HD 10: Candidates weigh in on CARES Act spending, taxes

The House District 5 race sets up incumbent Democrat Dave Fern against Republican challenger Catherine Owens for the opportunity to represent residents of the Whitefish area.

Fern, who is seeking his third term, said residents in his district have had confidence in his work in the state Legislature and he’d like to return again next year to continue serving them.

Owens said she’s running for office because rather than complain about what’s happening in state government, she wants to be part of the solution.

Fern believes he works well with both sides of the isle and that’s something he plans to continue.

FERN SAID the state’s top challenges can be categorized into two areas: before the COVID-19 pandemic and following it.

“The pandemic has thrown a tricky curveball that deserves our full attention,” he said. “The impact of the virus will be the fiscal impact that comes in the next fiscal year. My concern would be the reckoning of the lowering of individual and corporate income taxes and how we mitigate those impacts.”

Before the pandemic, Fern said he was interested in tax policy and better matching the state’s economy to its tax policy. Tourism and online retail transactions are a huge part of how the state’s economy operates, he noted, and the state’s tax policy isn’t well positioned to collect taxes from that.

His goal would be to adjust the state’s property tax revenue stream, such as by adjusting property taxes and reconfiguring income tax brackets, while creating a specialized sales tax that would take advantage of the state’s economy.

Fern acknowledges that a sales tax isn’t a popular subject with many Montanans, but says there is an obligation to look at the issue anyway.

Medicaid expansion was an area of compromise in the last legislative session, and Fern supported the expansion.

“I supported it for two principal reasons,” he said. “It provided health care to people who needed it and it’s a less expensive way to access preventative care when you have insurance rather than when you don’t. The federal government is also paying 90 percent of this and it’s a huge economic factor in the state, especially in keeping small hospitals going.”

Fern expects other areas of compromise in the Legislature, but he said it will come down to who is elected as the next governor for what is approved.

Revisiting a pre-kindergarten program could be on the agenda, and it’s an important issue because data shows that it is good for children, and child care is a big issue for working families.

Fern said the Legislature should look at sentencing reforms and transferring dollars to be spent on remediation programs including drug treatment courts.

There should also be an effort to increase compensation for essential front-line workers, such as health care workers in nursing homes, child protective service workers and prison guards.

Regarding the idea of an annual legislative session, Fern said it would be difficult to maintain a citizen Legislature if the government body were to meet every year instead of meeting for 90 days only in odd-number years, but the model also presents a challenge when it comes to looking at budgets for a two-year period.

“I like the way it is and as long as we have a robust interim committee structure we can accomplish a lot through those committees,” he said.

On spending funds allocated to the state through the CARES Act, Fern said he would have liked to see more funds spent on testing procedures and speeding up testing for COVID-19.

“There should be more funds spent to assist county health departments because they’re the backbone of this,” he said. “There should also be more resources toward the Montana Business Stabilization Grant program. That’s a really popular program here at it targets assistance to small businesses.”

In terms of state budget spending priorities, Fern said increased pay for front-line workers and a tax credit program for housing is important.

Also, he’d like to create a statutory requirement for an increase in funding for special education students based on inflation. He says there needs to be more predictability for funding regarding those students.

For K-12 education, Fern believes there needs to be more emphasis on career and technical training.

During the last session Fern sponsored and passed HB16, which provides low-interest loans through the Coal Trust Fund to rehab affordable housing. He continues to support developing a state tax credit for affordable housing that would mimic the federal credits and allow for more affordable housing through the Montana Board of Housing.

He also supports efforts by cities and counties to gain affordable housing through planning and zoning, such as Whitefish’s inclusionary zoning program requiring affordable housing.

OWENS HAS been a stay-at-home mom and this is her first time seeking public office.

She believes the coronavirus is the top priority facing the state right now.

“We need to protect the elderly and the immune compromised,” she said. “I would make sure that everyone who needs it has the correct [personal protective equipment]. We also need to allow young people who want to work to work because I want to keep our economy thriving.”

Owens has been an outspoken critic of the governor’s directive that requires wearing face coverings in indoor public spaces in counties with four or more active cases of COVID-19.

She likens wearing a mask to driving 30 mph in a 60 mph zone with the intention of providing safety for the driver and those around them, but believes the issue that occurs is the problems pile up behind the vehicle.

She said the directive to wear a mask, along with others such as the stay-at-home order last spring and closing of schools has prompted a rise in child abuse, divorce, loss of jobs and feelings of isolation.

Owens said if there were the “plague” happening she would be giving masks out to people, but she maintains wearing masks and other requirements has made “Montana’s greatest illness loneliness.”

Medicaid expansion was an area of compromise in the last legislative session. Owens said she doesn’t agree with expanding Medicaid, government run health care and universal health care.

“When you get something for free, it never carries quite the value,” she said. “I believe in limited government and Medicaid requires an increase in government.”

Owens said she’s against the idea of a statewide sales tax, but would look to other sources of tax such as bed tax to obtain money from tourism to benefit the state. She would favor lowering property taxes.

On whether the Legislature should move to meeting annually rather than meeting only in odd-number years, Owens said that would make it difficult for many who might want to serve in state government to do so.

“That’s pretty taxing on families,” she said. “We might eliminate some great people who want to be in office. If we’re really efficient then we can get everything done in 90 days.”

Regarding spending funds allocated to the state through the CARES Act, Owens said if all of the money hasn’t been spent already it should be dispersed.

In terms of state budget spending priorities, Owens would prioritize spending on mental health, increasing jobs in Montana, vocational and trades jobs education and on veterans.

To create affordable housing, Owens said solutions need to come from the “bottom up.” She would look to lower property taxes, look at ways to make rent more affordable and create higher paying jobs as solutions to housing costs.

She sees government as creating temporary assistance for people when they need it such as through welfare assistance and unemployment.

“When we see government as a problem-solver, we lose ingenuity, drive and our ability to look outside the box for solutions,” she said.

Catherine Owens

Age:54

Family: husband, Mark, 6 children and grandchildren

Education: St. Mary’s College; political science

Occupation: Stay-at-home mom

Background: Volunteer for 4-H, Whitefish schools and St. Richard Catholic Church; has lived in Whitefish with her family since 2011 after moving here from Texas.

Contact: https://www.facebook.com/whitefishstrongertogether

Dave Fern

Age: 66

Family: spouse Heather, 3 children

Education: Community College of Rhode Island; liberal arts studies

Occupation: Small business owner, Chimney Solutions

Background: 8 terms on Whitefish School board, 2 terms in Montana House

Contact: https://davefernforhd5.net/