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General Election Q & A: Senate District 4

Democrat Diane Taylor vs. Republican Mark Blasdel

By Tristan Scott
Montana State Senate District 4 candidates Diane Taylor, left, and Mark Blasdel.

1. Should the state of Montana expand Medicaid to Montanans earning less than 138 percent of poverty, as allowed under the Affordable Care Act? Why or why not?

2. Should the state encourage or discourage the production of coal, oil and gas? How?

3. The state of Montana has had budget surpluses in recent years. Should this money be invested in public services, returned to taxpayers in some form, or both? Please be specific.

4. Do you support freezing tuition for in-state students attending state colleges and universities for two more years, as the 2013 Legislature did? Why or why not?

5. Montana schools are implementing new math and English standards and testing known as the Common Core standards. Do you support these? Why or why not?

Name: Mark Blasdel

Age: 38

Occupation: Owner/Manager Vista Linda Restaurant and Catering

Political Affiliation:  Republican

Political Experience: Montana State House of Representatives, 4 Terms.  Elected in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. Elected Montana’s 52nd Speaker of the House for the 63rd Montana Legislature.  Served on House Judiciary and Education. Committees Served on: Taxation for 3 terms (Chairman in 2011), Judiciary (2013), Education (All four terms), Local Government (2007), Rules (2007, 2013)

Place of Residence:  Somers

1. No, the State should not expand Medicaid under “Obamacare.” We must always keep in mind the state’s budget when entering into promises made by the federal government of their payments for programs and where Montana will have to come up with the money when the federal government finally comes to grips with its own enormous debt issues.

2. Montana should always encourage use of our natural resources responsibly by creating a level, predictable and ongoing business climate that can encourage companies to invest in this development. This development will lead to increased funding of education and infrastructure instead of placing the burden on our local property taxpayers.

3. Montana’s budget surpluses should be returned to the taxpayers in long-term, real tax reductions in both property and income tax reductions.

4. I am in full support that we should keep tuition as low as possible. I do believe that the university system must show more in how they are handling costs to lower the anticipated amount that they ask for from the state.

5. I do not support the implementation of Common Core because of it once again being a top-down approach to our education system where local school boards and educators had very little to say in the mandates placed on them by the federal government and the Montana Board of Public Education.


Name: Diane Taylor

Age: 71

Occupation: Retired School Librarian/Middle School Math Teacher

Political Affiliation:  Democrat

Political Experience: None

Place of Residence: Columbia Falls

1. At a candidate work session I attended this spring spokesmen for both Kalispell Regional Hospital and North Valley Hospital urged us to expand Medicaid if elected. They explained hospitals now write off large amounts of uncollectible bills. Medicaid payments would reduce these losses. All patients would benefit from reduced bills when these losses are no longer passed along. There is also the possibility this additional revenue might be used to add jobs.

I would follow the advice of the health care professionals

2. The state should do neither.

There are obvious benefits derived from the production of coal, oil, and gas. These industries provide jobs, revenue for the state, and allow us to live comfortably in warm houses and travel at will.

But there are also obvious risks associated with the production of coal, oil, and gas. These same industries cause air and water pollution. A pipeline broke last year spilling oil into the Yellowstone River. A train derailed in Canada causing a major fire. The potential for devastating damage is always present.

The state’s job is to find a way to allow these industries to provide us the benefits we enjoy while mitigating the potential risks.

And I’m just curious why renewable energy sources weren’t included in the question?

3. Some of the money could be used for infrastructure needs and to retrofit public buildings to make them more energy efficient and less costly to maintain.

I would also like to explore the possibility of some of the surplus being used as seed money being used as seed money to start a state owned bank based on North Dakota’s model.

The bank would be able to offer low interest rate loans to businesses or agricultural operations owned by Montanans or incorporated in the State.

The bank could also offer residents loans for the purchase of a primary residence, educational or medical expenses.

The low interest loans would provide a way of returning the surplus to the taxpayers through the money they save in interest payments. It would also keep the interest they do pay in the state instead of sending it to the out-of-state headquarters of the large corporate banks.

4. Yes, if at all possible while still providing post-secondary institutions with the resources they need.

All students who want to continue their education should have the opportunity to do so and affordable options are key.

5. When asked what skills educators should be teaching to make students employable in the petroleum industry, a spokesman for the industry answered “the ability to analyze a problem and figure out how to solve it.”

That ability was the goal of the developers of the Common Core (a council made up of state governors and state heads of education, not the federal government) and it is hard not to support a curriculum that integrates subjects, encourages critical thinking, has students identify and evaluate sources, and explores subjects in depth.

I do have concerns however that too much emphasis will be placed on test results. And that subjects not tested, i.e., art, music, P.E. and technical and mechanical classes, will be cut.