Priorities

Focused on building a stronger Idaho, Karen Matthee For Idaho prioritizes lowering the cost of living, expanding access to rural healthcare, protecting public lands, investing in public education, supporting veterans, and creating greater opportunities for working families.

Through responsible stewardship, smart investments, and policies that strengthen local communities, the goal is to make Idaho more affordable, healthy, and prosperous for future generations.

Lower Cost of Living

  • I want commercial properties to pay their fair share so homeowners are not shouldering the bulk of the property tax burden. And I will push to raise the homeowner’s exemption by returning to the index, which was based on the sales price of Idaho homes and was capped in 2016. Rep. Skaug introduced a bill that would do just that. Find out more HERE.

  • I hear from young working families that they are struggling to cover basic expenses. I will fight to eliminate the grocery tax, and taxes on tips and overtime.

  • Idaho’s flax income tax is unfair to lower and middle-income families. I will fight for a progressive tax system. Find our more HERE.

  • I will push for the state to fully fund Idaho public schools, including facilities, so that the need for bonds and levies is alleviated. Idaho public schools receive the least state funding in the country. Find out more HERE.

  • I will support state tax incentives for sellers who sell homes below market value to working-class families, and land-use policy that improves housing affordability and availability.

    And I will champion reforms allowing smaller manufactured homes, smaller lots for starter homes, and more backyard cottages. Find out more HERE.

Access to Rural Healthcare

Solutions are needed to keep and recruit doctors in Idaho and keep our hospital in business.

  • I want to fund the WWAMI (five states served by the University of Washington School of Medicine’s regional medical education program, including Idaho) and the University of Utah doctor training programs to draw doctors to Idaho, particularly to our underserved rural areas.

    Idaho ranks near the bottom for doctors per capita, leading to long wait times and heavy reliance on telehealth for mental and specialty care. Find out more HERE.

  • I will support exceptions to the state’s abortion ban that allow doctors to save a mother’s life in a medical emergency and after a fatal fetal diagnosis.

    Bonner County lost all four of its ob/gyns and 42 percent of ob/gyns fled Idaho, citing the state’s strict abortion bans and threats of legal punishment as primary factors. Find out more HERE.

  • The majority of Idaho voters supported this, and yet the far right attempts to repeal it in every legislative session. I will fight to protect Medicaid Expansion.

  • I intend to reverse state cuts to reimbursement rates for providers who treat Medicaid patients. Those cuts threaten the survival of our hospitals in Bonner and Boundary counties. Find out more HERE.

Public Lands

  • Future generations will thank us.

  • I support providing access to public lands in a way that respects private property rights as well as the need for preservation of resources.

  • I strongly support shared stewardship programs like The Good Neighbor Authority, a federal-state partnership allowing the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) to plan and implement forest, watershed, and habitat restoration on federal National Forest System lands. Find out more HERE.

    These cooperative efforts help improve forest health, reduce fuels and threats to communities and watersheds from catastrophic wildfires, and create more jobs and economic benefits.

Education

  • Support state funding for Idaho public schools that is at the very least on par with the national average. Idaho schools receive the least state funding in the country.

  • I will back initiatives that allow our kids to have the tools and skills they need to thrive in a modern economy.

  • I plan to reverse legislation that limits teachers’ unions’ ability to advocate on political issues and collaborate on professional development with their local districts. Find out more HERE.

  • We must fund the LAUNCH program, a state-funded grant program that covers 80 percent of tuition and fees (up to $8,000) for graduating high school seniors who pursue education or training in in-demand careers.

Veterans

  • I want to make sure our VSOs receive the funding they need to keep connecting our former service members with state and federal benefits. Currently, property taxes fund these officers.

Equal Rights

  • I will fight bad bills that seek to marginalize any segment of our North Idaho community based on gender, sexual identity, sexual preference, race or religion.