Taylor, Wolfe square off for House District 11 seat
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Incumbent Janna Taylor, R, and Mike, her husband of 31 years, live near Rollins. The couple has two sons and three grandchildren.
With a BS in education, Taylor has worked at “everything from night lamber (checking pregnant ewes at night) to waiting tables to managing businesses.”
Taylor is a member of the Dayton Presbyterian Church, the Polson Soroptimists, PEO, VFW Ladies Auxiliary and also volunteers at the hospital.
She has represented HD 11 since 2005.
Taylor currently serves on the Legislative Finance Committee, and the revenue estimates indicate that Montana will have major funding problems.
On Oct. 29 Taylor said the judge will rule on Pacific Power and Light case, and the governor has plans for the money and would like to purchase four pieces of habitat.
“I’m all for habitat, but we (Montanans) have some pressing issues,” Taylor said.
Taylor would like to see the money used for senior services, such as Meals on Wheels.
She added that the hunk of PPL money is only a one time thing as is the $82 million Montana will receive from Arch Coal for leasing Otter Creek area lands. This income will help hold up the budget.
“I’m an optimist,” Taylor said,” and I think the economy will recover, but I think it will be slow.”
As far as Driving Under the Influence laws, Taylor is interested in 24/7 monitoring. It’s a program where a person convicted of a DUI stops at the Sheriff’s Office every single morning and night for testing for alcohol.
Three Montana counties are pilot programs for the monitoring. South Dakota, Taylor said, has used this program successfully.
“There are 700 people in Rapid City who line up every morning and every night,” Taylor said.
While 24/7 monitoring is not mandatory, an advantage, Taylor explained, is people can continue to work and raise their children. Also 24/7 monitoring participants pay for their own tests.
Taylor said experts think it works better than other alcohol programs because it’s an immediate consequence.
“The minute you test positive you go straight to the courtroom,” she said. “I’d like to see it expanded throughout the state.”
From forums and talking to constituents, Taylor said everybody wants medical marijuana laws tightened down. Interim committees have several bills to do just that.
Property taxes are a big issue for Lake County. Taylor said she spoke with the Department of Revenue about doing property assessments yearly as Idaho does. The DR tries to look at the property every six year and uses a website to look at new construction. Taylor said foreclosures and comparable sized and priced homes should be included.
Taylor also said Montana’s property tax system is broken, and she would like to see Lake County re-assessed.
Cheryl Wolfe, a Green Party member, is also running for the House District 11 seat. Wolfe and her husband have three children. Wolfe works as an accountant, comptroller and consultant. She has a BA in accounting.
Wolfe has volunteered for Plant a Row for the Hungry, the Flathead Reservation Human Rights Coalition, Montana Human Rights Network, PTA, Safe Harbour and Planned Parenthood. She served two years of crosswalk duties at Linderman School and continues to grow fresh vegetables for Loaves and Fish.
Wolfe explained her reasons for her candidacy.
“I feel that the corporations and wealthy people have many legislators representing them. I think the working people and people who are not necessarily wealthy are not represented in our government. I wanted a better choice.”
A major issue concerning Wolfe “... is the Western Traditions lawsuit’s affect on Montana campaign finance laws.”
Montana state laws ban corporate political contributions or expenditures, and the lawsuit challenges this ban on expenditures, such as running an independent TV advertisement.
“I have to believe that it’s still possible for people to make a difference,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said there are also some relatively painless ways the state legislature can raise money - such as making the tax structure more fair, withholding for mineral royalties tax and giving the Department of Revenue the tools needed to make them more efficient.
One of Wolfe’s ideas involves the business withholding taxes that are paid by electronic funds transfer. The state of Montana does not require that the money be transmitted by a 5 p.m. deadline on the day it’s due, Wolfe explained, so the money does not come out of bank accounts until the next day.
“It isn’t a sexy issue ... but the state’s losing interest on that money and the use of that cash,” she said.
Concerning property taxes, Wolfe thinks a lot of false promises have been made. She also thinks telling people to sue the government is not the answer.
“I would like to cut everyone’s property taxes, too. We really need to protect the people who are really hurting — veterans and people with low income.”
Regarding DUI issues, Wolfe said now you see people who have their 4th or subsequent DUI given lengthy sentences with all but a few days suspended.
Wolfe said, “A real way to have a real affect on DUIs would be training servers of alcohol, increase public transportation and … a lot more focus on the root causes. Why do we have such a problem with alcoholism, depression and suicide?” Wolfe is also interested in instant run-off or ranked voting though she thinks the concept needs a better name.
“If we (Montana) did ranked voting, we could vote for the person we truly believed in. If they didn’t win, then our vote would go to our second choice,” she explained.
