Jore plays pivotal role in divided House

HELENA - He sits on the Democratic side of the aisle in the Montana House, yet consistently casts conservative votes.

Rep. Rick Jore, the Legislature's sole Constitution Party lawmaker, is arguably the biggest wild card in upcoming budget debates, and in curious ways.

The cordial trout farmer from Ronan is an ardent fiscal conservative who in previous sessions as a Republican never cast a vote in support of House Bill 2, the Legislature's major spending bill.

But now as a potential tie-breaker in a House with 50 Republicans and 49 Democrats, he finds himself in a potentially all-important tie-breaker position on the state budget. That puts him an unusual position - he can either support some degree of spending increase in the Republican's so-called "six pack" budget approach, or he can stick to his ideological views on government spending, running the risk of rendering himself irrelevant.

Jore is well aware of the intricacies of the situation. The six Republican spending bills are intended to limit the increase in state spending over the next two years to around 13 percent.

For the House Republican leadership, that's far preferable to the 22 percent spending increase that was in Gov. Brian Schweitzer's proposed budget.

"I'm not comfortable being in a game of political strategy," Jore said Monday, just a couple of days before House floor debates are scheduled to begin on the six budget bills. "Where I am comfortable is voting on my oath to uphold the Constitution and to uphold my political convictions."

"Rick's challenge will be, can he live with chipping away at the size of government, or will he vote absolutely no, giving a Democratic majority?" said Rep. Craig Witte, a Republican freshman from Kalispell.

"From what I understand, it is a tremendously unique situation," said Rep. Doug Cordier, a freshman Democrat from Columbia Falls. "And in some ways, I'm glad it's Rick who's in that position. He's certainly not going to be pressured by anybody."

Jore's position of power in the Legislature is remarkable, considering the rough welcome he got as a Constitution Party lawmaker who was appointed to chair the House Education Committee.

"People made him out to be a tyrant," said House Speaker Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, adding that most lawmakers have since come to recognize Jore as being "very fair and balanced" in the way he runs the committee.

Those views, purveyed in the media, were based on Jore's legislation to eliminate compulsory school attendance and his conservative views on school funding, including his proposal to eliminate the state's participation in the federal No Child Left Behind program.

Jore chuckles at how he is perceived by some. "Oh yeah, here comes the bad guy to town," he said. "I can't help what people assume about me … All I can do is stand up for what the Constitution was founded on."

He unabashedly advocates some of his more controversial positions.

On excessive spending growth: He says Montana's $8.8 billion budget, including federal dollars, amounts to a tax of $11,000 per year on each of the state's households. Montana households don't pay that much in income and property taxes, but they do pay it in the form of a long list of hidden taxes, including purchases from a business that passes along the cost of its taxes.

"We start talking about billions, and it doesn't affect people," Jore said. "That's why I break it down and point that out."

He views No Child Left Behind as an affront to state's rights and a flagrant violation of the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment, which asserts states rights.

He has similar views on a variety of social programs and he believes that the state's Office of Public Instruction is "toeing the line of the federal government" unconstitutionally.

While Jore doesn't get traction on some issues with fellow lawmakers, he says he does get their attention.

"I appreciate that they are willing to listen to me," he said. "At times, I think they are acknowledging that, you know, that Jore, he makes some good points."

Jore said his approach in chairing the Education Committee has been broad and fair.

"I think there's been this kind of assumption in the past that the Education Committee is supposed to do the bidding of the education establishment … Parents and taxpayers deserve as much say as anyone else."

Cordier, a career educator with the Columbia Falls school district, backs Jore up about fairness.

"He is very upfront, he's transparent and he's good to his word," Cordier said. "I would much rather work with a gentleman like Rick rather than someone who has an unstated agenda and is masquerading as someone else."

"He's not sinister," Cordier said. "It just happens he and I don't agree on how to view our education system."

Cordier noted that Jore's influence has already been felt far beyond education.

"You can't talk about Rick as an individual without talking about the whole session," Cordier said.

That's because Jore already has been the swing vote on many bills, sometimes siding with Democrats.

Jore cites the example of voting against a bill involving a $28 million spending increase to freeze higher education tuition costs, because in his view it was too much spending. House Democrats unanimously voted against it because it didn't provide enough funding.

He says a similar outcome is possible with the upcoming budget bills.

"If these budgets come out the way they are, they'll vote against them because they don't have enough [spending] and I'll vote against them because they have too much," he said.

Jore strongly suggests he is willing to accept some level of spending increases, and he has been discussing "some numbers" with the Republican leadership.

"I'm concientious of the issues they have in their caucus," he said. "They either have to go up high enough [in spending] to get Democrat votes or they'll have to go down to get me."

Speaker Sales summed it up: "He has a lot of power, and I think we're going to see it in the coming week."

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