ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 14

First elected to the Assembly District 14 seat in 1996, Democrat Ellen Koivisto has her sights set on returning to the Legislature one last time before term limits set in.

If she is re-elected, her priorities will include taking action to help the state cope with the economic crisis.

"It's going to be a very difficult session," she said. "We have so many people who are losing their homes or are barely able to make payments. ... A lot of people can't afford to go to doctors, so they go to emergency rooms. The costs are horrendous."

She said she will be open to new ideas from constituents on how to balance the budget and develop new sources of revenue.

"We're 50 years out of date. We've got to do something different," said Koivisto, who leads the Election Procedures and Ethics Committee.

She said she does not favor tax increases.

"People on fixed income are probably hit as hard or harder by tax increases because they have nowhere to go to get more money without taking out a loan," she said.

State building projects might need to be cut to balance the budget, but education and health care should be spared, she said.

"We've cut health care a lot. We've cut our Medicaid funding so much. The problem with those kind of cuts is it's a double whammy. You not only cut state funding, but you lose federal funding on top of that," she said.

"How do you cut education when we have so many kids in our schools?" she asked.

In her view, teachers and state employees should not be laid off.

"We already have fewer state employees per capita than most other states, so these folks are already working harder," she said. "And, how do we lay off teachers when we have classrooms with 50 kids?"

Koivisto faces Republican Dennis A. Cox, who did not return the Review-Journal's calls seeking his comment.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.