Page 5 - Flathead Beacon // 2.11.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
NEWS
Americans for Prosperity State Director Zach Lahn, right, listens as Rep. Frank Garner speaks to a group during a health care town hall meeting, hosted by Americans for Prosperity, in Kalispell on Feb. 5.GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Conservative Group Targets Kalispell Lawmaker Over Medicaid
FEBRUARY 11, 2015 | 5
W•O•R•D•S of the Week
AN INDEX OF RECENT NEWSMAKERS
CABIN FEVER
The communities in Bad Rock Canyon are gearing up for their annual Cabin Fever Days in Martin City. The event raises funds for various community organizations.
KRAKAUER
On Feb. 9, Jon Krakauer, author of “Into the Wild” and “Under the Banner of Heav- en,” announced that his new book about the University of Montana’s sexual assault scandal would be published in April.
COMPACT
A Libby lawmaker introduced a bill to ratify the state wa- ter rights compact with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes last week, providing lawmakers a de- tailed explanation of how the compact works in an effort to better inform the Legislature.
CREATIONISM
A Montana legislator is reviving a bill that would allow schools to teach intelligent design in science classes. Republican Rep. Clayton Fiscus introduced a similar bill in 2013 but it never made it out of committee.
Koch Industries-founded Americans for Prosperity gains little traction with Kalispell crowd
By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
A conservative advocacy group target- ing Republican state legislators it deems too liberal braved out a hostile reception in Kalispell last week when the group took
aim at local state Rep. Frank Garner, who has refused to sign a blanket pledge oppos- ing Medicaid expansion in Montana.
The group, Americans for Prosperity- Montana, has been holding “Healthcare Town Hall” meetings across the state, singling out districts in which Republi- can lawmakers have declined to support AFP’s pledges of opposition to Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
So far, the group has targeted Garner, who represents House District 7, as well
as Reps. Jeff Welborn, of Dillon, and Tom Berry, of Roundup, sending out a flurry of mailers to districts portraying the respec- tive lawmaker’s face superimposed over a photograph of President Barack Obama.
A crowd of about 100 people attended the Feb. 5 event at the Red Lion Inn in Ka- lispell. Some of them received word about the gathering through the postcard mail- ers, which read, “Tell Frank Garner to stand with us and vote no on ObamaCare’s
See Medicaid PAGE 22
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