Memo To Great Falls State Legislative Delegation

To all of our state legislators from Great Falls and Cascade County serving in Helena during the 69th Session or the Montana State Legislature:

First, thank you for your service to our state and community. It can’t be easy being away from the comforts of home to spend 90 days in a grueling, fast-paced political environment trying to hammer out legislation.

As a Great Falls city commissioner, I ask that you keep three things in mind while your doing the hard work local voters sent you to do:

1. Remember the words of Lyndon B. Johnson in a special message to congress, “Government is best which is closest to the people.” Trust the folks in Great Falls to know what’s best for Great Falls – especially as it relates to zoning issues, economic development tools, and local tax levies. Believe me, LOCAL voters show up and speak their minds at LOCAL city commission and neighborhood council meetings about the things that affect them in their daily lives. Many of them don’t have the time or inclination to drive to Helena for hearings, but they will drive or walk a few blocks to provide public comment about LOCAL issues. And those of us elected to City government in Great Falls know the lay of land here far better than a legislator from Roundup or Billings.
2. One size does not fit all. A piece of legislation drafted to address a specific problem somewhere in the state may end up creating problems elsewhere in the state. Passing a state law requiring municipal governing bodies to stop doing this or start doing that may temporarily be good for folks in Bozeman and Missoula, but disastrous for folks in Great Falls.
3. Focus your efforts on STATE issues and problems. All but one of the Great Falls legislative delegation is Republican, and I’ve always thought that Republicans understood that Washington D.C. shouldn’t be shoving mandates and solutions down the States’ gullets. The same idea should apply here – don’t tie the hands of local governing bodies with a barrage of rules, laws, and mandates. Give us room, focus on managing STATE lands, STATE roads, STATE public safety entities, STATE resource management, STATE tax policy, and STATE government.

I know that there is no way to avoid state legislation that affects all local governing bodies, and that some of it is necessary and produces good results. But not all of it.

So please remain mindful of the consequences to LOCAL folks when you pass legislation without fully considering it’s affects on where the rubber meets the road, right here in River City.