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ELECTIONS 2016
HOUSE DISTRICT 9
NAME: Randy Brodehl RESIDENCE: Kalispell
POLITICAL PARTY: Republican
FAMILY: Spouse: Joyce Brodehl; six grown children and a lot of grandkids!
OCCUPATION: Owner of R & J Enterprises, a cabinet shop in Kalispell; retired Kalispell re chief EDUCATION: B.S. degree in Fire Service Management (Business)
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Montana representative 2011 to present WEBSITE: Randybrodehl.com
1. Yes. Montana’s ever-increasing population has had a direct impact on our infrastructure. Governor Bullock vetoed the Legislature’s infrastructure bill (SB 145), which would have invested over $200 million in infrastructure projects over two years. I, as well 51 other Republicans and two Democrats, supported SB 145. We will again bring a critical infrastructure bill back before the Legislature, and I expect to support this legislation.
2. Montana has tremendous natural resources that we have done a superb job of extracting, processing, and shipping. Today, several groups, including the cur- rent federal administration, the states of Washington and Oregon, and some out-of-state, no-growth groups stand in the way of shipping our products to states and countries that desperately need our resources. Our governor continues to walk in lockstep with the Obama Administration and these other groups, taking jobs from Montanans whose families have earned a living in natural resources for generations. Our objective will be to work with the federal government, Washington
and Oregon to free up our transportation system to get our products to market. While our governor has done nothing to free up our transportation system, we in the Legislature support moving our resources to mar- ket. While Montana’s government was not designed
to x the free market, it is certainly the government’s responsibility to prevent other groups from interfering with the livelihood of Montanans working in natural resources. The results of the November election will be critical for the lives of our folks responsible for manag- ing and moving our natural resources.
3. The reduction in the extraction of natural resources, coupled with a $1.1 billion misplacement
of funds by the executive branch, has done much to threaten our ending fund balance. Unlike the federal government, the state of Montana is constitutionally bound to have a balanced budget. The greatest respon- sibility of the House of Representatives is to develop a biennium budget that is balanced and meets our con- stitutionally mandated responsibilities. I chair Sec- tion D of the Appropriations committee, which has the
authority to develop a budget for several large state agencies. I have already spoken with agency represen- tatives, going over their plans and brie ng them on budget reduction expectations. I expect we will see sig- ni cant budget impacts this coming session.
4. Yes. I support gradually transferring most pub- lic property in the hands of the federal government to state management, along with the funding currently spent to manage these public lands. Management by
a stagnated federal government has left dead forests and locked roads, and has blocked Montanans from using our lands. Transferring these lands would mean a vibrant state natural resource management program that aggressively manages our forests and our natural resources, while opening roads and freeing up our land uses for Montana families to enjoy.
5. While there are several issues ahead of us, the most pressing is reducing the role of the federal gov- ernment in our lives and our government. I will sup- port a Legislature that reduces or removes the federal role of the government in the lives of Montanans.
HOUSE DISTRICT 10 HOUSE DISTRICT 10
NAME: Mark Noland RESIDENCE: Bigfork POLITICAL PARTY: Republican FAMILY: Married, six children
OCCUPATION: Small business owner EDUCATION: High school graduate
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Former chairman
of Lake County Republican Central Committee, Precinct Committeeman
WEBSITE: [email protected]
1. I was working on some infrastructure ideas last session. This is of most concern to me. As a conser- vative, it’s important to me to use the people’s money wisely. Getting our schools that are in need of repair would be one way for all to support.
2. We need to promote all energy resources as a way to continue good-paying jobs, which will allow us to receive revenue for the future. There are grants to help people who want to get an education when a job is lost.
3. We all need to have an open mind and be very vigilant in looking at ways that we can reduce spend- ing, while looking at all variables.
4. I’m in favor of allowing the state of Montana to have the ability to manage more of our lands. We the people of Montana, “which includes our state lands management teams,” have shown we can actually make money when given the opportunity, while the federal government loses money when managing our lands.
5. The lack of revenue from our energy sectors is putting a pinch on all issues. We need to promote the wise use of our natural energy resources, and get our loggers, minors and all in the coal, gas, and oil elds back to work.
NAME: James Swanson RESIDENCE: Kalispell
POLITICAL PARTY: Independent FAMILY: Married, one son OCCUPATION: Owner of Northwest Docks, Decks, and Deliveries EDUCATION: Lincoln County High School graduate
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None
WEBSITE: None
1. I think our infrastructure is going down the tubes. I would like to see marijuana legalized, and money from that will go to repair our infrastructure, grade schools, high schools, roads and bridges. Any other money leftover should be used to fund health care for our elderly and our poor. That’s part of my platform.
2. I think for the folks working in coal and petro- leum industries, we should try to help them with retraining. If we subsidize renewable energy, like
we do petroleum and coal, we’d have lots of jobs that would need to be lled. We’re never going to stop using oil or coal — America and Montana being like they are, it’s only going to be a little while until they take coal and gure out how to make diamonds. I think part of the marijuana tax money could help us fund retrain- ing. Any people put out of work due to renewable energy replacing coal power would be the rst ones to be o ered the training opportunity.
3. One thing I wouldn’t do is defund the Depart- ment of Environmental Quality, or defund Planned Parenthood. They’ve helped my family, my wife, and myself through a lot of tough times. So the last thing
I want to do is start taking money away from groups that help people or keep our environment safe. I would also consider maybe putting a small fee on vacation home rentals and imposing nes for politicians who
aren’t honest. My other thought would be if these dark money groups want to be involved in our poli- tics, maybe they should have to pay a fee. Necessary programs dealing with schools and health care for the elderly or sick or poor shouldn’t be messed around with.
4. I spent a lot of years working in the woods, and I’ll tell you, if Weyerhaeuser wants to pull out of Mon- tana after coming in and taking over Plum Creek land so they can sell it o , I think we the people should take our land back because we gave it to the Burling- ton-Northern years ago to build a railroad. The feds are going to have to let us get the timber on their prop- erty. That’s a part of what’s wrong with our infra- structure right now. In Northwest Montana, a lot of tax money for the schools, and highways comes from the timber industry, and now we don’t have that tim- ber industry, so we don’t have that income. Now we’re going to start cutting back on coal.
5. I think global warming is one of the largest prob- lems that we are going to be faced with in our lives. Turning to renewable energy can really make a dif- ference, so I’m going to be pushing renewable energy. I’d also like to see Montana be one of the rst states
to be growing hemp again, and I’d like to see the state legalize marijuana and use the revenue to help its own people.
OCTOBER 5, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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