1. How do you intend to balance the state budget?
2. What taxes are you willing to increase, if any?
3. Are there any services you are willing to cut?
4. How do you plan to foster economic growth in the Flathead Valley?
5. What role should state government play in managing federal public lands, and how should those management activities be funded?
6. What are the most urgent issues facing your district?
Name: Mark Blasdel
Age: 42
Occupation: Owner of Vista Linda Restaurant and Catering
Political Experience: Currently Serving in the Montana State Senate Since 2016. Elected Majority Whip by the Republican Caucus and Served as Chairman of the Senate Taxation Committee and Vice Chairman of the Senate Education & Cultural Resources Committee. Also, have Served on the Senate Finance and Claims Committee, Federal Energy and Telecommunications, and Rules Committee.
Political Affiliation: Republican
Place of Residence: Somers
1. I believe we can balance the state budget by first looking at reforms and efficiencies within each Department’s budget. With new and improved technologies, we can increase the ease for our citizens to interact with government as well as eliminating duplicative efforts on many fronts to make things more efficient, lowering time to the taxpaying citizen as well as costs to the State and its agencies.
2. I do not believe that the legislature can justify increasing taxes to the Montana taxpayers without first going in and truly analyzing how our State Government is working and where we can streamline our processes. If we continue to strive for a more favorable and stable business climate, the growth in the economy will help bring in necessary revenue to the State without increasing taxes.
3. I don’t think we need to cut services, but instead look at reforms and ways to make sure these services are getting to those that truly need them. For every fraudulent claim or person abusing the services, there are others that are going without. We need to get the money out of the bureaucracy in Helena and into the communities that are trying to provide these services.
4. First, we must strive for a stable and predictable regulatory environment where businesses are able to open understanding what steps they must do to begin, but then also what the playing field will be as they operate in terms of taxation and regulations. Secondly, workforce has become a big issue and we must address that with further training opportunities as well as reforms to get those unemployed or under employed back into the workforce.
5. I believe the new norm of five weeks of summer and the remaining time having our Valley filled with smoke is unacceptable. It is detrimental to the health of our citizens and causing a major impact on the economy of the Valley and the State. I believe that the State should take a more proactive role in managing these Federal Lands for Thinning and Timber Harvest as well as helping provide more access to our Citizens. These Lands must remain Public for all Montanans and our Visitors. These efforts can be funded by more Timber Harvest and the Revenues received by it to help with local infrastructure as well as decreased property taxes.
6. Infrastructure, ever increasing property taxes, access to affordable healthcare and continued increase of insurance premiums, concerns about protecting our Flathead Basin from invasive species and how we are going to fund these efforts without so much of it falling on fishing license fees, and continued concerns about how we can make Montana State Government more receptive and efficient for our citizens to interact with in a timelier fashion. The biggest concern I hear in the business community right now is the need for a skilled, trained and willing workforce that many of the businesses need to continue to grow and thrive.
Name: Diane Taylor-Mahnke
Age: 75
Occupation: Retired Educator
Political Experience: My political experience has been that of an involved citizen; Served on Deer Park School Board, Citizens for a Better Flathead, 350Glacier
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Place of Residence: Whitefish
1. Fortunately, the projections from the Legislative Fiscal Division in June are that revenues in FY 2018 may be close to estimates and FY 2019 may see a growth in revenues. If these projections hold finding solutions to balance the budget may not be the crisis it has been in past sessions. If however, revenues are not sufficient to cover obligations I would jointly review programs for possible reductions and revenue sources for additional funds, beginning with tax breaks for capital gains and the oil new production holiday.
2. I am not willing to increase any taxes on Montana residents, but I am willing to let the 12.5 million people who visited our state in 2017 help our 1.05 million residents pay for the public services we all use. A 2 percent sales tax on the $3.3 billion spent by those visitors would have added $66 million to the state coffers. But the tax would have to be developed in such a way that Montana citizens would not incur any additional burden. In fact, the goal would be to lower taxes for Montanans.
3. I am not targeting any services for cuts. However, I am willing to consider any cuts my fellow legislators may propose.
4. Plans for economic growth must take into account the predictions that machines will replace 52 percent of human workers in seven years (World Economic Forum) and that society only has twelve years to adopt changes necessary to avert climate change catastrophe (U.N.). Therefore, I would support incentives for businesses and residences to retrofit to renewal energy sources, incentives for any new “green construction”, providing schools with resources to train today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs, and providing FVCC resources to re-train displaced workers.
5. State governments should be allowed to play an advisory role on all decisions regarding public lands within their borders, recognizing that the lands belong to all Americans but that Montanans are the most directly affected by those decisions. Given the budget constraints Montana periodically faces, I do not see any way the state could agree to take on the fiscal responsibility of managing those lands. And based on input from the voters I have contacted over the past months, the vast majority want public lands to remain public.
6. Access to affordable housing is a paramount concern for residents of the Flathead where housing costs are considerably higher than averages across the state. Possible solutions are 1) tax credits for employers who provide housing assistance for their employers, similar to providing health insurance; 2) a housing project trust fund where developers may get a low interest loan or tax credits they can sell for housing projects that include portions set apart for affordable housing. There would be stipulations that the housing would have to remain affordable for 30 years. Funds to establish the trust would come from a surcharge on residential real estate transactions over $500,000. Maintaining water quality in Flathead and other lakes in the region. It is impossible to overstate how important it is to protect the region’s lakes from aquatic invasive species. To that end we must ensure there are adequate inspection stations, the means to enforce compliance with regulations that address the problem, and an educational campaign for the general public.