FAMILIES MUST BE CONSIDERED FIRST IN MONTANA – FAMILIES ARE MONTANA'S MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE – FAMILY VALUES MUST BE PROTECTED AND ENHANCED.

To make Montana the best place for families, there are some key issues that need to considered in the 2007 legislature:

1. Taxes are a great burden on families, and although some tax is necessary, taxes must be reduced. Property owners particularly need tax relief from property tax.

2. Government must be curtailed it costs too much and imposes too great of its will on the individual and families. We must work with education and families to teach correct principles and allow persons to govern themselves.

3. Provide adequate funding for education. The scope of Education in Montana is governed by Article X of the Montana Constitution. Section 9 creates Boards of Education. The State Board of Education is responsible for long range planning, and for coordinating and evaluating policies and programs for the state’s educational systems. It shall submit unified budget requests. The Board has broad plenary authority and is responsible to exercise that authority under the funds that are available to it. It has the duty to work closely with the legislature and the executive to achieve the goals imposed by the Constitution. I intend to support those principles.

4. We must develop our natural resources but we need to develop them in a manner that will not permanently degrade our environment.

5. Energy availability and cost is always a concern to us all. We must develop our energy sources to keep the cost of energy low.

6. Create a favorable business climate that will provide for quality jobs that will allow our children to stay in Montana, but still keep our Montana way of life.

7. There are other problems that need to be addressed that have affected families. DUI and METH are serious problems in Montana. We need to strengthen the laws to reduce the DUI problem. We must get at the root of the METH problem. I gained much insight into those problems while serving as Chairman of the Probation and Parole Board. There is also prison overcrowding. The costs for corrections is the second largest amount in the State Budget.

8. Lobbyists can provide much good information to the legislature for consideration, however individual influence of individual legislatures should be eliminated and lobbying by governmental departments should be eliminated. The government grows too fast by itself without lobbyists being hired to help grow the department.

9. Although we have a small population in Montana there are still problems with access for sports persons, access for hunters and fishers on public lands and public water ways must be preserved. I support laws that provide access and use by all Montanans as long as those rights do not infringe on private property rights.

10. The 2nd Amendment to the U. S. Constitution guarantees to all citizens the right to keep and bear arms. This is an individual right and must be protected. I will protect those rights.

11. One of the most important roles of a legislature is to see that special interest legislation is not passed. Many legislators come to Helena with an agenda that favors special interests or they do not like what a local government has done. They want the State Legislature to micro manage the local governments. I believe that only laws that have State wide application and affect the State wide citizens should be adopted by the State Legislature and leave local matters to the local governments. The local officials are more accessible to the local citizenry. Every person should be held responsible for his or her acts and omissions that harm others.  No law should be passed that grants to any one group special privileges and special protection from their own personal responsibility.

12. A State Legislator should vote to pass laws that have state wide effect. He should be a statesman and not a minion of the special interests. I am not tied to any special interest group. I have concerns for Montana and each of its citizens.

13. We have a large and sometimes confusing body of laws. Some of the governmental agencies have adopted rules and regulations that exceed the authority and scope of laws envisioned by the legislature. I will support repeal of conflicting and confusing laws and will support laws that hold the governmental agencies in check.

14. Underlying all issues that come before the legislature is the philosophy of Thomas Paine, which I also adopt as I serve in the legislature. I will continue to base my service on that philosophy which is: “That government is best which governs least.” There are many issues that will be considered. I will consider each issue and bill that comes before the legislature with the understanding that families are first and “That government is best which governs least”.