Troy, Sorensen square off again for 5th District House seat

Oct. 16--MOSCOW -- It's deja vu all over again in Idaho's 5th Legislative District House B race, where two-term incumbent Rep. Caroline Troy goes up against challenger Laurene Sorensen.

The Nov. 6 election is a repeat of their 2016 battle. Troy, R-Genesee, won that contest by a margin of 50 percent to 39 percent, with independent candidate Ken De Vries coming in third. Troy is hoping for a similar outcome this year, so she can continue to fight for rural Idaho.

"I'm deeply concerned about rural Idaho being left behind," Troy said. "I think I'm a problem-solver, and that's what motivates me to go down there (to the Legislature): solving problems for the 5th District and rural Idaho."

Sorensen, the Democratic nominee, signed on for the rematch in part because of the dismay she felt at the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

"I saw that and was like, 'I have some work to do,' " she said. "This election is a chance to renew people's faith that their vote does count. That's what's important to me. I hope people feel more enfranchised; I hope this can counterbalance the shock and paralysis they felt after 2016."

Sorensen, 59, is a private attorney and mediator in Moscow. Although she's never held elected office before, she's been around politics much of her life. She grew up in Rhode Island, where her father spent 10 years in the state General Assembly, followed by nearly 30 years in Congress.

She cited the Prop 2 Medicaid expansion initiative and civil rights legislation as two of her main priorities.

Prop 2 would expand Medicaid eligibility to all adults earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Sorensen sees it as a clear benefit benefit for the state. Not only would it extend preventative health care services to people who currently can't afford them, she said, it also would improve the financial health of small, rural hospitals and save local tax dollars by reducing the amount of indigent or charity care that low-income individuals need.

"People who are entitled to (expanded Medicaid) aren't getting it," Sorensen said. "Taxpayers are now picking up that uncompensated care."

Regarding her "strong belief" in civil rights, she said she would be a "persistent" advocate for Add the Words legislation that prohibits discrimination in housing, employment or public commerce based on an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.

"I think that's critical, especially when we're trying to attract people and companies to Idaho," Sorensen said.

A major impediment to such legislation in the past has been its potential impact on religious freedoms; for example, it could force business owners who oppose same-sex marriage to provide services to gay or lesbian couples.

Sorensen wasn't familiar with that concern, but said any refusal to provide service "takes me back to the Jim Crow laws" in the Deep South, when people were denied service or segregated based on their race.

Troy, 56, runs her own consulting firm. She previously led fundraising efforts for the University of Idaho.

While she's not as enthusiastic about Prop 2 as Sorensen is, she said she'll abide by the will of the people.

"I think some things need to be fixed with Medicaid, but I'm going to support whatever District 5 voters want," she said. "We (the Legislature) pushed this decision to the citizens of Idaho because we weren't able to get the job done."

In 2016, Troy was among a small group of House Republicans who voiced their outrage at the Legislature's unwillingness to address the needs of 60,000 or so working adults in the Medicaid gap population. Earlier this year she was again among a minority of Republicans who supported a "dual waiver" plan that would have allowed people who earn less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level to apply for subsidized insurance premiums through the state exchange.

"I've fought for finding a resolution (to the Medicaid gap issue)," Troy said. "If the initiative doesn't pass, then we need to think about Plan B. I'd want to go back and take another look at the dual waivers."

During her first two terms in the Legislature, Troy had nearly a dozen bills approved and signed into law, along with a half-dozen resolutions. That was more than the combined output of the other eight lawmakers in north central Idaho's 5th, 6th and 7th districts.

In 2016, for example, she worked with the Associated Students of UI on medical amnesty legislation that encouraged underage drinkers to seek emergency treatment for themselves or their friends, without worrying about being charged with a misdemeanor. The following year she sponsored bills expanding the tax deduction for college savings accounts and easing restrictions on foreign doctors who serve rural areas, in cases when hospitals are unable to hire American doctors.

"The legislation I've carried solves problems," Troy said.

Some of the work she's most proud of, though, has nothing to do with carrying bills. For example, a legislative oversight report she pushed for in 2017 uncovered "a dysfunctional work environment" within the Department of Health and Welfare's residential care licensing program, which "contributed to mistrust and fear among nursing home administrators."

Troy, who serves on the Idaho Suicide Prevention Council, also spent much of this summer working on the state's new suicide awareness and prevention plan.

"I want every organization that's working on suicide prevention to look at that plan and say 'that's what we can do,' " she said. "It's not legislation, but hopefully it moves the needle on an issue that causes families unbearable grief and suffering."

Together with her background in agriculture and her unwavering support for UI, Troy said those experiences are why people should vote for her.

"I have the broadest knowledge of the issues facing the region," she said.

Besides health care, education and civil rights, Sorensen said she's like the Legislature to invest in broadband telecommunications infrastructure. She'd also "love the state to have a coordinated vision for non-automotive transportation," such as a bus service along the U.S. Highway 95 corridor.

Overall, she said, she's hoping to join the "great group of badass women" who are running for office on the Democratic ticket this year.

Spence may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 791-9168.

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