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: Mike Cuffe Age: 71
Occupation: State representative and Montana delegate and current vice president to Pacific NorthWest Economic Region, a nonprofit association of state and provincial governments. Former lumber and mill plywood manager and retired small business owner in publications and marketing.
Political Experience: Eight years in Montana House of Representatives. Served as press aide to Montana Congressman Dick Shoop. Focus on infrastructure, natural resources, aquatic invasive species, smaller government and jobs.
Political Affiliation: Republican
Place of Residence: Eureka
1. After eight years on the Appropriations Committee with three sessions chairing a subcommittee, I understand the process. We are required to balance spending with income. If we extend the contract with the private prison in Shelby we could use $30 million set aside for purchase of it for social programs.
2. I don’t intend to increase taxes. I will vote against I-185 and the new tax it requires. We need to focus on the things to renew a healthy economy, as the Trump administration has done at the federal level. Stronger economy, more investment, greater revenues without new taxes. Remember Congressman Gianforte’s roundup of unnecessary job killing regulations? It works.
3. I would reduce the Department of Environmental Quality’s legal staff that has sued a very respectable mining company with properties in Lincoln County. The state will lose the suit, but by then the people bringing the suit will be elsewhere and the mining company could move investments to other places, especially if we pass I-186. Read the law, read the lawsuit.
4. I will vote against the job killing regulations in I-186. Copper mining jobs in Lincoln County will add to the Flathead economy.
5. A number of interesting suggestions have been made, a number of examples exist. In my district, the federal government owns and maintains a fish hatchery managed by Montana FWP. Construction and maintenance of highways are federally funded but managed by Montana DOT. Canadian provinces manage and profit from natural resources, including forestland. Some discussion/efforts/programs are happening that can result in state management of some federal timberland. I will, and I have, support these efforts. In July I arranged a personal meeting with the U.S. Forest Service chief, Lincoln County commissioners, Sen. Keith Regier and me to discuss this issue as well as fire management.
6. Too many drugs and not enough good jobs for young families. The best social program comes from a good job and a thriving economy. The state needs to support commercial activities especially those involving respectable mining companies. Selenium concentration in Lake Koocanusa is another serious focus for me, and I have been involved with a stakeholder group working with our northern neighbors. In regard to selenium, I have met with upper level officials at Departments of State and Interior as well as our congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.
In addition, the Columbia River Treaty has been a huge part of my work, and I have championed Montana issues for compensation to Montana and against possible diversion of the Kootenai River into the Columbia River at Canal Flats especially in light of the selenium issue. In July, I arranged a private breakfast between the Department of State chief negotiator, her assistant, Lincoln County Commissioners, Sen. Keith Regier, and me.
Name: Austen Lee Nelson
Age: 30
Occupation: Precious metals sales and craft beer production.
Political Experience: None, but witnessing government waste and inefficiency while in the U.S. Navy and subsequently dealing with it through the VA concerned me enough to run for office.
Political Affiliation: Libertarian Party
Place of Residence: Libby
1. Managing our forests outside of designated state/national parks and wilderness areas in a similar fashion to what the Germans have been doing sustainably for over 300 years. Doing this would create more jobs resulting in increased state revenue and healthier forests. Helping offset the increasing cost of wildland fires as we continue trending towards warmer and drier summers.
2. I wouldn’t be willing to increase any existing taxes. Creating additional revenue in conjunction with legalizing recreational marijuana use and sports gambling for adults is something I would be open to though.
3. Not at this time, but if elected I would be willing to cut any services with waste, fraud or abuse issues. Support our logging industry with appropriate legislation. Weyerhaeuser is an important employer in my district. Our state is rich with natural resources and opportunity but I see mismanagement from Helena and Washington. We can harvest and maintain our public lands without destroying the health of the ecosystem. A selective harvest (think thinning) from forests actually creates a healthier environment.
4. By harvesting more of our timberlands and keeping our state taxes down. I once made a decent living at a Columbia Falls plywood plant, my father and grandfather did the same while successfully raising families in Libby. I believe its possible to bring these jobs back for future generations without adversely effecting the environment and our growing tourism industry.
5. The federal government controls 29 percent of our state lands, primarily in our western third of the state. The people living here and dealing with the annual forest fires deserve more say in how this lands managed. I would like to open up more of our timber lands to logging and believe a vast majority of the people in Lincoln county feel the same way. Creating more jobs doing this would increase state and county revenue while making it easier for first responders to initially attack wildland fires when they ignite.
6. I lived in Florida, Washington and California and went around the world while serving in the Navy. No other place compares to the natural beauty of Lincoln County, and the work ethic of the people living here is unsurpassed in my opinion. Federal over regulation has killed off most of the blue-collar timber industry jobs, and state over regulation is currently holding up mining jobs in Lincoln County leaving us with a economically disastrous 12.7 percent unemployment rate. Striking the right balance that brings back jobs without destroying the natural environment that makes living here so special is my number one priority. My secondary priority is getting the Montana legislature on board with the constitutional convention of the states project 12 other states have already passed. Out of control federal spending is destroying the value of the dollar, our constitutional rights are under siege and an article 5 convention of the states might be our last hope of preserving the inalienable rights that originally made this country great for future generations.