Letters to the Editor
Editor, Winston Churchill said, “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.” When my car needs repair, I go to a mechanic. For tax advice, I go to a financial professional. When I need healthcare, I go to a doctor. I don’t go to a legislator for these needs. County health boards are staffed by people qualified to establish protocols to protect public health. For instance, if municipal water supplies become contaminated in a disaster event, they can take action by creating an order. We should let them do their job. House Bill 257, before the state legislature, aims to protect businesses from income loss by transferring the decisions to the gov...
Editor, During the past 14 years of bipartisan government in Montana, the Republicans and Democrats have had to cooperate to enact legislation that both parties could support. Politicians were willing to work across the aisle for the good of Montana. This no longer appears to be the case. The un...
Editor, I read the article in last week’s Valley Journal “ Can Montana Get a Grip on Addiction.” That article seemed to only address cures and treatment of an issue that is not the primary problem but rather a symptom of other problems/issues. Many of these issues are ones th...
Editor, Our democracy is in serious peril. Donald Trump caused a total focus on the self. His public expressions of loudly blaming others for his own mistakes has resonated with millions who were delighted with this way of thinking. This formed the Trump base. Blaming others is common in humans, ...
Editor, Senate Bill 169 is very disturbing. If it passes, it changes our voter registration and voting laws to require that voters provide a state-issued identification card in order to vote. Under the guise of “voter protection” (there have been no proven cases of voter fraud in M...
Editor, The Montana State Legislature is considering eliminating same-day voter registration with HB 176. A democracy is about the government representing the people. The people express what they want by voting. More voters means more accurate representation, and any action that limits the number of pe...
Editor, The party of small government, personal responsibility and local control has leaned into passing laws that are not part of their stated values. Transgender and anti-abortion bills go against personal responsibility. The legislature is very busy trying to rule over municipal regulations to...
Editor, House Bill 176 would end same-day voter registration, which is a blatant voter suppression tactic. Republicans are attacking the right to vote by making it more difficult for voters that already struggle to access voter registration due to distance, lack of transportation or lack of information.&n...
Editor, Apparently, Representative Linda Reksten doesn’t think much of our Lake County Commissioners. In March of 2018, our commissioners decided to protect public health by including e-cigarettes in their Clean Indoor Air Act protections. As a result, people in our community are prot...
Editor, HB112, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” requires interscholastic trans-athletes to participate within their sex assigned at birth. This legislation illustrates a remarkable lack of awareness of the current thinking in medical and athletic communities regarding transgender athletes....
