Birth: Northbrook IL;
Age: 65;
Occupation: Attorney;
Education:
University of Chicago A.B. History (General Honors) 1981;
IIT-Chicago Kent School of Law J.D. 1986;
New York University Law School, LL.M - Taxation 1987; Montana State University Masters inn History, 2000.
As a practicing attorney for 40 years I am well prepared to deal with legislation and complex legal issues, especially in the area of taxation as I am a tax attorney.
I have a long record of public service in the areas of seniors, public health, transportation, government (co-wrote the city charter), planning, and parks. I am well versed in the many issues I will face as a legislator.
Property tax reform. The current system is unconscionable. We need to reduce the overall tax rate, require MDOR to equalize properties as required by law, and provide additional relief for people on fixed incomes.
Affordable Housing. The housing authority statute needs to be modernized (it was written in 1935) and additional government solutions to housing in support of local government need to be devised. The current market centric solutions are not working
Medicaid Renewal is a must, as it stabilizes rural hospitals, enhances employment, reduces overall health care costs, and is a good deal for the state
We need to re-pass, and overide a veto if necessary, legislation making it easier for seniors to stay in their homes.
First, there is still $1 billion of unallocated surplus. The tax burden on individual taxpayers need to be shifted back to corporate taxpayers. In 1993 the burden was 38%, now it is 58% and the corporate burden has been reduced. NWE needs to pay more and you and me less.
That said, the simplest solution would be to reduce the overall tax rates as MDOR proposed in 2022. Further, we need to look at providing additional relief to people on fixed incomes.
DPHHS is a mess. Additional funding may be needed to coordinate all the various health programs adminsistered by the state.
I know this has been a topic of one of the interim committees.
Eligibility for Mediciad Expansion in the reauthorization should be as liberal as CMS will allow.
Funding for substance abuse and mental health should be increased.
Local medicaid providers should be reimbursed for the additional costs they incurred because of the mismanaged Medicaid review
We need a corporate surtax dedicated to all levels of education, restoring the balance that existed 30 years ago. This is a problem 30 years in the making. The top tax rate on individuals also needs to be increased.
I am a 4th generation Montanan born in Billings, Montana having lived in Montana all 66 years of my life. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from the College of Great Falls in 1984 and obtained a Master of Science degree from Montana State University in 1991. I have lived in Bozeman since 1984 and started a property management company in 1986 that contracts with the federal government. My husband and I incorporated this business in 1997 and I work as CEO. Working with government contracts in Montana and Wyoming, and the many business realities including hiring and paying employees has given me a strong education in political climates and business issues. Regulation must be carefully crafted to nurture healthy work environments.
Federal encroachment on personal and state freedoms must be addressed. States must reclaim their proper functions and limit federal overreach. State law needs to be more explicit in remedies such as recall guidelines and bonding requirements for when our elected officials act outside of their enumerated powers or fail to fulfill their duties of office. Transparency in the law-making process and financial expenditures is needed to illuminate wasteful spending; mandated online annual reporting is needed. Property tax increases need to be capped to no more than 10% in any one year and property tax relief given to the elderly on fixed incomes.
Taxation should never be separated from expenditures. Every school and state department should post online their current request for funding, their current funding sources and amounts and their past three years of expenditures. Each department should have a published statement on what their main function is; expenditures outside of the main focus would then become obvious as financials are also published. A state-funded task force of business experts could be utilized to help each department or school district find efficiencies through technology or innovative restructuring.
The current health-care system in America is broken and in need of critical scrutiny. The unhealthy monetization of disease treatments needs to be abolished. Freedom to choose medical care should be enhanced and barriers to innovative healthcare delivery removed such as obstacles to subscription services by family doctors. Fraud in the Medicare system needs to be aggressively prosecuted as well as price gouging by pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies. The best outcome for health delivery is to remove third parties that stand between the health care provider and the patient.
Education delivery has not kept up with technology and needs to be rethought. Parents consistently support more choice in education opportunities such as homeschooling, private schools, charter schools, vocational and public schools. Public schools may better serve as education centers that parents can choose what their child needs from a variety of services. Better use of current facilities to serve growing student population should be considered. Allowing for schools to hire teachers from professional backgrounds without teaching certificates would help alleviate teacher shortages. Efficiencies may be gained by regulatory relief on required administrative positions.
