House District 3

By NANCY KIMBALL/Daily Inter Lake

Two experienced public servants from the Columbia Falls and Canyon areas are vying to represent the citizens of House District 3 this year.

Former Republican lawmaker Dee Brown, a three-term representative who left the House when Rep. Doug Cordier, D-Columbia Falls, defeated her in 2006, will face Democratic newcomer Mick Holm, who retired in January as superintendent of Glacier National Park.

House District 3 includes the Columbia Falls, Canyon and North Fork areas, stretching along the Continental Divide north to the Canadian border.

Brown figures her longevity in the Flathead speaks to the statewide presence locals will have if she's sent back to Helena.

"I was raised in House District 3," Brown said. "I feel strongly I'm representing my district because I know the struggles they've gone through, not only as families but as businesses."

Brown retired from teaching in School District 6 in 1998, and by 2001 was sitting in the Montana House of Representatives and on the audit committee. She served during the 2001, 2003 and 2005 sessions.

"I was in the first freshman class after term limits" were put in place, she said, "and I watched the number of bills go up every year."

New legislators reintroduced ideas that had been nixed many times before, she said, costing $1,000 for each new bill. For that reason, Brown said she has introduced no more than five bills a session.

Brown said she works best in committee, hammering out bipartisan agreement on proposed legislation.

She applauds newly rediscovered profits for farmers cashing in on stronger grain prices and employment for Eastern Montana workers as oil and gas revenues rise.

But the latter - along with a $90 million increase in individual income tax revenue - helped usher in a $400 million state general fund surplus at the end of the fiscal year, something that rubs Brown the wrong way.

"Any surplus is actually an overtax of the people," she said. "Taxpayers know how to spend their money way better than the government does, and I will always vote in favor of the people."

Her best bill, she said, was HB 16 introduced in the 2002 special session requiring state agencies to bill the U.S. government for federally backed program expenditures within 30 days. It has saved $1 million a year now that the state treasury is not covering costs and losing interest until reimbursement, she said.

Brown reiterated her longtime support for developing southeast Montana's coal tracts for coal-bed methane, bringing in tax revenue to fund public schools.

"I don't believe one-time money is the answer to educational funding, rather sustainable growth. And that can be paid for by using our natural resources," she said.

"We don't want any more young teachers to go to Gillette, Wyoming," where first-year teachers are paid $15,000 to $20,000 more a year than in Montana, she said. "Wyoming figured it out, but we still have coal permits that the DEQ is holding up for scrutiny.

"Coal-fired generation is the future to our energy independence, and with the technology today, I believe we can do it responsibly."

Alternative energy sources should be part of the mix, she said, but tight controls on consumer costs need to be in place. Belt-tightening is a fact of life everywhere.

"Families can't spend on frivolous items when they're worried about gas and milk," Brown said. "I'll take that to Helena. Let them keep it in their pocket."

She called the property tax reappraisal the legislature's hot-button issue. She advocated "as little impact to the taxpayer as possible," and pledged to work with other lawmakers to come up with a mitigation formula that won't hurt Montana families.

Holm's longtime ties to Montana - he grew up just east of the Rocky Mountain Front at Brady - and nearly 33 years with the National Park Service provide a unique perspective.

It's his first run for elected office, an answer to those who urged him to step in when Cordier decided not to run for re-election.

"You have to seize the opportunity when it comes," Holm said. "This is not new to me. I've been working in public service a long time."

He advocates openness, accountability, integrity and a focus on the citizens he hopes to represent. And he pledged to work for child health insurance in Montana, a long-term solution to K-12 public school funding and better teacher pay, energy development and public lands access.

His background in conservation will be fodder for his work to uphold Montana's constitutional mandate to protect and improve the natural environment, he said.

"Our public lands are public lands for hiking, fishing … the whole array of uses," he said. "That's the draw here." To keep public support, he said, lands need to stay open.

As he has knocked on doors in the district, he found top concerns are the economy: $4 gas, the rising cost of food, job layoffs and the like.

"People are having trouble out there," Holm said. He said he will tackle solutions by listening first to workers, then employers, "to see what we can do to soften the blow."

Holm would look at clean-and-green energy sources such as wind, hydroelectricity, solar and biodiesel. And he would tap the state's wealth of natural resources.

"Now we're coal-energy based, and we've got a lot of coal out there," he said. But "we've got to have assurances that we can meet the mandate of the Constitution and still use coal."

Helena is "doing some good things" to help with business investment in the state, he said, "but people are aware we need to revisit the climate out there" to encourage businesses to move into the state.

Half of the just-ended fiscal year's $400 million general fund surplus, Holm said, could be salted away as reserves for the future.

"I'm certainly not in favor of increased taxation," Holm said.

Investing in well-paying jobs and skills-oriented programs at schools and colleges is the best way to give citizens a competitive edge in tough times, he said.

Holm advocates full-day kindergarten, lower tuition levels at Montana's colleges and universities, and incentives for teachers to work in rural areas. Legislative Initiative 188, the 6-mill levy funding the Montana university system, is up for its 10-year renewal vote this year. Holm said community colleges need to be included in that funding levy.

Negotiations over the six-year reappraisal cycle need to consider rising property values caused by growth here, he said.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com