Education Yeldell's top priority

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Republican candidate Anne Yeldell's top priority, if elected to the state legislature, is education. Yeldell, 50, is running for election from House District 53.

Yeldell is a housewife and mother of five who describes herself as "a stay-at-home mom who is never at home." Besides being involved with several community organizations and national committees, she has served on the Poudre School District Board of Education since 2003.

While on the school board she has been a legislative delegate, working on issues such as changes to the No Child Left Behind Act.

Yeldell thinks she is best qualified for the state seat because of her moderate views and her experience with public policy.

Regarding the state's educational system, Yeldell's goal is to stay the course in terms of K-12 education, emphasizing reform, accountability and choice. With higher education, she sees "a systemic problem with the funding." She would like to look at what other states are doing to fund their institutions of higher learning.

Another priority for Yeldell is improving Colorado's economy. "We're not very business-friendly in northern Colorado," she said. She would like to reduce regulation and red tape for business.

She also favors pulling the Gallagher Amendment out of the Constitution and back into state statutes so it can be modified as needed. The amendment sets a formula for property taxes in the state whereby businesses must provide a certain percentage of the total tax revenue.

Water supplies in Colorado are also important to the candidate. "We're still in a drought," she noted. "Conservation is great, but it's not enough to bring us up to what we need." She is in favor of expanding Halligan Reservoir, a project being proposed by Fort Collins.

Yeldell did not support Referendum C, seeing it as a "Band-Aid approach" to the state's fiscal problems. "There's a systemic problem," she said, "and just throwing a little cash in will not solve the problem."

Colorado is at a point, she noted, where the state can't fund everything in the budget. Other funding sources are needed for state highways, such as a regional transportation authority and possibly toll roads.

The current health care system is "a mess," Yeldell said. Besides the high cost of health care, she is concerned about how the state is taking care of its aging population. She would like to make in-home care an alternative to nursing homes. For children's health care, she points to the success of the Children's Health Insurance Program and would like to expand it. "There is a place in government for health care," Yeldell stated.

Yeldell thinks it's unfair to place the total health care burden on businesses and would like to look at ways for more individuals to buy health insurance policies.

On other issues, Yeldell made these comments:

• Colorado's new immigration laws: The state will need a year to see what is working right and what is not.
• Same-sex marriage and other social issues: Yeldell said it's the job of the state legislature to take care of issues such as the economy and water rather than dwelling on social issues.