MONTANA FIREFIGHTER TAKES ON CI-97 IN NEW
TELEVISION ADS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
CONTACT: Marissa Kozel, Not in Montana, 406-465-0283
(Helena) - Tom Steenberg has been protecting
Montana citizens for 22 years as a firefighter in Missoula,
and now he's battling a different kind of blaze. It's a threat
to the safety of all Montanans, and it's called CI-97.
Today a new ad from the Not in Montana Coalition:
Citizens Against CI-97, hit the television airwaves. It features
Steenberg, and the dangers of CI-97.
In the ad, Steenberg warns Montanans about
the damage CI-97 would do to their constitution, and asks
them to join the more than 60 organizations and hundreds of
individuals already against the initiative.
"I want to let you know about a serious
threat that's facing Montana. A ballot initiative, called
CI-97," Steenberg said in the ad. "It's a Constitutional
Amendment that would radically change Montana's Constitution
by putting a rigid cap on our state budget. Join with Montana
firefighters, teachers, nurses, businesses and other Montanans
who have united to fight CI-97."
Steenberg is passionate about fighting CI-97,
because a similar measure caused serious problems in Colorado.
That measure impaired Colorado's ability to provide basic
services to its citizens. Steenberg doesn't want the same
thing to happen in Montana.
"State funding has not kept up with the
growth of our cities, and our emergency responders are already
being asked to do more with limited resources," he said.
"CI-97 would limit state resources even further, and
then the burden to financially support services will be on
the shoulders of local taxpayers."
The Montana State Council of Professional Firefighters
and the Montana State Firemen's Association are both against
CI-97.
Steenberg says Montanans trust him with their
lives, and he trusts that voters will make the right decision
for Montana.
"It's wrong when someone brings in outside
money and outside folks to try and tell Montanans what they
need," he said. "That's what happened with CI-97
and it's just not right. I think Montana voters are smart
enough to know that."
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To view the ad, visit the Not in Montana web
site: www.notinmontana.org
Not in Montana: Citizens Against CI-97, 1232
E. 6th Ave., Helena, Montana 59601, 406.443.3374, David Smith,
Treas.
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