Senate race has been a contentious one

The Daily Inter Lake

The Senate District 5 race has been a prickly one, with two candidates trading barbs for months.

Rep. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, is aiming for the state Senate with a campaign centered on socially and fiscally conservative positions, with an ongoing interest in education and water rights issues over his eight years in the House.

Ric Smith, the Democratic candidate from Finley Point, is campaigning on a populist appeal of "putting the people ahead of the parties."

His campaign has sought to paint Jackson as a "Helena insider" who has taken more than $3,500 in "special interest" money during his tenure in the House. Smith has shunned contributions from political action committees.

Smith, who has owned a real estate brokerage since 1981, has long been involved in conservation, serving as chairman of Montana Trout Unlimited and on the boards the Flathead Lakers and Friends of the Biological Station on Flathead Lake. He has also been active in economic development efforts.

He maintains that his experience suits him well to handle issues related to growth, as an "advocate for planning that is good for business and our community."

For weeks Smith and Jackson have been in a war of words, mostly through letters to the editor.

"He and I have very differing visions for this state and I want people to know about those differences," Smith said.

Jackson contends that Smith has repeatedly distorted and misrepresented his views and past votes.

Smith, for instance, has charged that Jackson "sponsored a bill to eliminate school buses, school lunches and kindergarten from our education system."

Jackson says that doesn't mean he wants to eliminate any of those services. The bill was requested by the Legislature's Select Committee on Education as a means of defining the "basic system" of education outlined in the Montana Constitution, and it was never advanced out of committee. Rather than eliminating those services, he said, it would have put them outside the state's funding responsibility, but they would surely continue because the public supports them.

"He's got mumbo jumbo [explanations] for all of this stuff," Smith said. "It's political speak. The bottom line is there is a bill and you either vote for it or you don't."

Smith also challenges Jackson's opposition to a bill that provided an exemption to the first $20,000 in business equipment taxed by the state. The legislation reduced taxes on 13,000 businesses and is often mentioned by other Democratic candidates.

What Smith doesn't mention, Jackson says, is the Republican caucus position that the 3 percent business equipment was scheduled to be phased out entirely, but Democrats froze it at that rate and then provided the exemption.

Smith says he would support a tax cut for 13,000 businesses "if that's the only option I had."

Jackson said Republicans and Democrats often support different approaches to various issues, and when a Republican does not vote for the Democratic approach, it doesn't mean they ignored the issue.

Smith has said that Jackson

does not support maintaining access to public land and waters because he did not support legislation that requires government to replace any access that is abandoned.

Jackson said he did not vote for the legislation because the state Constitution and present law adequately protect access. Jackson adds that he has staunchly supported Montanans for Multiple Use and the group's efforts to maintain motorized access to national forest lands.

Smith said he would rise above "partisan politics" as a state senator.

"We have to put the people ahead of the parties. My first concern is to put the people first," he said.

Smith has a different view than Gov. Brian Schweitzer about property tax relief - the governor favors a one-time $400 rebate for all resident taxpayers, but Smith advocates more permanent relief in the form of acquisition-based property valuations. A person who bought a home for $100,000 10 years ago shouldn't see that property's appraised value increase as a result of more recent sales prices of neighboring homes.

Jackson favors the Republican plan of providing residential taxpayers with a percentage reduction on their taxes.

"A tax reduction is always better than a tax rebate," he said. While Democrats say that approach would provide bigger tax breaks for the owners of more expensive properties, Jackson says "it's the people who are paying the most who ought to get the most back."

The state is bound to see a budget surplus in excess of $500 million. The Legislature's first priority, Jackson said, is to give some of that money back to taxpayers.

"If the Democrats and Republicans are going to try to outdo each on giving money back to the taxpayers, I'm going to be as happy as a clam," he said. "Usually, I'm trying to give it back and the Democrats are trying to find new ways to spend it."

He and Smith both advocate completely eliminating the business equipment tax.

Smith said he advocates improved conditions for small business. He favors expanding the state-subsidized small business insurance program. He thinks the Legislature should do "zero-based" budgeting that aligns spending with anticipated revenues.

"If it's good enough for Main Street, then it's good enough for government," he said.

On education, Jackson says more money should be "going to the classroom," including teacher pay.

There is a problem, he said, when Montana teacher salaries are 47th in the nation while Montana's per-student funding falls in the middle of national standings.

He said a relentless push for increased education funding in Helena goes to a "top-heavy" education system. Jackson believes spending should be targeted to address specific problems, such as increasing salaries for starting teachers to improve retention and recruitment. He also believes the state has too many school districts, resulting in cost duplication.

Smith also contends there is room for improved efficiencies in the education system.

"I think there are opportunities for running schools in a more efficient manner," he said. As an example, he said schools in an area like the Flathead Valley could do better in consolidating costs, such as supply purchases.

Senate District 5 covers the eastern Flathead Valley, extending south into the Lake County/Polson area.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com