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Democrats are fighting for Montana's working families – Daily Montanan

['More From Author', 'April', 'Kim Abbott']

Date: 2022-04-24 00:00:00

Montana Democrats have spent the last two years offering ideas that invest in our state’s families, communities, and economy. We have solutions to invest in affordable housing, expand access to child care, train the workers that small businesses need, protect our privacy online, and let ag producers protect themselves against out-of-state corporations.

Despite our efforts to reach across the aisle, Republicans have ignored these solutions, focusing instead on magnifying D.C., scare tactics that have nothing to do with Montana, Montanans or what Montana Democrats actually support. It’s an old playbook that they dust off every two years. You could set your clock to it.

They hope that while you’re working to pay rent or find child care, you won’t notice that they’re pushing to raise your taxes. Last year, Republicans voted to give massive tax giveaways to the ultra rich–many of whom are moving here from out of state–while tucking in a tax hike on over 85,000 working Montanans. And it won’t stop there, with their bosses in D.C., pledging to raise your taxes even further if they take control of Congress–it’s one of the central planks in their reelection platform.

The rest of that platform is built on pushing the buttons of whatever topic is front and center in the culture war today. They think that if they make you angry, you won’t notice how hollow their rhetoric is, how devoid of solutions their party is, and how hard they are working to undermine the values that Montanans rely on to strengthen our families and build our communities.

Unlike the Montana GOP, Montana Democrats don’t take orders from D.C. That’s because we have solutions of our own, based on the knowledge that working families make Montana the place we love, not just wealthy people and big corporations that see our state as their playground. We want to build a stronger Montana, where every Montanan can afford to sustain a happy and healthy family. We want to protect a Montana where everyone has the right to live in a thriving and safe community. We want to create an economy where every Montanan can make a good living in the communities they choose.

That’s the Montana that Democrats believe in, and that’s the future that we’re fighting for. That’s the Montana envisioned by our state’s Constitution, but right now that future is in jeopardy, thanks to the Montana GOP. Don’t just take our word for it; they have said themselves that the Montana Constitution is a “rag” that they want to “throw out” if they get the chance. That “rag” is what protects our right to privacy; our right to a quality public education; our right to a transparent government; our right to a healthy environment; our fundamental right to vote. Those are the basic liberties that our families, communities, and economy depend on. During the last year and a half, with control of the state Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and the four other executive offices, Republicans have put those liberties on the chopping block.

Building a stronger Montana will take creativity, compromise, and a focus on the bigger picture. While Republicans are chasing every flash-in-the-pan distraction, we’re here with ideas about how to tamp down runaway housing costs, to expand access to child care, to protect our outdoor heritage, and strengthen the voices of working folks. Republicans may not have heard us since they’re so busy shouting about their manufactured D.C., culture wars. But Montana Democrats are here for working families.

Minority Leader Kim Abbott, D-Helena, represents District 83 in the Montana House of Representatives.

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