Meet Sen. Shirley McKague

Sen. Shirley McKague looks more like a cookie-baking grandma than somebody who mixes it up on the grand stage of Idaho politics.

But don’t be fooled by her grandmotherly appearance, friendly smile and quiet demeanor. On the inside, McKague is as tough as they get in the Idaho Legislature.

She’s one of the few who has the political courage to say “No” – as in “No” to bigger government and “No” to higher taxes. She holds firm to her conviction that government needs to be smaller and taxpayers need a break.

“We can’t continue to go in this direction. We need to have zero-based budgeting to force government agencies to justify their spending,” she said. “The mentality is that we must spend more. We began the last session talking about a 9 percent increase. The Legislature trimmed that to 4 percent and people congratulated themselves for holding the line on spending. I don’t call that a victory.”

McKague says that with Idaho’s faltering economy, the solution lies with the private sector, and not government.

“So many people are worried about whether state government has enough to operate during tough economic times,” she said. “Government will survive. My concern is with the taxpayers and business operators who often have to get by with less.

“Government cannot spend us out of a recession,” she said. “Economic recovery depends on businesses, which provide jobs for our citizens. I almost always support providing tax incentives for our business operators, because they reinvest that money into people.”

In the Treasure Valley, there has been considerable debate over local-option taxing authority for mass transit. She says supporters of local-option taxation are looking in the wrong place for solutions.

“People keep waiting for government to solve all problems,” she said. “I’d like to see private enterprise come in and build a mass transit service – if the demand is there. Right now, people aren’t even riding the buses.”

Appropriately, McKague’s political role models are former U.S. Sen. Steve Symms and the late former Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, two firebrand conservatives. Symms, who campaigned on the platform of “taking a bite out of government,” was one of the reasons why McKague became interested in politics. Chenoweth-Hage – a champion of private property rights, pro-life initiatives and other conservative issues – was one of the inspirations for McKague to run for the Legislature in 1996. McKague took office in 1997 and has warded off liberal challengers since.

“Sen. Symms, Rep. Chenoweth-Hage and others fought for less government and giving people control over their personal lives,” McKague said. “We’re fighting the same battles today and I intend to carry on with that fight.”

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