1. I do not support this. We already have a tax to capture income from the millions of visitors who come to Montana each year; it is called the bed tax. The bed tax creates a few good marketing jobs in Montana, but businesses are increasingly feeling the need to turn to HB-1 foreign nationals to fill their employment needs because too many local people cannot afford to live in the area when the employment season is so short. It is time to use some of that money to help maintain critical infrastructure.

2. It is the duty of the state to set the standards in regard to public safety, water quality and other environmental concerns, then to see to it that those standards are adhered to. That means fixing the DEQ so that it can function the way it is supposed to without standing in the way of progress.

3. Keeping our public goods and services public. That means that I would have voted for the streamside access bill, and/or done a lot of negotiating with any parties who would prevent it from coming to the floor. Also, there is a current proposal to privatize workman’s comp, a budding public relations effort to privatize public education as well as the eternal effort to get more of our resources into fewer pockets. I remember how disastrous it was to “save money” by privatizing our mental health services.

4. I am a Democrat so I think for myself; the other party is the one that repeats Heritage Foundation lines so often that everybody starts believing they must be true because they heard them so often. By
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Beacon Staff, 10-29-08 |

The questions and other candidates are here.