican majority, makes no exception for the health or future fertility of the mother. At the very least, I think we need to expand the exceptions to this abortion ban. Ideally, I am in favor of totally reversing this abortion ban so that the decision is left to the mother, with the advice and consent of her medical providers. Idaho has lost nearly twenty-five percent of OBGyn providers, and many doctors in other specialties, since the Republican majority passed this law that criminalizes the practice of medicine in Idaho. That is unacceptable in a state this was already struggling to attract Doctors the state. Regarding IVF treatment, this is the last option for many couples having problems conceiving a child. I believe this option should be available for every couple in need, without government interference.

Do you support sustainable investments into climate infrastructure, safe communities, and renewable energy sources, like the Green New Deal for Public Schools?

Yes

I am in favor of all practical and common sense efforts to expand renewable energy resources. For example, I would like to see school districts installing solar panels on their roofs, and on the parking structures for their school buses. If they electrify their fleet of school buses, their solar resources can fuel the fleet, thus saving money and expanding the amount of available renewable energy. A win-win scenario. I think these winning efforts can be found with a little bit of common sense and long-term outlook. At the state level, there is no reason the state cannot invest in solar technology to fuel their fleets as well.

Do you support safe working conditions for workers and collective bargaining tactics?

Yes

Without unions labor would not enjoy the forty-hour week, overtime pay, safe working conditions, and the right to collective bargaining. We need to make unions stronger in this nation, not weaker. When we grow the middle class, we grow the entire economy. When we grant every advantage to the wealthy, they invest in offshore tax havens. It's not rocket science.

Do you support raising the minimum wage?

Yes

Idaho's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not enough money for a full-time worker to afford anything. Not rent, not food, not even transportation to get to and from work. The Republican majority in the Idaho legislature refuses to even consider raising the minimum wage in Idaho, and has legislated against municipalities who have attempted to raise wages in their locales so workers can afford to live near where they work. Why the people of Idaho continue to vote for representation that undercuts their interests is beyond my understanding.

Do you support the right to gender-affirming care for people of all ages?

Yes

I believe what modern medical science tells us about gender, not what Pastor Bob down the road loudly proclaims to his flock. No one seeks gender affirming care that does not need it. Books about my two Dads in the library do not persuade anyone to change genders. I pledge to base all medical related decisions on the advice of medical experts, not some deep pocketed political action committee seeking an agenda of dividing and conquering the electorate for nefarious purposes.

Do you support policing reform focusing on anti-violence, restorative justice, and mental health education?

Yes

I believe that Police involvement in what are clearly mental health issues often creates more problems than it solves. The first responders to a mental health crisis should be mental health experts. Those professionals can then request the assistance of Police as needed. Barring that perfect scenario, obviously there are Police departments across the nation that need better training. De-escalation should be the goal in every situation. Violence should be the option of last resort, and deadly violence should be the absolute last resort to be used only when lives are threatened.

Do you support immigration reform to result in more humane, timely, and just immigration?

Yes

For decades Republicans in Congress have placed roadblocks in the path of immigration reform in order to create a crisis where there does not have to be one. Immigration is vital for our national economic interests. We need more immigration judges and courts. We need common sense matching of immigrants to the needs of employers. We need a well-financed and organized guest worker program. When you starve the entire system of resources for decades, a crisis is created and maintained. Deporting millions of productive workers out of the United States is not the answer. We are nearly at full employment now. Who is going to give up their current job to pick fruit and weed fields? Perhaps the goal is to deport the immigrants and impoverish American citizens to the point where they have to take on the back breaking, low paying jobs that only immigrants will do. Immigrants give far more than they take, it is time the nation recognized that and quit using immigrants as scapegoats to hide the fact that domestic labor is getting shafted by their domestic employers.

State House of Representatives Questions

Do you support the right for individuals to travel in/out of your state for reproductive care?

Yes

It is unconstitutional to prohibit citizens from travel unless they are under court supervision. Attempting to prohibit women from travelling for any reason is one giant leap towards a "Handmaid's Tale" existence. I support civil rights for all Americans. I oppose unconstitutional means to advance any religious based agenda.

Do you support increased investment into public health agencies?

Yes

If I was running for the U.S. Congress I would strongly be advocating for Medicare For All. The rest of the world has single payer health care and most of those nations get better outcomes while insuring everyone, instead of a fraction of the population. Under the current system, every public effort to promote health and well-being saves money in the long term. If the state can do anything to promote good health for the citizenry, it should be done. I am totally against any and all efforts to cancel Medicaid expansion in Idaho.

Do you support dedicating funds to upkeep of roads, clean public spaces, and protected environmental areas?

Yes

Taxes provide for the public benefit. Without the federal income tax, we would not have an interstate highway system, we would not have National Parks, we would not have Public Lands that are available to everyone. Only those with the narrowest views of the purpose of government lobby against these things. Voters need to be sure where their candidates stand on this issue with the rise of selfish libertarianism that sees anything representing the public good as something to be destroyed or underfunded.

Do you support investments into building affordable housing?

Yes

The issue in the lack of affordable housing situation that is not being addressed is corporate ownership of residential properties. This needs to be addressed on a national level. On a local level, I am open to every innovative idea to provide affordable housing to every citizen. I believe housing is a human right.

Do you support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools?

Yes

DEI is a means of levelling the playing field for those who, by circumstance of birth, are shut out of opportunities that others enjoy. In this nation of immigrants, we all benefit when oppressed persons are lifted up economically. They become producers and taxpayers instead of benefit recipients. And those circumstances of birth should not only include considerations of ethnicity and country of origin, but also systemic poverty