Senate District 6 candidates were asked the following five questions:
1. What can the Legislature do to spur economic recovery and job growth?
2. How should the Legislature address the state government worker pension shortfall, which is projected to exceed $3 billion over the next 30 years?
3. The U.S. Supreme Court gave states the choice of whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. What should Montana do and why?
4. Given that the state is projected to have a surplus, what should be the Legislature’s budgetary priorities during the next session?
5. What are the other most pressing issues facing the Legislature and why?
SENATE DISTRICT 6
Name: Carl Glimm
Age: 37
Party: Republican
Bio: Home builder; board of directors for Flathead Building Association; board of directors for Montana Building Industry Association; board of directors for The Nurturing Center; board of directors for Trinity Lutheran Church; Smith Valley Volunteer Fire Department; Builder of the Year 2011 FBA; Most Supportive Business Violence Free Crisis Line/Abbie Shelter 2010; construction engineering degree from MSU
Years in the valley: 9; born and raised in Conrad; wife Amy born and raised in the Flathead; children are fifth generation
Website: www.glimmforhouse.com
1. We need to make Montana more business friendly. We need to get government out of the way of our small businesses, as they will be what pulls us out of the slump. We need to make it more attractive for business owners to start and grow here, more so than one of our neighboring states. We need our state agencies to work with each other, become more efficient and predictable, and to have an attitude of helping businesses – not standing in the way of projects. We need to diversify our economy so that when one industry slows it doesn’t have a drastic effect. We need agriculture, manufacturing, construction, timber, natural resources, health care, tourism, retail – all of them and more to be healthy.
2. Our system of defined benefits is unsustainable and fiscally irresponsible. It will be difficult, but we must deal with this now rather than kick the can down the road to the future. The longer we wait the bigger the problem will become. We need to move from a defined benefit to a defined contribution system, similar to a 401K.
3. I don’t like Obamacare and I don’t appreciate the federal government saying that Montana needs to spend millions more on Medicaid. I think the federal government should contain itself to the responsibilities outlined in the constitution, like passing a budget. The expansion could add up to 75,000 people to Medicaid. The better option is to grow our economy, and get those people good jobs with health insurance.
4. I believe in zero-based budgeting, so we aren’t starting with last year’s budget and adding a percentage to it, but rather starting each department with zero and saying, “What do we really need to do the job?” We have all heard stories about agencies that get to the end of the year and need to spend the rest of their budget – use it or loose it. What if it was a good thing to end up with not spending your whole budget? In our own household budgets, isn’t it a good thing when we didn’t have to spend all the money we had budgeted for gas or electricity? The mindset regarding the budgeting process of the state government needs to change from “how can I spend my entire budget” to “how can I get the most bang for the buck for taxpayers.”
5. I would like to see a task force made up of each state department that would work together, be customer friendly and assist with new State agencies often work independently of each other and make the process cumbersome and confusing. This is a poor model for customer service – the private sector figured this out long ago. If you don’t make it simple they will go to another store or in this case Wyoming or North Dakota. The individuals who make up the task force would need to have authority to make decisions. And they should come from within the departments to minimize the fiscal impact of the program. Our government needs to become more efficient, responsible, accountable and predictable to grow our economy.
Name: Brenda Talbert
Age: 64
Party: Democrat
Bio: Retired art teacher; National Board Certified for 10 years of 35-year teaching career, including 13 years in Colorado and 22 in North Carolina; vice president of Flathead County Democratic Women; board member at Kalispell Senior Center; bachelor of fine arts degree in education from University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Years in the valley: 2
Website: www.talbertformontana.com
1. Create an educated, trained workforce by funding education fairly. Make money available through bonds for businesses to borrow for startup or expansion. Keep infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and sewer systems maintained and expanded as needed. Invest in clean energy. Responsibly develop natural resources.
2. The retirement pensions are promises the state made and must be honored. The pension shortfall is a complicated issue and will not be solved easily. There are several options being considered: increasing the employee contributions, increasing employer contributions, cash infusion from the surplus, and using revenue from natural resource development, to name a few. It is apparent that the problem will not improve by itself, but an improving economy will help. Legislators must go into discussions and decision-making with open minds and a willingness to find a fair, long-term solution.
3. Montana should expand Medicaid coverage to cover 50,000 more Montanans. Making adequate health care affordable and available for all citizens is not just the right thing to do ethically – it is a wise economic decision.
4. The budget priorities for next year should be to make thoughtful, wise decisions when spending the surplus. Some of the money needs to remain in the form of a “rainy day fund.” The government worker pension fund shortfall needs to be addressed. Important programs such as education, health care, veteran care and clean energy need to be funded. Spending money is not hard; spending it wisely is the challenge.
5. The Legislature needs to get serious about creating an atmosphere that promotes continued job growth in all areas: clean energy, responsible development of natural resources, education, tourism, farming and ranching. Our economy is recovering from the Great Recession … albeit slowly. Legislators need to work together to make good decisions for all Montanans, rich and poor, young and old, sick or well. Why? Because the job of a legislator is to represent his/her constituents while keeping Montana “The Last Best Place” … hokey but true.