House District 93 sees inaugural race
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RONAN — November marks the first general election voters will get to cast their vote in the freshly minted House District 93 race that covers most of the western and southern half of Lake County. Republican legislator Dan Salomon is facing off against Democrat Susan Evans for the seat.
Salomon was born and raised in Mission Valley and served House District 12 for two terms prior to redistricting. During his time in Helena he has served on the agriculture, education, business and labor committees. He is currently serving on the interim committees for local government. He is also a member of the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission.
Salomon’s top three concerns going into the session are education, Medicaid expansion and the proposed Confederated Salish and Kootenai Water Compact.
Salomon’s stance on education includes provisions for both local school districts and the state’s facilities for higher education.
Salomon is worried about the impact of implementation of Common Core standards in public schools and finding funding to pay for the governor’s plan to require pre-kindergarten.
In higher education Salomon said he would like to see a continued freeze in tuition at state institutions.
Salomon is also hoping to tackle some problems facing uninsured residents. The state legislature rejected a plan to expand Medicaid in the 2013 session.
“Full expansion is just too expensive,” he said. “Medicaid reform opportunities are a key component to getting the cost down. The goals are cheaper costs, better medical services and a healthier population. The real question is — how much reform is worth the growth of a government program?” Salomon said.
Salomon also supports passage of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact.
“This legislation will allow the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project irrigation system to have a bright future with agriculture being the lifeblood of this valley,” Salomon said.” Western Montana will have 90,000 acre feet of new water for use to ensure the continued development of this area. There is nothing illegal or unconstitutional in this document, and there is definitely no taking of any water rights.”
Without a compact, the CSKT will have to file their claims and irrigators will lose the low block of power, $42 million for the FIIP project, and Montanan’s lose 90,000 acre feet of water to out-of-state users, according to Salomon.
“This would also ensure litigation for multiple decades,” Salomon said.
Democratic challenger Susan Evans touts her experience as a small business owner and service to several organizations as qualifications to run for office.
She has served church boards, Relay for Life groups, and the Army Community Service group, in addition to other committees and commissions.
She said this work “honed my listening skills, research skills and my skills of cooperation and commitment to getting things done in a timely manner.”
Evans has previously worked in Ronan, as a customer service representative for the Lake County Leader, taught High School in Wolf Point and substituted in every school in Polson, as well as Pablo and Ronan.
Evans believes government needs to heavily regulate the largest corporations, and decrease interference with individual rights.
One of the largest issues Evans is concerned about is Medicaid expansion.
She said far too many people and hospitals in Lake County were counting on the expansion in 2013.
“Balancing the budget by neglecting the important health needs of our people is unnecessary, when (Montana) is one of the few states who have a surplus,” Evans said. Her suggestion is to use that surplus to create more healthcare jobs.
Education is also something Evans cares about, with a focus on funding public schools, many of which are operating in buildings that are beyond 40-year expected use limits.
“We need to fund our public schools,” Evans said. “We need to expand curriculums to include the arts, to develop well-rounded, creative thinkers. Common Core is a series of tests which are unnecessary, and detract from actual classroom activities.”
Evans also has her eye on corporations that pollute the environment.
“We need to protect our air, water, and land from out of state corporations who would strip us bare and walk away with all the profits, leaving us to repair the ravages of ecological destruction,” Evans said. “We need to phase out coal production and replace it with renewable sources, while maintaining and increasing good job opportunities.”
Evans also stated theneed to encourage sustainable farming and ranching to protect the health of the people and rejuvenate the economy.
