I sat down in seat 86 and leaned back. I took a deep breath. I was a local farmer. Grew a lot of garlic and raised poultry. Earlier, the community bought me a suit coat to look the part.
Behind me sat my mentor from Kalispell. Flanking me on each side sat a Democrat, a woman from Browning and a man from Butte. The chair felt rock hard. It must’ve been from 1912 or when the Capitol was built or when Charles Russell painted the mural behind the Speaker. All the Republicans sat on the opposite side of the aisle, as the House was so divided.
Maybe 35 lawmakers sat in seat 86 before me. I read some names, scribed into the desk drawer. Many had worked, as I hoped, to represent the district and make life just a little bit easier for local Montanans. The reason locals sent me to the Capitol had everything to do with the people living and working in the district.
I was one of a hundred in the House who were elected to serve the hometown districts across our majestic state. Montana elects a citizen legislature to convene every two years as directed by the state Constitution. Lawmakers get 90 working days to solve our problems. Power rules.
Who we elect decides where the full power of the state government is directed. Most often it seems like who lawmakers choose to help gets wedged between normal people and big corporations, or working class versus upper class.
Republicans have been running all of Montana for a very long time. Recently they promised, if reelected, to make sure working people pay the same state income tax rate as billionaires. That kind of tax policy remains the unspoken reason why homeowners’ property taxes are unlikely to be reduced. The state, through biannual property reassessments, makes money from homeowners that’s suddenly used to balance the budget and offset other cuts.
Montanans work. Doesn’t much matter what race, gender, or faith we belong to, we work to live. Don’t let any politician tell you otherwise. The work you do matters. It keeps the family fed and the lights on at night. Nothing is more important than your family. Living just shouldn’t be this expensive.
State government could be doing a whole bunch more. Montana remains one of the few states in the entire nation to still tax Social Security benefits. If they’re gonna give billionaires huge tax cuts, they really should stop taxing Social Security for fixed-income Montana seniors.
The job of state government is to secure your rights and make you feel safe at home. The state legislature is where all the big action really occurs. The shadowy money groups and lobbyists have figured it out. It’s why they spend millions on their guy.
Our state legislature impacts the daily lives of Montana citizens. The state is where minimum wage laws get decided. Paid family leave and labor protections come from state lawmakers.
Reproductive rights, healthcare access, and public safety all originate at the state Capitol in Helena, starting just five months from now. Environmental laws, clean water and affordable housing standards, as well as how our criminal justice system and courts work, all originate in the state legislature.
States like Montana serve as the foundation for federal laws. Reproductive rights or marriage equality start as state laws and are interpreted by the Supreme Court to apply nationally.
Some states protect rights liberally, some not so much. The minimum wage in Colorado is more than double what it is in Texas. And Colorado expanded Medicaid healthcare while Texas did not. Women’s reproductive rights differ wildly between the two states. And a working family will earn on average $20,000 more living in Colorado over Texas. That’s a big deal.
Over the last decade, the major parties allowed a legion of shadowy groups to frame what we talk about during election season. Both sides enjoy surrogates which raised millions from a handful of billionaires, clearly not Montana or anywhere near local. They dictate the terms of the statewide political discussion. Big anonymous money drowns the voices of the Parties and the actual candidates, who hardly host town halls or talk directly to constituents in modern days.
Policy talks quickly pivot from how to make worker lives better and more affordable and veer into distracting culture wars of the latest social moment. The lack of focus on the everyday issues facing working Montanans is why almost everyone is mad as hell at incumbent politicians regardless of their Party. They do nothing, seemingly deliver less for everyday people.
We deserve outsiders to put some focus on real life and create economic opportunities that matter to local working people. Montanans should strongly consider sending a teacher and lifelong Montanan like Paula Koch to represent the people of the north valley.
Columbia Falls and western Whitefish would be well served by helping elect Paula Koch to the state capitol. Koch is a teacher with decades of practical experience working with kids, parents, and administrators. If locals help her win, by hosting house parties and funding her race, rest assured that she’ll do her best to represent people.
The shadowy dark money groups will spend plenty of outside cash to promote their candidate, someone who will toe the party line and ignore locals. You’ve seen it before. This is not your first rodeo or first election. The same exact team has run the show for too long.
As you seek change, rebuilding, mobilizing, and organizing is how local people take back our state power.