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You may believe that Montana is debt free following actions by the legislature earlier this year to pay off state debt. It is great that we passed legislation to pay off over $100 million of state bonded debt, but there is another debt obligation rarely discussed but costing us dearly. Unfortunately, Montana has accumulated over $4.8 billion in pension debt over the past twenty years (in 2003 our pensions were fully funded with no debt). This debt is equivalent to over $4,300 for every man, woman, and child in Montana. Pension liabilities have accrued for a variety of reasons, but the main culprit is that the assumed rate of return on investments has been less than what the a...
Two autumns ago, we wrote a report and op-ed documenting the state of representation and democracy in Montana. To no Montanan’s surprise, we found our beloved Treasure State to be in poor political health, suffering in recent years from ever higher rates of uncontested elections, partisan vitriol, and ...
It doesn’t happen suddenly. At least it didn’t for me. You live your whole life as a normal person, taking it all in. Appreciating, yet taking it for granted. But not really seeing it, or hearing them, for what they are. It is a gradual process. First you see one. Then you might hear ...
I recently introduced a good friend of mine to the original Jurassic Park movie. A film that’s won over 20 awards and is considered by some, (or at least me), to be the epitome of filmmaking, I couldn’t imagine anyone disliking such a classic. “Huh,” she said to me as the cre...
The 2023 Montana legislature began its legislative session with an unprecedented surplus, mainly due to the over-collection of state taxes from Montana taxpayers. Since this is ultimately taxpayers’ money, I - along with other conservatives in the legislature - were determined to return money to Montan...
Where did March go? Things have been a little crazy for us at the library, but so many exciting things are happening this month. At the beginning of March, we moved library operations into the western end of the United Methodist Church at 301 16th Ave. E. (you can park anywhere in the parking lot and the chu...
School shootings and the bloody murders of totally innocent children and their teacher caretakers is a societal tragedy that Americans have become numb to. Without the commonsense outlawing of the assault weapons used in most of these atrocities, the preventable horror will relentlessly continue, in our scho...
Some friends of mine recently decided to take a family member into their home and as an enthusiast of organizing I’ve been helping them go through their things to make room for the new addition. With the sun out lately, what better time for a spring cleaning? Making room for an entire addition...
It was a bright, busy Sunday afternoon in a restaurant, and the woman bussing our dishes beamed. I’d just complimented her lovely pink nail polish. “It’s hard in this job,” she smiled as she wiggled her fingers in display. “But I try to take care of my nails.” She gave us ...
Montana’s state Legislature is proposing a host of extreme anti-wildlife bills despite widespread, diverse, strong, and credible opposition to these unnecessary measures. The onslaught on wildlife by locally elected officials began in 2021 and continues in this legislative session with the introduct...
