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Dear Editor: Last week, Brad Tschida, a legislator from Missoula wrote a letter to the editor criticizing me. There is a reason why Tschida is attacking me: I disagree with Tschida on many issues. While I normally ignore baseless attacks, because of the current COVID-19 situation I am limited in the personal conversations I would be able to have during a regular campaign season and I want you to know the truth. Tschida voted against a bill to prohibit sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants in Montana; I voted to prohibit sanctuary cities in...
The commencement of election season has brought a rash of fake news being written by right-wing extremists, borrowing a play from the radical left, and spread on social media about my voting record. The distortions concern pro-life issues and my vote this past session for the Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act (MRIA) that our Sidney Health Center asked me to support. It’s disappointing to see politically motivated misrepresentations, but I’m glad to highlight my pro-life work, set the record straight, and help people be better able to ide...
Representative Joel Krautter, running for re-election to Montana House District 35, is welcoming new candidate Brandon Ler, who has also filed for the seat to the race. “I know Brandon is a good family man and I look forward to discussing the issues that are important to Richland County voters in the coming months. An exchange of ideas is healthy for the electoral process,” said Krautter. Krautter sent a letter to Ler welcoming him to the race and also called for a clean campaign, inviting Ler to sign the Code of Fair Campaign Practices tha...
The legislature has finished its work after 87 days. The session was filled with many long days at the Capitol but we saw many legislative breakthroughs that will benefit our district and all of Montana. The driving force behind these victories was the Conservative Solutions Caucus. The Conservative Solutions Caucus is made up of fellow Republicans from all across Montana who believe, like I do, that our constituents expect us to go to Helena to solve problems and work to find solutions and govern, not just vote “no” and go home and point fin...
The past week saw the legislature send several pieces of major legislation, representing this session's major policy debates, to the Governor's desk for approval. The legislature gave final approval to Representative Buttrey's Medicaid Reform and Integrity Act (HB 658) after the House approved Senate amendments that: added income verification, removed the worker's compensation premium tax, and added a 2025 sunset date to the program. A fixed sunset date is extremely important for managing a...
It’s often said that Montana is like a small town with long streets. Montanans may be separated by hundreds of miles but it’s amazing how many mutual friends you find you have after talking with someone for five minutes in this giant small town. A defining characteristic of small towns is that people care about one another and rally together in challenging times. Chances are you’ve attended at least a few community benefits to raise money for medical bills or to help a family that had some other misfortune strike. Today, our giant small town...
The first week of the legislative session in Helena got underway this past week. I was excited to be sworn-in, along with 30 other freshman House members and with family and friends present. While the session officially began on Monday, the unofficial start for me was the day before, as a bipartisan group of a dozen legislators and I gathered at the home of Chief Deputy Attorney General Jon Bennion to make sausage and visit. Senators Daines and Tester, along with Attorney General Fox each...
