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Democrats in Legislature Seek to Help Main Street Businesses’ Bottom Line, Clamp Down on Out-of-State Corporations Cheating on
Taxes
Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana Democrats are pushing to help
Montana businesses thrive and be more profitable, going up against Republican legislators and their corporate out-of-state clients in the process.
This week Sen. Jim Elliott (D-Trout Creek) pressed a bill to stiffen enforcement and close gaping tax loopholes that encourage out-of-state
corporations and individuals who do business in Montana to evade their tax bills. The loopholes give out-of-staters a competitive advantage over our
own Montana businesses. On top of that, Montanans are paying higher taxes because these non-residents are cheating on their Montana
taxes. Republicans are opposing us. Read more.
Sen. Elliott’s
bill (SB 220) also helps Montana small businesses with $150 million in tax cuts by exempting another 14,000 businesses from the business equipment
tax entirely. Last year, Democrats exempted 13,000 businesses from the tax. All businesses will see their taxes on $150,000 of their business
equipment eliminated—up from $20,000 last year. Democrats pay for this tax relief by closing the tax loopholes being exploited by out-of-state
corporations. These same folks are lobbying heavily now with support from Republicans to kill the proposal. To tell your
representative in the Montana legislature that you support SB 220 today, click here.
Next time Montana Republicans tell you they are the party of small business, ask them why
they sided with Californians who duck their taxes in our state.
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Secretary of State Brad Johnson Wants to Make it Harder for Montanans to Vote
Secretary of State Brad Johnson is backing a bill to make
it more difficult for Montanans to vote. Johnson is campaigning in the legislature and in the press to repeal the right Montanans have to
register and vote until and on Election Day. Even voters in Iraq have the right to register and vote on and up through Election Day—so
why take that right away from Montanans, Brad?
In testimony to the Montana legislature, Johnson says the voting process was “somewhat chaotic” in November
because so many of us turned out to vote and that he fears “diminished integrity of the election process.”
Balderdash.
It is supposed to be the Secretary of State’s job to help more
citizens vote and vote easily, not to make it harder. Yet that is exactly what Johnson seeks to do.
It’s definitely odd that Brad Johnson uses as
evidence the “chaos” he’s in no small part responsible for creating in order to do away with the popular ‘same
day’ voting law. This is the same Brad Johnson that left some local county elections officers with
inaccurate or incomplete information and without the tools they needed to make their jobs easier on election day.
This is the same Brad Johnson who spent $500,000 on
ubiquitous billboards with airbrushed photos of himself, and highly-produced TV ads to promote himself last year—wasting taxpayer money that
was intended to help Montanans vote. These thinly veiled campaign ads of Brad Johnson were paid for by us taxpayers, by the way.
So Mr. Johnson, we couldn’t possibly disagree with
you more.
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Governor Schweitzer Fights Planned FSA Office Closures in Rural
Montana
Governor Brian Schweitzer reiterated his strong opposition to proposed U.S. Farm Service Agency office
consolidations during a Tuesday conversation with USDA Secretary Mike Johanns. FSA officials in Montana have proposed closing seven county
offices here.
"The idea that it is more efficient to make farm and ranch producers drive an additional 90 miles round trip to
conduct federal farm program business makes no sense.” Schweitzer said after the conversation, which occurred while he was in Washington, DC.
"High oil prices have caused farmers and ranchers to try to cut back on travel and on operating expenses. This
runs counter to that aim and serves only the convenience of people who administer the FSA programs," added Nancy K. Peterson, director of the Montana
Department of Agriculture. "What ever happened to the 'service' in the Farm Service Agency?" More.
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Sen. Max Baucus Fights Bush-Cheney
Scheme to Sell Off Public Lands to Big Corporations
Senator Max Baucus today came out swinging against a
Bush-Cheney Administration plan to sell off huge tracts of our pristine public lands in Montana to fund their wrong-headed budget priorities –
again.
Baucus threw down the gauntlet on a proposal buried in
President Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget request to Congress that would sell off public land to pay for the Secure Rural Schools Act, which
provides payments to counties that include tax-exempt federal lands. It’s the second land-sales proposal by the White House in as many years.
Baucus led the effort in Congress to beat back the land-sale effort last year. But they’re back again.
Sen. Baucus supports extending the Secure Rural Schools
program, which he helped establish in 2000, but not by selling off our public lands to do so. He is working with Congressional
leaders on a plan to fund the program this year. The 2000-enacted Rural Schools program expired in 2006, leaving many counties in Montana with a
budget shortfall.
“We’re going to find a way to fund the
Secure Schools program without selling even one acre of public land,” Baucus said. “Auctioning off our outdoor heritage is not the way
to do this. Our public lands in the West are sacrosanct. The President can count on a fight in Congress.” More.
Max: Keep on fighting for Montana’s hunters,
anglers and outdoor enthusiasts.
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Sen. Jon Tester:
President's Budget Fails Vets and their Families
Sen. Jon Tester this week is strongly opposing Bush-Cheney
cuts to health care for our nation’s veterans. Tester released the following statement in
response to the cuts in President Bush's proposed
budget:
“I have serious concerns that this budget
doesn’t come close to adequately funding veterans’ healthcare. We made a promise to the veterans of this country, and we break
that promise by making them beg for money to pay for health care each and every year. Right now, the Administration is doing neither.
We’re spending upwards of $2 billion each week in Iraq in a war that is creating wounded veterans by the thousands. Unless the
Administration gets serious about funding VA healthcare, those young men and women will return home to nothing but long lines and higher fees.
“Sen. Baucus and I are ready to roll up our sleeves
and work with Rep. Rehberg to fight for Montana’s priorities. We’ll hold the Administration accountable, ask the tough questions
and make sure Montanans tax dollars are being spent wisely.” Sen. Baucus has also criticized the negative impact the Bush budget will have on
Montana. More.
Save the Date!
The 2007 Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner featuring Keynote Speaker Mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper will be on March 10, 2007 at the Helena Civic Center.
Mayor Hickenlooper was recently featured along with Governor Brian Schweitzer
and Senator Jon Tester in the recent TIME magazine article about the Democratic Party's western rising stars.
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| Montana
Democratic Party • PO Box 802 • Helena, Montana
59624
Phone 406-442-9520 • Fax 406-442-9534 • www.MontanaDemocrats.org
This communication was not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee
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