Letters to the editor March 19
Marijuana tax proceeds
State Sen. Dan Salomon submitted a letter claiming the proposed distribution of marijuana tax proceeds to counties under SB 442 for road maintenance is unfair because the distribution is based on miles of county roads and is not proportional to the marijuana taxes generated by counties.
As an example, he cites Yellowstone County which paid $8.6 million in taxes but would receive only $210,057 in road revenues. He contrasts that with Phillips County which paid no marijuana taxes but would receive $237,832 for roads. He thinks the governor’s veto of SB 442 should be upheld.
Salomon has missed the entire point of SB 442 which is to promote and mitigate outdoor recreation in Montana.
Phillips County runs from the Missouri Breaks to Canada, the third largest county at 5,200 square miles with a population of 4,200, less than 1 resident per square mile. Malta sits about dead center.
Yellowstone County has 2,634 square miles with a population of 161,300 or 56 residents per square mile. It is less than half the size of Phillips County.
Each fall thousands of hunters from Northwest Montana descend on Phillips County for the great hunting. Depending on conditions, we leave behind thousands of miles of wash-boarded or deeply rutted county roads, a situation Phillips County is ill-equipped to deal with due to a minimal road maintenance budget. SB 442 would give Phillips County only $237,832 but that would make a big difference in their maintenance budget. By contrast, Yellowstone County’s Road Budget is over $12 million annually.
SB 442 would allocate road maintenance funds based on need rather than how much counties donated to the pot. And that is entirely fair. State legislators should be encouraged to over-ride the veto of SB 442 to boost Montana’s outdoor recreation.
— Jim Vashro, president of Flathead Wildlife and board member of the Montana Wildlife Federation
Veterans health care
The historic investment the PACT Act made to the nation’s veterans will soon be felt by those in our own community. There is a new VA clinic coming to Kalispell, one of the 31 new VA clinics across the country funded by the PACT Act, and a much-needed step in ensuring Flathead County can better accommodate the valley’s substantial veteran population. It’s about time our Flathead County veterans get the care they deserve.
The PACT Act was primarily aimed at veterans who have faced toxic exposure, adding to the list of presumptive conditions that constitute toxic exposure and expanding their eligibility for VA health care. However, investments such as the new clinic in Kalispell show that the PACT Act takes a proactive approach with cascading effects and implications that benefit veterans as a whole. The money it brought to Flathead County is not only a response to past challenges that veterans in our community have faced, but a forward-looking endeavor to strengthen the overall health care infrastructure for veterans.
Those who have suffered in defense of our country are more than deserving of quality care as a token of gratitude and our basic humanity. If you believe you or your loved one may be eligible, consider connecting with your local veterans organization to find a Veterans Service Officer who can help you work through the VA process for PACT Act benefits at no charge.
Veterans should not have to pay anyone to receive the benefits they deserve.
— Dustin Wegner, Kalispell