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?
Carl Glimm (Incumbent)
Age: 39
Occupation: Home Builder/Business Owner
Political experience: House District 6 Representative
Political affiliation: Republican
Place of residence: Kila
1. Medicaid Expansion – Against. The solution to having fewer uninsured is to employ them with good jobs, so they can purchase insurance, not expanding another government program. This is Obamacare, I do not support Obamacare. The State of Montana cannot afford to expand Medicaid. Right now the price tag is minimal, but with the National debt exceeding 17 Trillion dollars, they will be shifting this burden back to the states. Instead, what we need is a vibrant economy, one with diversity among many sectors. Energy, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, logging, mining, financial, medical, etc.
2. Yes, of course, could there be another answer? How? Get the government out of the way. Speed up permitting. Cut the red tape. We are producing less than we did in 2007, but now we are dealing with the spillover of infrastructure needs from the growth in North Dakota. We need to increase Montana’s production to cover some of those impacts.
3. We say that like the state has extra money, problem is: It’s not the state’s money, it’s yours, we should give it back. This session, we need to give it back.
4. Should the Legislature vote to subsidize tuition for in-state students? I think we should keep tuition affordable for in-state students. However, the Legislature has almost zero control over the Board of Regents. I think they should make affordability a priority, over many of the other things they do spend money on. Essentially, if the Legislature “freezes tuition,” all we are doing is taking from the general fund (your tax dollars), because they won’t let us cut it from elsewhere.
5. Common Core – Oppose. There doesn’t seem to be a reason to support it. It is untested. It is a “one size fits all” set of lower standards and doesn’t allow for any local control or input. The tiny bit of flexibility is all used up by Montana’s “Indian Education for All” directive. Common Core has not been funded by the legislature, it has been added without a vote, because they said it wouldn’t cost much. Now, they have no idea how much it will cost (but for sure more than is required to be voted on by the Legislature), but they are pushing ahead anyway. If you want to have a say in education, as a parent or taxpayer, don’t support common core. This is the federal government again, dangling the carrot of money (which won’t cover all that it will cost) and if you take their money, we give away more local control.
David Fischlowitz
Age: 46
Occupation: Deconstruction Contractor/ Ski Racing Coach
Political experience: None
Political affiliation: Democrat
Place of residence: Star Meadows
1. While there are some things that could have been fixed or at least improved before expanding Medicaid, I would have voted to accept federal dollars in order to cover more Montanans with health care.
2. I support ending the 13-year-old tax holiday for oil and gas producers in Montana. I believe there is a long-term, sustainable energy and materials production industry renewal to be found in the most rapidly renewable natural resource on the planet, trees. Working with our national representatives we can more effectively manage our federal lands, and with increasingly responsible harvesting methods we can reduce litigation that clogs our state timber supplies.
3. I would support the use of a surplus in the state budget for two purposes: save for a rainy day, and invest in local infrastructure and community.
4. I support state funding adequate to freeze university tuition for two more years for Montana students because I believe education, from pre-K to advance studies is the best investment we can make for the economy and community of Montana.
5. I do support consistent grade-level expectations across our nation. I do not support the Common Core standards because of the over-testing of our students and the outsourcing of our assessments. As a former educator I feel the crisis in our public education results from our obsession with measurement. In that pursuit, we have subcontracted the accountability in our education system to corporations that are taking too much time away from our teachers teaching, and too much money from our budgets.