Montana gubernatorial candidates Rick Hill and Steve Bullock met in Kalispell on Wednesday night at Flathead Valley Community College, where they discussed many subjects that could impact the Flathead Valley in the near future, including natural resource development, medical marijuana, wolf management and educational funding. ( click here to to watch the debate )
Hill, a Republican and former Montana congressman, and Bullock, a Democrat and current state attorney general, have met several times to debate during the campaign.
Both candidates took the debate opportunity to aim barbs at one another, and Bullock wasted no time bringing up the news of the day that Hill’s campaign received $500,000 from the Montana Republican Party in the six days that the law constraining campaign donations was suspended by a judge and then reinstated by an appeals court.
Bullock called the donation a crime. At the debate, Hill said the donation was legal at the time it was made, and it was made transparently.
“There is nothing to suggest that during that period of time there was anything illegal (about the donation),” Hill said.
Hill said he agreed with the federal judge who declared Montana’s campaign spending limits unconstitutional, and said Montanans and candidates need a level playing field with the Super PACs funneling cash into the state with attack ads.
Bullock said that while it may have been legal in that window of time to accept the $500,000, keeping it is illegal because the state’s election rules are in effect today.
“The illegality is keeping the check when right now Montana law says in total you can only keep (a certain amount) from each group,” Bullock said.
Another major issue in the debate centered on natural resource development and how it could affect the Flathead. Both candidates said they believe in responsible development, and that the state has done a better job of managing its land than the federal government has managing its forests.
Bullock touted his record on the state Land Board and having sold 215 million board feet of timber in the past four years. He said he supports projects that result from a collaborative effort between different groups, and does not support lawsuits seeking to halt those projects. Responsible development is possible through coordination, Bullock said.
“One thing we don’t want to do is go back 60 years and not be thinking about what this place is going to be like for future generations,” Bullock said.
Hill said he believes Montana can find a balance between developing a resource and having respect for the land and the beauty around the state. Hill also cited oil and gas development as the key to better educational funding.
“Education relies almost exclusively on property taxes to fund it,” Hill said.
Since education funding is dynamic and not static, Hill said, it should be funded through a dynamic channel, such as oil and gas development. Other states, such as Wyoming and North Dakota, have taken on this financing model to great success, Hill said.
Bullock described Hill’s idea to use oil and gas money to fund schools as a “shell game” because that money is already being used and criticized Hill’s support for charter schools and tax credits to support sending a child to private school.
The educational funding system needs to be scrutinized, Bullock said, but it should not be privatized or defunded.
Bullock also defended his positive stance on Montana’s economy, saying that the state went through the recession with the rest of the nation but still stayed in the black. He said Hill’s view of the business climate in Montana is negative.
Hill stood by his assessment, noting that the state ranks low with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and that the hostile business environment keeps businesses out of state. He said the state needs to look at what isn’t working and challenge itself to fix those problems.
Both candidates agreed that tuition should be frozen for state universities and colleges, but Hill said he would do it through priority-based budgeting. He said he wants the university system to prioritize zero-to-low tuition increases, instead of making it an afterthought.
Bullock said the priority-based budgeting system is unrealistic and doesn’t usually work. He said he would challenge “every expense” in the university system, though the state is not “overly generous” with education funding.
When it came to wolves and management within the state’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency, Hill said if elected his administration would immediately go to work mending relationships between the agency, landowners and sportsmen. He also said he has an aggressive plan for managing predators in the state.
Bullock said FWP is an agency that should be run by the experts, regardless of political affiliation, and as governor he would enlist those experts to ensure the best interests of the landowners and others affected.
In a discussion about Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act, Hill said expanding the coverage would mean more health care providers would go under-compensated, thus shifting the cost to private insurance. Hill said he would support a premium support system as an alternative, as well as a people buying insurance on the exchange.
While he agreed that people pay too much for health care, Bullock said the focus should be on creating a healthier population in the state to avoid costly defensive medicine. He also said state lawmakers should wait until the ground rules are set for the Medicaid expansion before they decide against it, because it could be incorporated in a state-designed program.
Hill criticized Bullock’s response to the explosion of medical marijuana cardholders, saying it was the “biggest law enforcement problem in the state” and as attorney general, Bullock didn’t help lawmakers address it.
Bullock disagreed, and said he worked with both Republicans and Democrats to try to find a solution to the “significant abuses” within the program during the 2011 legislative session. Republicans, however, wanted full repeal, Bullock said, which he said wasn’t in the best interest of Montanans.
When asked how his relationship with Republicans in the Legislature would differ from the mercurial relationship current Gov. Brian Schweitzer has with them, Bullock said he has already proven he can work with both sides of the aisle with examples of passing the new DUI prevention program and substantial reform on prescription drug abuse.
Hill said he would not have vetoed many of the bills Schweitzer did after the last legislative session, including the bill that would have required parental notification if a girl under 16 seeks an abortion.
In his closing statement, Hill said he believes he can lead Montana to more prosperity, with better jobs and salaries as well as maintaining an obligation to the environment.
“I’m running for governor because I believe that Montana can do better,” Hill said.
Bullock said in his closing statement that he takes Montana’s future personally because of his young children, and that the next administration should have an eye on the positive aspects of the state and the future.
“What kind of Montana can we create for not only 2013 but for future generations?” Bullock said.
Watch the debate in its entirety by clicking here.