Page 26 - Flathead Beacon // 6.3.15

26 | JUNE 3, 2015 OPINION
LETTERS
DEMOCRACY’S WATCHDOGS JOHNSON, DENNISON WILL BE MISSED
It’s a disappointing time for Montana’s Fourth Estate because the bylines of Chuck Johnson and Mike Dennison will no longer appear in Lee newspapers. With their years of experienced and insightful coverage of Montana’s Capitol, Dennison and Johnson held elected officials and government accountable, and held watch over our democracy.
We get it that traditional newspapers struggle to keep up with Internet competition. Lee Enterprises’ stock is down 16 percent year to date. Lee newspapers and other hallmarks of the Fourth Estate have had to adapt. Sadly, adaptation has meant cutting loose exceptional journalists, and closing up shop – leaving the public with more information noise and less journalism. The medium of the “new media” is not the message. The message comes from substantive journalism and skilled journalists like Johnson and Dennison.
It’s been reported that the two were given a steep pay cut option. According to proxy statements, Lee Enterprises Chief Executive Officer Mary Junck makes nearly $3 million a year in salary, bonus, stock and more. Wonder if she and other Lee brass will step forward to take pay cuts? Wonder if they’ll close their corner offices along with the Montana bureau? Wonder if they realize they’re destroying the very foundation of democracy by selling out Montana’s Fourth Estate and chipping away at its fair and free press.
Montanans could always count on Dennison and Johnson for thorough, objective and ethical coverage of Capitol politics. These veteran journalists documented history as they wrote about our lives. We will miss them, and our lives will be less without their work.
Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell Helena
RESPONSIBLE RINOS ABANDONED THEIR PARTY
The post-Legislature propaganda being spouted by the Democrats and their left-leaning confederates has certainly reached new levels of unbelievable barnyard drivel.
Take Governor Bullock’s letter, “Session was a Bipartisan Success.” In the first place, governor, in order to be bipartisan, there must be two parties involved. Governor Bullock, you would have us believe that the Responsible RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) who abandoned their party to join forces with the left were truly representing the Republicans who voted for them. They were not. Like the proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing, these Democrat Lights
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were posers who shammed their way into office. One nice outcome is that these posers are not likely to be reelected when their constituents are reminded next election of their voting record.
Bob Brown has pontificated about how the evil Anaconda Copper Mining Company overruled the liberal Democratic majority in 1932 by creating a coalition of Moderate Democrats and Republicans. Bob claims that the liberals were maligned by being labeled as radicals and were unable to put forth any of their ideas.
It is a pity Bob only went back to the 1932 Legislature. Had he bothered to go back to the 1909 legislature, he could have noted the Democrats’ ideological plan in putting forth and passing, with the support of the of the Responsible RINOs of that day, “An Act Prohibiting Marriages between White Persons, Negroes, Persons of Negro Blood, and Between White Persons, Chinese, and Japanese, and Making such Marriages Void,; and Prescribing punishment for Solemnizing Such Marriages,” which became law on March 3, 1909.
Then as now, the coalition of Democrats and Responsible RINOs succeeded in taking the rights from one group of Montana citizens in favor of another.
This past Legislature saw representation and support for Governor Bullock, the Democrats, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, but not for the constituents of the Responsible RINOs. I believe there will be a different make up next time.
Richard Funk Kalispell
LEGISLATORS WORKED TOGETHER FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
While news coverage of the 2015 Legislative Session focused on high- profile and often contentious issues, legislators in both parties worked together diligently to pass bills I brought forward to improve public safety, protect privacy, and strengthen consumer-protection laws.
Leading up to session, the Montana Department of Justice crafted an ambitious and important legislative agenda aimed at addressing real needs throughout the state. To pass these bills, we enlisted the help of a diverse group of legislators from all over the state.
Building on our landmark DUI reforms from the 2013 session, Rep. Keith Regier (R-Kalispell) sponsored our bill doubling the minimum fines for DUI offenses and requiring people to pay an administrative fee when they refuse to provide a breath sample. These changes, along with our efforts to expand the 24/7 Sobriety Program around the state, are important in my goal to reduce the number of repeat DUI offenders. One DUI- related death or injury on our highways is too many.
Rep. Kim Dudik (D-Missoula) carried our bill taking a comprehensive approach
to addressing human trafficking. It helps ensure that human traffickers are brought to justice, but it also will help foster a victim-centered approach to those impacted by what truly is modern-day slavery.
Working with Rep. Stephanie Hess (R-Havre), we asked the Legislature for authorization to create a permanent sexual assault prosecution unit within the Montana Department of Justice. This will help us dedicate resources to train prosecutors and law enforcement throughout the state to better deal with sex crimes that affect so many Montanans. Much more needs to be done on this issue, and I look forward to working with prosecutors, law enforcement, victim advocates, and legislators to achieve real results.
To address real threats to Montanans’ privacy, we brought forward three important measures. Sen. Jennifer Fielder (R-Thompson Falls) carried our bill to fix Montana’s outdated laws against secretly viewing/recording another person by including the use of cell phone cameras and other means made possible by new technology. Rep. Ryan Lynch (D-Butte) was instrumental in our efforts to require companies doing business in Montana to notify our Office of Consumer Protection whenever they have suffered a breach compromising personal data. Working with Rep. Kirk Wagoner (R-Montana City) to protect constitutional privacy rights, we created penalties for anyone who abuses their authority to access confidential criminal justice information.
Thanks in large part to the hard work of Sen. Diane Sands (D-Missoula), Montana has joined the vast majority of states in prohibiting the sale of electronic cigarettes and “vaping” equipment to minors. We worked together to address the significant risk to our children’s health posed by the use of e-cigarettes.
Because a growing number of Montana small businesses are becoming victims of “patent trolling,” we worked with Sen. Cary Smith (R-Billings) to set standards for what constitutes a bad-faith assertion of a patent right. Our main- street businesses deserve legal protection from persons or entities that acquire patents not to develop products but for the sole purpose of suing, intimidating, and/or extorting supposed infringers.
These are just some of the 20 bills my office brought forward this year. All of them passed the Legislature with broad bipartisan support and were signed into law.
While the Legislature’s work may be done for now, our work at the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Justice continues. We will use these new laws and tools to improve public safety, protect privacy, and strengthen consumer protection with the goal of helping build a safer and more prosperous Montana.
Tim Fox Montana attorney general
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CORRECTIONS
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