House candidates differ on education policy
Editor’s note: Early voting for the general election begins Monday, Oct. 4, the first day that absentee ballots will be available. Election Day is Nov. 2.
The candidates for House District 6 foresee spending cuts in Montana’s future.
Republican incumbent Bill Beck and Democratic challenger Scott Wheeler are vying to represent House District 6, which stretches north of Whitefish and west to the Flathead County line.
Both candidates cited economic concerns among the most pressing issues Montanans are facing.
“Our biggest issue is how we maintain a balanced budget without tax increases while protecting quality education and the Children’s Health Insurance Program,” Wheeler said in an e-mail from Europe to the Inter Lake.
“If there is going to be a deficit, we must reduce spending to meet our means,” he said.
But Wheeler cautioned that one part of the state’s budget shouldn’t suffer if Montana is in financial trouble.
“Education must not be the bill-payer since an educated population is an economic necessity,” he said. “We owe each Montanan equal opportunity to become a successfully educated citizen and member of the work force.”
The way schools are funded needs work, Wheeler added.
“We need to reform finance in the state so that education does not rely so heavily on property taxes,” he said. “The Republican Senate failed to protect people from unfair and too rapid increase of property taxes.”
Wheeler said he would support a form of tax appraisal similar to California’s Proposition 13, which capped the tax rate for real estate.
Wheeler also supports fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. They should pay “a very large fine” for each worker, and “pay punitive fines” for subsequent offenses, he said.
In the meantime, he said, “The federal government must get the borders secure.”
When it comes to medical marijuana, Wheeler said he is in favor of going back to voters to find out if they want to continue to allow it. He also wants better controls for the drug.
“The last Legislature failed to enact the appropriate regulations to ensure that medical marijuana facilities did not become a danger to safety and to the appeal of our cities. The rules around the medical use of marijuana must be tightened to equal those for any other addictive medical drug,” he said.
Wheeler also supports “tougher DUI laws, from first offense on.”
So does his opponent.
Beck said he is “disturbed” that people with multiple drunk-driving offenses are still behind the wheel without “really substantial action” against them.
“We’ve got to put a stop to that,” he said.
Beck said employment and business are among his top concerns. He wants to find ways to “put people back to work” and to help small businesses in the state.
“We need to give them the necessary tools they need to be successful” — tools that will help them grow, expand and hire people in “quality-type jobs” with benefits, including health insurance, Beck said.
He said he also wants to improve communication between Montana and the business community, which to date has been “a one-way street” with the state in control, he said.
Property taxes are another issue Beck hopes to work on if he’s elected to a third term. Many people hit by high taxes after reappraisals inherited property that has been in their families for generations, he said.
“They’re common, everyday working people,” he said. “We’ve got to find relief for this.”
As for new taxes or tax increases, Beck promised to fight them.
“Forget it. It’s not going to happen if I have anything to do with it,” he said.
Money woes extend beyond taxes to the state level, Beck said. He has heard revenues could be down as much as $500 million in the next session. If that happens, many things will have be to trimmed, he said.
“I think there probably will be big spending cuts,” he said. “I’m sort of a penny pincher. I’m a fiscal conservative. We need to reverse state spending.”
Funding for schools will continue to be an issue, Beck said. He said that the Legislature likely will have to look at consolidation, an option vehemently opposed by many districts, particularly small, rural schools.
But Beck also said he has talked to many administrators who say they want more local control over their school districts’ administration and finances. That’s something “I’d like to see the Legislature take a very close look at,” he said.
Beck supports raising money by developing Montana’s natural resources, particularly coal, oil and gas. He also wants to stand up for states’ rights and personal freedoms, which he says are being challenged by the federal government.
He cited as an example the federal government “going after” Arizona over its immigration law.
“I think the state is doing exactly what it had to do,” he said. “I just don’t want to see that happen in the state of Montana.”
Bill Beck
Republican
Age: Not provided
Family: Wife, Roberta; four adult children
Occupation: Retired from budget and finance
Background: House District 6 representative since 2007. Former treasurer of the District of Columbia. Former director of Public Safety Training, Police, Fire and Corrections, District of Columbia; former administrator of real property taxes, District of Columbia. Served in the U.S. Navy. Earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland; earned a graduate degree in business administration from the University of Michigan. Grew up in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Scott Wheeler
Democrat
Age: 63
Family: Wife, Jane; two adult sons
Occupation: Retired Army officer; active historian and author
Background: Leadership facilitator for the U.S. Army in Europe; served in and commanded Army tank and helicopter units in Vietnam, Germany and the United States; former professor of European history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Montana; master’s and doctoral degrees in history from the University of California. Grew up in Billings and Spokane.
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.