Author: fern@montanasky.net

“A landmark study published in 2014 by psychologist Maureen Craig and Jennifer Richesen found that White peoples anxiety about a changing America is politically determinative:  making the changing national racial demographics salient let White Americans  (regardless of political affiliation), to endorse conservative positions more strongly.” Heather McGhee, Senior Fellow, Demos

“The ideology of Silicon Valley reflects a shallow, inarticulate libertarianism that rests on the assumption that government functions and all the democratic accountability that supports them are archaic and inefficient.  Siva Vaidhyanstham, Media Studies, UVA

From: What Charlottesville Changed, Politico, 8/13/18

 

 

“I believe our nation is in the midst of a collective coming-of-age crisis without parallel in our history. We are living in an America of perpetual adolescence.  Our kids simply don’t know what an adult is anymore–or how to become one. Perhaps more problematic, the older generations have forgotten that we need to teach them. It’s our fault more than it is theirs ”  The Vanishing American Adult, Ben Sasse (US Senate),  2017, St. Martins Press.

“I offered my employee more money, benefits and he didn’t want to work more than necessary” or “So and so just didn’t show up for the shift, said she had better things to do.”  I hear this story in various iterations over and over as I knock on doors.

Our capacity to govern and provide essential services to those in need is dependent on our ability to work, innovate, educate/train and reward productive work. The taxes collected contribute to an alarming high number of MT. citizens lacking health care, needing nursing home assistance, a citizen with a disability requiring a case worker to navigate a complex system.

I’ll read Sasse’s book with interest especially as one interested in improving outcomes and public policy.

Michael Powell, who pens the  Sports of the Times column in the NY Times starts off his commentary on August 5,2018, “Donald Trump and the Black Athlete” by saying, “So we have more evidence that a master of the dog whistle occupies the White House and black athletes are a favorite target.

I like sports. I always have. My early days go back to marvelous Boston Celtics teams of the 1960’s.  The Celtics were the first in the NBA to have five black starters along with player-coach Bill Russell.  These were  tense times for minority athletes especially in Boston. A hero one night might lead to racial taunts or exclusionary practices on a night  basketball wasn’t being played in the Boston Garden. My beloved Red Sox were the last American League team to have a black player on their roster (Pumpsie Green, 1962), and controversy now broils as to the name Yawkee LN. (Tom Yawkee was the former owner of the Sox, generous to charities but a racist.), as to the renaming of the street abutting Fenway park.

Lebron James has done pretty well. He’s reinvented the game for the big man. He was a one man wrecking crew for the modestly talented Cavaliers and previous to the latest championship he brought NBA championships to Miami. Like my hero from the 60’s Bill Russell, Lebron is a man with a conscience, unable to simply behave and play basketball.

Trumps’ belittling racist tweets at the same time of the opening in Akron of James’s  I Promise School for children at risk is beyond un-presidential and inappropriate. Trump is dividing this nation and spitting out the parts with jagged edges and cracks that will cause generational disruption on our status and leadership among peers.

The president has gone too far. Pull back, stop the tweets and get to work.

 

 

 

Today, Governing reports that the Massachusetts legislature just passed a bill to divert some tax collections from short term vacation rental to assist with affordable housing initiatives.

I had the issue researched a week back and learned from our tax policy legislative expert, from the confines of  her first floor state capitol office the following: “You can’t tax these businesses more than other, similar business which take in visitors. You could allocate exiting collections to such a purpose.”

There could be a special account or an existing Housing
Trust Fund within the MT. Board of housing appropriate to deposit such funds. Maybe the funds could assist the application process for our local housing boards…maybe funds collected provide bonus funds to allow for a project to stay above water…

Project 1% take from this segment of the hospitality industry and create a yearly allotment to help the cause.

I’ll continue the research.

 

I can’t have a bill written until I’m re-elected. I did have a bill written on behalf of the Local Government Interim Committee, a fireworks tax with proceeds going to workers comp for those volunteer fire fighters who are not covered and for grants to emergency medical and trauma services. That bill passed the bipartisan committee 7-1 on July 10. The bill can’t technically be assigned to me as I am not unopposed in the general election. Hopefully, I’ll have that opportunity to sponsor the bill in 2019.

Potential Bills (Part 1)

Tobacco 21: This would  initially be a state constitutional amendment to allow nicotine delivery systems to  be included with alcohol as a product (potentially), not available to 18 year olds for sale or consumption. If passed by voters subsequent to legislative action, the legislature could consider raising the age of access to nicotine products.

Local Option Taxes: Potentially the Gateway Local Option Tax as presented by Park County, affording counties bordering our two national parks (or municipalities within the county), the option of a selective sales tax by permission of electors. Areas in question must be in tourist impact areas using criteria developed by the Department of Commerce.

Bike/Pedestrian trails on state highway right of way: A bill to assure that maintenance of right of way, non vehicular amenities are financially maintained by the state, including reimbursement of counties or cities for such maintenance.

An affordable Housing Bill: As previously posted, the interim committee I served on, passed three bills to increase the stock of affordable housing for low and middle income Montanans. Final assignment of the bills occur after the election.

 

A few years ago the legislature accepted a deal from the federal government: We’ll pay for expanded coverage of your low income citizens, not eligible for the Affordable Healthcare Act and we pay until about 2020. At the point says the federal government, you, Montana, pay 10% of the bill. And then Initiative 185 comes along and it says, you the Montana voter approve a tax on nicotine and the sum of that minus administrative costs will assist the funding of the 10% AND by voting for this initiative you will instruct the legislature to implement the renewal of Medicaid coverage for the people left out of the Federal solution to health care coverage.

On Friday the 13th, several legislators met with the best and brightest from the Montana Legislative Fiscal Division. These are the folks that predict revenues and present one of two (The executive branch being the other), revenue estimates for the legislature. Among many weighty issues regarding the continuance or expansion of statewide services, Medicaid renewal was one “pressure” (a term used in budgeting to quantify a line item not included in present law expenditures for the next biannium but likely to be a contested priority). The point: Even with the assistance from a passage of 185, the legislature will have to fund the remainder; possibly 100 million dollars per 2 year period. We are predicted to cap out at about 100,000 Montana’s being eligible for the coverage (138% above the poverty level). There are many other “pressures” including a simple pay raise for state employees and demands to meet our obligations with the public defenders system.

We probably can’t deliver Medicaid renewal and the various pressures facing us without new revenues. Maybe this will come through many long overdue fee increases, maybe, but unlikely, we’ll examine the efficacy of the 2% discount for cap-gains income within the state income tax. Even more unlikely, we’ll examine a select sales tax and retain the income tax.

Our numbers don’t look bad beyond 2020, with growth pegged at about 4% by the smart folks at the Fiscal Division. Not enough though. Folks are driving through and leaving money on the table, and e-commerce is tax free. We’re a low income state, an aging population, an abundance of real estate, and 100,000 citizens projected to be eligible for the HELP Act, medicaid expansion. On Friday the 13th, the challenges of the next session was presented to us. Theses are the hard prognostications that face the 2019 legislature.

 

The Local Government Interim Committee (I’m one of eight on the committee), passed out three bills addressing the affordable housing shortage in Montana. These bills are assigned to committee members for the 2019 MT. Legislature.

1. A bill for an Act providing for workforce housing tax credits. This is an act that would establish  state credits better known as 4 percent LIHTC credits which make the state eligible to receive 4 percent federal LIHTC credits. Technical stuff but very simply said, the credits are sold (syndicated) to private entities who use them to offset tax liability,  with the proceeds going to the developer. The developer has strict obligations to build units, primarily geared towards people earning 60% or less of Area Median Income (AMI).
2. A bill for an Act allowing the Big Sky Economic Development program funds, and Treasure State Endowment Program (From the Coal Trust Fund), to include infrastructure expenses for housing development for low income and moderate income households.
3. A bill for an Act providing funding for low and moderate income housing from the permanent Coal Severance Tax trust fund for low interest loans. This adds 15 million dollars to the fund expanding the current 40 million dollar fund used for the Montana veteran loan mortgage program. The former funding will now be available to all income income eligible  residents.