Brown speaks in Kalispell

By JIM MANN/Daily Inter Lake

Roy Brown says he's got more than a fighting chance in challenging Gov. Brian Schweitzer, whether it be in debates or appealing to voters on issues the governor claims as his own.

Brown, a state senator and former oilman from Billings, was in Kalispell on Thursday as part of a sweeping tour through 50 Montana towns and cities in 10 days.

So far on the road, Brown said he's hearing from voters who are concerned about increased state government spending and growth of the state bureaucracy.

Brown and Schweitzer put forth competing bar graphs to explain increased government spending.

Brown's contends that the state general fund's bottom line has increased by 40 percent since Schweitzer took office.

Schweitzer's bar graph accounts for "ongoing" general fund expenditures, claiming a much more modest 7 percent increase in spending.

Schweitzer's accounting does not include one-time expenditures that he often describes as "investments," such as paying cash for capital improvements instead of bonding, providing obligatory funding for state pension funds and maintaining a hefty cash balance as a "rainy day" fund.

Brown's overall general fund spending calculations also include a $400 rebate issued to Montana homeowners this year, a payout that Schweitzer considers to be a "one-time investment."

Brown said Schweitzer is rarely challenged on his claims, and he plans to do so on the major issues of taxation, government spending and energy development.

Brown does not consider the $400 rebate to be true tax relief. He advocates so-called "permanent" property tax relief to go along with a series of tax cuts advanced by Republican majorities in the Legislature before Schweitzer took office.

Those tax cuts, he said, played a major role in economic growth that allowed Schweitzer to "inherit" a $400 million surplus when he first took office.

Echoing some grumbling coming from Republican corners of the state, Brown said that Schweitzer has talked a lot about developing coal and other energy sources, such as coal-to-fuel technology.

"But what do we have to show for it?" Brown said.

Only one coal-fired plant has been proposed, near Great Falls, and Schweitzer opposed it, Brown said.

One of the best prospects for energy development involves the massive coal deposits beneath the Otter Creek state trust land in Eastern Montana. Brown questions why the governor and the State Land Board have not even sought bids from companies that might be interested in leasing those tracts.

Brown is skeptical that leases will be issued. That's because the state Board of Environmental Review includes conservation-minded members, appointed by Schweitzer, who "will never approve those kinds of projects," Brown said.

Schweitzer has pointed out that oil production in Montana has increased markedly in recent years. But Brown said "it certainly didn't have anything to do" with Schweitzer.

Rather, he said, oil development and production was spurred by a 1999 reduction in severance taxes and the discovery of oil in Richland County that proved to be one of largest finds in the continental United States in the last decade.

As the gubernatorial race develops over the next year, Brown predicts Montana voters will realize real differences and a "clear choice" between himself and Schweitzer.

"I think that's part of the contrast that people are going to see between me and Brian - do they want a showman or a work horse?" Brown said.

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