House District 10 contenders see varied uses for state surplus

In the race for House District 10, retired special education teacher Ruby Dynneson, a Democrat, faces Republican Mark Noland, a small business owner, in the Nov. 4 general election.

House District 10 includes the area east of the Flathead River, including Bigfork and Swan Lake.

Dynneson plans to focus her efforts on education if selected to represent House District 10. Since the state is expected to have a large cash reserve going into the next legislative session, she believes this should be put toward financing colleges and universities in the state, as well as keeping tuition prices at a reasonable level.

As a retired special education teacher, she believes the money also should be put to retirement funds for educators, as well as for state officials. Noland also discussed putting the money toward the public employee retirement fund, believing that the state surplus came from the people and should therefore be given back to the people. He believes some of the surplus should be invested and reallocated, because the Legislature should make sure the state’s cash reserves are well-stocked.

Noland also would like to see some of the cash reserve go to the state’s guardsman reserves. He said in past research, he found the guardsman reserves don’t have ammunition to properly practice and train for potential altercations, because they don’t have the money to purchase practice supplies.

Dynneson also believes the cash reserve can be stretched to cover several areas. In addition to educational financing, she would lobby to bring infrastructure up-to-date with the money. She said the state could work on water, sewer and gas lines to make sure they function properly.

Dynneson agrees with Gov. Steve Bullock’s push to expand the state’s Medicaid program.

“Every Montana citizen should have some sort of health care,” she said in a phone interview. She believes the government should do its best to cover each member of the community.

In contrast, Noland believes the Medicaid system is flawed, and he does not support the push to expand the program.

“We need to expand and fix the system we already have, instead of trying to implement something else on top,” Noland said in a phone interview. “The government is giving out money they don’t have with the Medicaid program.”

Noland would like to see the lands currently controlled by the federal government transferred back to into Montana’s control.

“I don’t like what [the federal government] is doing with them,” he said. “They let them burn, or rot. Instead, the state would know what needs to be done.” However, Noland said the transfer needs to be thought out properly, and happen incrementally over a period of time, so as not to overwhelm the state financially.  

Dynneson believes federal forest lands should stay in the hands of the federal government, instead of transferring ownership to the state.

“It’s a mistake to transfer them,” said Dynneson. “We need to look at the total picture. The state does not have the money to maintain the lands.”

Since Montana is a smaller state population-wise, she believes it would become hard for the state to continually generate funds and care for federal forest lands.

When discussing the water compact concerning the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Dynneson said the compact should go through, as long as the water rights are well-managed. However, Noland presently does not support the water compact, believing that a single entity should not be in charge of the state’s water.

Noland said he chose to run for office because as a small business owner he is concerned about jobs in the state. His main priority would be embracing new technology to create higher-paying jobs for Montana residents.