Vote for your candidate and against CI-97

Havre Daily News guest editorial by Jonathan Windy Boy

September 15, 2006

Beware, folks. Another Constitution Initiative is amongst us on November 7. When I attended the public forum at the middle school Wednesday night, I walked away more knowledgeable on an issue every Montana citizen needs to educate themselves on, and reaffirmed my opposition even stronger.

First of all, the Montana Constitution requires the Legislature to finish each legislative session with a balanced budget every two years. Now we have big money interests coming back into our backyard, to offer yet another Constitution Initiative to Montana.

Millionaire mogul Howard Rich, from New York is funding this Constitution Initiative. The last time an out of state interest came into the state and introduced an initiative, was Canyon Resources trying to shove cyanide heap leach mining down our throats.

For the first time in 20 years, we finally have a friend at the Capitol in Helena, with Gov. Brian Schweitzer showing true leadership opposing this. My hat's off to you, Brian. I'm with you all the way on this one.

Our state has suffered long enough - 20 years - with budgets cut in huge numbers. Higher Education has suffered long enough. Higher tuition needs to come to a stop. Property taxes have increased. Our students and teachers have gone out of state due to increased tuition and higher pay wages.

The state of Montana has received millions of dollars in incentives from the federal government for lowering the welfare caseloads in the past decade. Money to help the poorest of the poor in Montana with cuts in Low Income Energy Assistance Program dollars, Meals on Wheels was cut from the budget, but put back in. Money to supplement the Corrections decreased. The federal government sends money to fund some state spending, but the state has to come up with certain percentages of matching dollars to receive their fair share amount.

But with CI-97, the state will no longer be able to come up with those matching funds to fund the above programs, along with Medicaid/Medicare. The federal Deficit Reduction Act is going to make it tougher for Montanans as it is without this CI-97, we don't need to help it anymore than we should.

Gov. Schweitzer and the 2005 Legislature funded education at record level numbers, and supplement programs like LIEAP, and other programs to assist the most vulnerable of Montanans population. They have brought the awareness of the methamphetamine epidemic in our state, and have taken measures to help fund and curb it.

For the first time in a long time we've had a $300 million budget surplus, and the governor distributed $100 million back to the taxpayers in property tax relief. So, the strides we're taking in moving Montana forward has just begun.

Give this Governor and the next legislature a chance to continue the turn around for our state for greater prosperity for all. I encourage you as constituents to challenge every candidate, tribal government, city government and county government to take a clear position on this issue.

It's your right to know, as voting members of this great state to know where your leadership stands on this issue. Go to the Web site www.notinmontana.com for valuable information. Vote no on CI-97.

Send this and Howard Rich back to the East Coast, or better yet, let them push this initiative on the Bush administration, where they have turned a $1.6 trillion budget surplus into an $8 trillion deficit.