On the first day of the legislative session, with little notice and no public input, the majority party rolled back the budget to 2000 levels, throwing the budget process into disarray. That's not a good way to do business, and flies in the face of their pledge to work together to do what's right for Montana, create jobs and boost our economy.

While our budget problems aren't unusual (other states are facing similar fiscal woes), our economy remains stuck in neutral, investment in our kids and schools at the state level is falling, forcing increases in property taxes at the local level, and health care costs are rising and health insurance is seemingly a mirage to too many Montanans.

Actions speak louder than words

That's why we Democrats have pledged to work together in the Legislature to do what's right for our state. That means actions speak louder than words, and that we have to work together to fix the budget, create jobs, invest in education, and provide quality, affordable health care to all Montanans.

We've reached across the aisle to our Republican colleagues to develop common-sense ideas to balance the budget and meet the basic needs of our people and communities. We support using interest from the Coal Tax Trust Fund, which builds Montana's communities and creates jobs, develops water systems for arid parts of Montana, and delivers millions of dollars every year for the state budget.

We can't go backward in the budgeting process and expect to move our state forward.

We face a steep challenge. National economic indicators show Montana ranks near dead last in many categories. Montanans know that we can't afford to play politics as usual. We can't pull budget sleights of hand and expect to create jobs and attract new business. That just doesn't work and provides no certainty to taxpayers, workers, homeowners and our Main Street businesses.

Like Montana's hard-working families, we need to fix our budget going forward, not going backward. We can't keep cutting at the state level and forcing property tax increases on homeowners and property owners and businesses at the local level. We've got to work together to develop a comprehensive plan to turn our economy around.

Prioritizing Montana values

Our budget sets our priorities as Montanans. Tells us who we are and what we value. What we invest in will determine our future as a state. That's why we can't afford to just willy-nilly roll back our budget while cutting Montanans out of the process. We can't ignore Montanans and refuse to place any trust in ideas from home.

Montanans need to know if our budget will invest in job creation and quality schools for our kids so they can compete in the 21st century. They want to know what will happen to foster care children, the elderly, those with mental health problems and the disabled if programs already at bare-bones budgets are eliminated? Are Montanans ready to tolerate a "catch and release" program for prisoners because we can't afford to keep them behind bars? Will property taxes for homeowners and small businesses rise dramatically to make up for cuts in state aid to schools? How will local governments cope with less help from the state? Can working families afford more "taxes" in the form of higher college tuition?

These are questions that affect real Montanans who are trying to make a living, raise their children and send their kids to good schools.

We believe that all Montanans must work together to boost our economy and create good-paying jobs that support families. We need to work together to ensure every Montanan has access to quality, affordable health care and that the basic needs of Montanans are met. We need to work together to figure out how to invest in schools, teachers and kids.

But working together is a two-way street. We need the cooperation of Republicans to move our state forward.

Every Montanan has the right to ask for and receive a list of programs and services targeted for cuts -- so you can agree or disagree with the proposals. Please call your legislator at (406) 444-4800 and urge him or her to work together to move Montana forward, not backward.

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Senate Minority Leader Jon Tester is from Big Sandy, and House Minority Leader Dave Wanzenried is from Missoula.

Billings Gazette

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2003