Koppy, Hertz vie for HD 11 seat
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Greg Hertz, Republican, and Bud Koppy, Democrat, are running for the House District 11 seat in the Montana State Legislature.
A Kyla resident, Koppy (pronounced with a long o) is a 69-year-old widower with five children, 12 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Koppy moved to Montana in 1967 but was born and raised in Minnesota.
He’s retired, but he’s employed by Experienced Work, a government program of retired people.
When asked why he is running, Koppy said, “To be truthful with you, the Lord told me to run.”
Koppy said he was looking for someone to run for the position, but nobody signed on so he asked the Lord what he should do.
“The Lord said, ‘You do it,” Koppy explained.
Greg Hertz, 54, is a life-long Montana resident. He and his wife, Kate, have been married for 35 years, live in Polson and have three grown children
When asked why he is running for state representative, Hertz said he truly cares about Montana, Montana families and Montana communities and making sure we leave Montana a place our children can be proud of and enjoy.
Hertz is a graduate of Ronan High School and the University of Montana. He is a certified public accountant and president and owner of Moody’s Market Inc., a company that operates grocery stores.
Serving as a legislator would be a switch for both men.
Being a legislator means passing laws, listening to laws, making laws and running the state, according to Koppy.
Hertz said state government should work to create an environment to foster private job creation and economic growth. An efficient government is a realistic goal. He added that the purpose of government is to protect individuals’ rights.
Koppy’s three main issues are education, jobs and special interest groups.
Children who need special help are identified about two years late, Koppy said, in third or fourth grade instead of first or second. Schools should begin addressing these children’s needs more quickly.
He also said states should have more control over schools than the federal government.
“The federal government looks at the whole United States,” Koppy said, “so they’ve got the same regulations for Arizona as they do for the Washington rainforest.”
It’s the same with schools; rural schools are different than urban schools. Education should be given into the hands of the states, because they know what they’ve got, Koppy explained.
Hertz also believes Montana needs a “strong locally-controlled and properly-funded public education system.” With a strong economy that included natural resource development, Hertz said the state would have a broader-based tax system to fund education.
Hertz said his three main issues are “jobs, job and more jobs.”
The 2013 Legislature needs to concentrate on developing jobs within Montana by further developing natural resources and agriculture industries, he said.
“The permitting roadblocks need to be brought down, and we need to instill pro-jobs attitudes within state departments,” he said.
According to Hertz, to encourage new businesses to relocate, Montana needs to be the best rated business state in the Rocky Mountain region. Other ideas are to further reduce workers compensation rates, address tort reform and make sure Montana’s tax policies are competitive.
As far as jobs go, Koppy believes “we’ve got to get the special interest groups out of Montana or at least knocked down so they don’t run the state.”
Examples Koppy noted are the EPA and “pro-wolf people.”
“(Montana residents) never wanted wolves, ... and I don’t think we can control them.”
Trapping and wolf hunts will not do the job, he added.
A mine in Libby has been trying to open for 30 years, and the EPA keeps stopping it, Koppy said. As long as people have recorded history, logging and mining have occurred. He thinks people with millions of dollars to invest are getting nervous about coming to Montana. Answering a question on bridging the gap between Democrats and Republicans, Koppy said party politics seem ridiculous.
Although Hertz believes party divisiveness exists on a much lower level in Montana than in Washington, D.C., he will base his decisions and votes on what is best for all Montanans and citizens of his district.
Hertz, a business owner for 30 years, has had many disagreements on issues with people, “but at the end of the day we can always remain friends and neighbors.”
“I’m not a real staunch Democrat,” Koppy said. “If somebody comes up with a good idea, Republican or Democrat; man, I’ll sit right down and listen to it.”
