Sidewalks, libraries, and career technical education might not garner the type of polarizing reactions that hot-button topics such as regulating drag shows (which aren’t a mandatory experience for any one person so it’s a curious move by Columbia Falls’ Rep. Braxton Mitchell to be so vehemently obsessed with them), but those measures demonstratively address concerns and provide community-centered solutions. Thanks to a duo of newly elected Republican representatives from the Flathead Valley, their legislative priorities are aligned with addressing pressing concerns to better the lives of their constituents. Courtenay Sprunger, who represents Kalispell’s House District 7, and Evergreen’s Tony Brockman, of House District 9, are a refreshing presence in Helena. Sprunger, who regularly updates the public about her legislative priorities, which were derived from what she heard when she knocked on doors during the election campaign, is sponsoring a slate of bills aimed at better funding for schools, libraries, families and law enforcement. She’s sponsoring a range of bills that prioritize the needs of the community and not, for example, the purveyors of the alcoholic Jell-O shot. She’s proposed a bill to establish a refundable tax credit for families who choose to grow their family through adoption. As the daughter of a public educator, she knows the value of career technical education for high school students, so she’s working hard to advance the Career Technical Education Advanced Opportunities. HB 257 would provide funds to cover out-of-pocket costs for families who have a student pursuing an internship or apprenticeship outside of the traditional classroom setting. The goal is to help support the student’s hands-on experience and would cover items like steel-toed boots, medical scrubs, or testing and course fees. This piece of legislation would be a positive benefit for students to develop and diversify a new generation of the state’s workforce population.
While funding is needed to address the wide range of educational needs for students, getting students to school safely is another critical need, especially in Evergreen. Brockman is advancing a bill to create sidewalks along U.S. 2 in Evergreen, a development that will ensure pedestrians, particularly children, will no longer have to walk on the side of a busy and dangerous highway to go to school. The bill is requesting $1 million from the state’s general fund to construct a public sidewalk. Montana has a significant budget surplus and I think this is a small amount to support a measure that will immediately increase public safety. I think pedestrian safety is a higher priority than targeting drag shows.Brockman should request many more millions and the entire Flathead Valley should have adequate access to sidewalks, crosswalks and bike paths. It seems like a much more worthy project than Jell-O shots, a very curious bill sponsorship by Mitchell. Let’s hope the good work that both Reps. Brockman and Sprunger gets passed, and their valuable leadership continues.
Maggie Doherty is a writer and book reviewer who lives in Kalispell with her family.