State candidates queried at Polson forum

A legislative forum, jointly sponsored by the local Republican and Democratic parties, attracted five candidates and around 60 voters to the Montecahto Club near Finley Point Monday night.

Tom Spencer, who teaches U.S. Government at Polson High School, moderated the event, asking candidates to answer five prepared questions plus a handful from audience members.

Attendees included House District 93 incumbent Joe Read (R) and challenger Shirley Azzopardi (D), both of Ronan; Ralph Foster of St. Ignatius (R), who hopes to wrest representation of HD15 from incumbent Marvin Weatherwax Jr.; Susan Webber of Browning (D), who represents Senate District 8, and faces opposition from Republican Rick Jennison of Ronan; and Sterling Laudon (D), a candidate for HD12. That seat is currently held by Linda Reksten (R), who was unable to attend due to a COVID infection; her prepared answers were read by Jill Read.

Housing Crisis

After introducing themselves, candidates were asked how the Legislature can address the housing shortage in Lake County. Read took the mic first and advocated simplifying state laws and subdivision rules. He warned, however, “when the state becomes involved in housing projects it gets tied down in bureaucracy.”

“We need to streamline policies from the local level on,” said Webber. She noted that while Montana ranks near the bottom in per-capita income levels, it’s currently one of the fastest growing states. “There’s a lot of new housing being built, but it doesn’t reflect our communities.”

Foster supported more leeway in zoning regulations that would allow for more trailer courts and other inexpensive housing solutions.

“But there’s a certain attitude that prevails: I’m here, I don’t want it to change and I don’t want more people to come in.”

Reksten, in her prepared statement, mentioned that high interest rates, inflation, population growth and a lack of skilled workers and materials were compounding the housing crisis. She touted legislation passed during the last session that included property tax exemptions for affordable housing and allocated $2 million in funding for affordable housing from the Coal Severance Tax Fund.

“There is more work to be done,” she said, including reducing regulations that slow housing development.

Azzopardi suggested making low-interest funds available to developers who build affordable rental units, and creating a housing trust fund from the state’s current $1 billion surplus. Locally, she advocates more cooperation between state, county, city and tribal governments.

“It’s a really tough issue, and we all have to come together on it,” she said.

Laudon spoke from experience, describing how hard it was for him and his wife to find a place to live in Polson. While local zoning and building regulations are a factor, he encouraged the state government to incentivize low income and high-density housing.

“It takes a multi-pronged approach,” he said, so that “my generation, my kids and grandkids can hopefully buy their own houses someday.”

Budget Surplus

Asked about how to spend the state’s budget surplus, estimated at more than $1 billion, Webber listed three priorities: housing, mental health and child care. Foster advocated modernizing the state’s computer systems and services and expanding welfare benefits to help lift the working poor out of poverty. Reksten suggested reducing the tax burden on citizens and addressing mental health needs across the state.

Azzopardi pointed out that the surplus was the result of one-time federal largess. She suggested allocating a portion toward housing and investing more in the state’s capital development fund for water and sewer projects and to update aging school buildings. Enhancing child care and improving access to mental health care were her other priorities.

Laudon was also in favor of spending more on infrastructure, “stuff that’s not sexy but makes a big difference to the community.” Increases in tax credits that benefit middle- and low-income people and creating incentives for contractors to build cheaper housing were also on his list.

Read, who sits on the House appropriations committee, says the question is “how do we give it back and who do we give it back to?” He believes dispersing the money among state agencies will only grow government, and ultimately lead to a budget shortfall.

“I’m a limited government man,” he said, and favors returning the excess to local governments “to spend on behalf of local taxpayers.”

Montana’s Supreme Court

Is the Montana judiciary functioning as it should? That question sparked a lively debate between Democratic and Republican candidates.

Linda Rexsten took issue with the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down voting laws regarding voter ID, voter assistance and same-day registration passed by the Legislature in 2021. She accused the high court of “taking on an activist role in Montana,” and violating the state constitution, which gives the Legislature the authority to set requirements for elections.

“The judiciary has taken a position of legislating from the bench and it is in violation of the separation of powers,” she wrote.

Azzopardi countered that the court was well within its authority when it ruled the laws unconstitutional last Friday and noted that legal wrangling over the issue cost Montana taxpayers around $1 million.

Laudon, an attorney who heads the public defender’s office in Lake County, voiced his support for the non-partisan nature of Montana’s judiciary and maintained that the laws overturned by the court targeted tribal members, students and young people, making it harder for them to vote.

He also alleged that Republicans are aiming to replace a well-qualified incumbent on the court with an “underexperienced and unqualified” candidate who would “rubber stamp” legislation and undermine the right-to-privacy clause in the state’s constitution.

According to Read, “it was never our intent – although it does look that way – to suppress the vote.” Instead, he said the Legislature aimed to make it easier to count the vote in one day and clear up some “behind-the-scenes” issues with voting.

“The domain of voter registration is exclusively that of the Legislature and the judiciary is trespassing,” he added.

Webber outlined the ways in which the trio of bills constituted voter suppression by making it more difficult for those in remote communities and students to vote.

“It hurts the Indian people, it hurts the people who are way out there,” she said, adding, “I know firsthand about voter suppression.”

Education Reforms

A question about the current state of education drew mixed responses, especially from the forum’s two educators.

According to Rexsten, a longtime school administrator, Montana students have been slipping in reading and math since 2017, with the state sliding from among the top 10 for educational outcomes to 32nd among the 50 states. She’s a firm advocate of school choice, enhanced online learning, school apprenticeships, career technical education, and dual credits with the university system. She also supports updated teacher training and increasing salaries of first-year teachers.

Azzopardi, who spent 30 years as a special education teacher, believes “public dollars need to stay in public schools,” adding that she does not support vouchers or charter schools.

“The task of public education is huge,” she says. “We educate all children regardless of their needs or readiness to learn. Every child that walks through that door – hungry, homeless or abused – we educate.”

She advocates adding school counselors and library media specialists, and creating more options for career and technical education and apprenticeships, while opposing efforts to relax teacher accreditation standards.

Taxation and Public Law 280

Although the final topic was taxation, the conversation veered into a discussion of Public Law 280, which mandates that Lake County investigate and prosecute felonies involving tribal members at a considerable cost to local taxpayers.

Laudon, who introduced the issue, encouraged legislators to remain unified in requiring the state to pick up the tab, estimated at $4.5 million a year. Other candidates also chimed in, with Read noting that he helped author legislation during the last session that would have required the state to cover those expenses. The bill was rejected by the Legislature and now the county has sued the state for reimbursement.

While Webber agreed that Lake County is unique as the only county in the state governed by PL-280, she worried that if the Legislature agrees to reimburse the county, “we open the door for all other counties” on reservations. “It’s going to cost the citizens of Montana to take care of the $4 million bill annually.”

Foster suggested that the county consider pulling out of the PL-280 agreement and return those law-enforcement duties to the federal government.

“The solution to this is not with the state,” he said. “It needs to be with the government that created the reservation system.”

On the topic of taxation, Reksten bluntly stated, “Montanans are overtaxed.” She proposed a thorough examination of the tax system, with the aim of reducing the tax burden on individuals and families, and simultaneously pruning regulations to encourage more business development.

“The way forward to encourage Legislature to pass common sense legislation to help all Montanans weather the storm of inflation,” she wrote.

Candidates also fielded audience questions on access to affordable health care, law enforcement, and infrastructure goals (access to broadband topped most candidates’ lists).

Absentee ballots will be mailed Oct. 14 to all those registered to receive them. To check on voter registration, visit sosmt.gov/elections/ and for more information on local elections and polling places, head to www.lakemt.gov/170/Elections or call 406-883-7268.