Ahead of the Nov. 5 election, the Daily Inter Lake sent questionnaires to state Legislature candidates running in contested races in Northwest Montana. Candidates were instructed to keep their answers to each of the four questions to under 150 words. Answers were lightly editing for brevity, clarity, Associated Press style and grammar.

House District 2

Tom Millett (R)

Age: 58

Occupation: Independent contractor and consultant

Family: Married with two grown children

Background: U.S. Navy and Persian Gulf War veteran, more than 40 years experience in nuclear, electrical, power generation and telecommunications fields. Life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion, Republican Committeeman of Precinct 01 in Flathead County. Member of the Libby Republican Club, Glacier Country Pachyderm Club, Marion Freedom Day Planning Committee and assists the Marion Community Outreach organization.

What property tax reform policies do you support?

Property taxes in Montana can be a complicated issue. We have to remember that over half of our tax bill is devoted to education spending with a good portion derived from locally approved levies with some parts of our tax bill coming from other locally approved levies. If we want lower property tax bills then we need to stop approving local levies. Can the state government help to lower property taxes? Yes! Let’s start by removing a portion of our property value from the tax base by enacting a Homestead Exemption. Let’s also make it easier to understand future levies and our tax bill by switching from talking about ‘mills,’ which is confusing, to talking about dollars. In addition, the state government can set a strong example to cities and counties by cutting all state agency budgets by 5% across the board as a start.

Did the 2023 legislative session do enough to address the state’s housing crunch? Are there other avenues you’re in favor of pursuing?

We really don’t know if the laws passed in 2023 legislative session to address the housing issue have had any effect because they were enjoined (stopped) by a district court before they were even implemented. Just recently, the Montana Supreme Court overruled the district court and is allowing the laws to go forward so now we need to wait and see if those laws will have any impact. Any legislation in the 2025 session to address the housing issue needs to be looked at closely to avoid any unintended and adverse consequences on the housing market while those 2023 laws take full effect. Removing burdensome regulations and zoning restrictions to allow the free market to reign is always the smart and cost-effective way to manage this issue.

Public school districts across the state are facing budget shortfalls. What role can the Legislature play in shoring up public education funding?

According to the Montana Constitution (Article X, Sec. 1, § 3) “The legislature shall provide a basic system of free quality public elementary and secondary schools.” Currently, the Legislature is meeting their constitutional duty by funding that basic system of education. If a particular school district can’t meet their budgetary obligations then the people of that district need to ask the trustees why that is and correct it. If the school district wants to provide more than a basic education then the community must provide more funds through increased property taxes. Bottom Line: As the constitution is currently written, the Legislature provides basic funding for education and anything above that is up to the school district to fund through increased local property taxes. If the people of Montana want the Legislature to provide more than a basic system of education then the people need to amend the constitution.

How do you view the judicial branch in the state?

From a 10,000-foot view most of the district and other courts in the state are serving the people adequately. We do have a problem with the Montana Supreme Court and certain district courts either ‘legislating from the bench,’ delivering opinions striking down recently passed laws as unconstitutional on dubious grounds, or both. The Senate Select Committee of Judicial Reform is looking into these and other issues. Two of the recommendations from the committee so far are to revise Judicial Standards Commission rules and create a Judicial Evaluation Process to help we the people know how our judges are performing. These reforms are a good start, and I would suggest more reforms such as partisan-optional general elections for judges, elimination of two supreme court positions with the cost savings going toward creating a new statewide court to hear only civil cases that have statewide impact (i.e., constitutionality of legislation).

What other policies or issues would you like to address if elected?

There are several other issues that need to be addressed in Montana. A few of these include more election security measures, passing financial freedom legislation, addressing the illegal invader problems in Montana created by the Biden-Harris disastrous open border policy, and increasing access to our federal public lands for economic, recreational and especially wildfire management. The issue of access to federal public lands took a great leap forward in August when the state of Utah filed suit at the U.S. Supreme Court requesting the court accept their case to regain ownership of certain federal lands within their jurisdiction. In the 2025 legislative session I will spearhead an effort for the state of Montana to file an Amicus Brief in support of Utah’s effort to have their case heard. Utah’s case has an exceptionally good chance of succeeding and portends a great future for the prosperity of the Western U.S.

Brad Simonis (D)

No information provided.