The Questions:
1. Are infrastructure improvements a major concern for Montana and, if so, what would you do to help pass a comprehensive infrastructure package?
2. Montanans rely on extraction-based industries for jobs, even as demand grows for clean and renewable energy in the region. How would you help employees in the coal, oil and natural gas industries maintain their livelihood, or pursue training in other fields in Montana’s changing economic landscape?
3. Given that the Legislative Fiscal Division has projected an ending fund balance that is considerably less than what was anticipated, what would be your budgetary approach heading into the session?
4. Should the state of Montana push to take more control of some federal land management?
5. What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the 2017 Legislature, and how do you propose dealing with it?
Matt Regier
Residence: Kalispell
Political Party: Republican
Family: Single
Occupation: Small business owner of Stillwater Sod
Education: B.S., Business, University of Montana
Political Experience: Kalispell Planning Board, Montana Small Business Advisory Council
Website: www.regierhd4.com
1. Yes, infrastructure is a priority for Montana. At the end of the last legislative session, an infrastructure bill was presented, but the governor wanted to add $40 million for a museum and a gym renovation and wanted to partially pay for it by putting the state in debt. We need to work to prioritize real infrastructure needs over pet projects.
2. We in Montana can have both clean energy and fossil fuel. Montana has some of the cleanest-burning coal in the world, such as low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin or coal with high BTU content like that found in the Signal Peak mine in Roundup. If we were to continue to develop our state’s coal resources and replace other states’ or nations’ lower-quality coal with Montana’s clean coal, pollutants would be reduced as Montana jobs increase. Effective marketing of Montana’s clean coal can increase demand and increase jobs at each link in the coal industry supply chain.
3. The Montana taxpayer has to watch each dollar they spend, and the state needs to do the same.
4. We need increased access to our public lands. Since the mid-1990s, 21,951 miles of road on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service have been closed to motorized use. Federally controlled land is being closed off for public use along with being neglected or mismanaged, exacerbating past forest fire damage to our state. I believe that Montanans can manage Montana better than Washington bureaucrats. Yes, we need to, in small incremental steps, take control of our state.
5. Montana, just like the rest of the nation, is facing a crossroads in core values — do we continue to rely on the principled way of thinking that our country was founded on or change to the liberal ideology that eliminates boundaries and erodes our fundamental values? We have a choice between keeping our nation’s standards of moral right and wrong that produces a logical, safe, societal structure or embrace thinking that has no restraint and produces chaos. A society characterized by safety and order must be a priority in Montana. It should not be confusing or unsafe to use a public restroom. It should not be dangerous to operate your business as a person of faith. Protect Montana values. Protect Montanans’ safety.
Editor’s Note: The Democratic candidate for House District 4, Deborah Gentry, declined to fill out a questionnaire.