Guest column: Montana needs a balanced approach to support families and workers - Heather O'Loughlin Guest columnist

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This article is doctrinaire leftist agitprop. The author contents herself with regurgitating tired leftist talking points and bumper sticker slogans. She does her best to paint most of Montana as being in desperate straights, a problem that can only be solved by government. 

So she opposes returning money to overtaxed Montanans. She reflexively assumes that government is better choice to spend money than the taxpayers who originally earned the money.

Further, she does not advocate for a "balanced approach." It's a full-on leftist spending nightmare.

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Walk into any shop or restaurant and talk to the workers, and you’ll hear story after story about the struggles that working families face. Housing costs have put many families at risk of homelessness. Parents can’t find reliable child care. Mental health services are vanishing across the state, especially in rural areas where services have always been limited. These issues merit thoughtful debate on the long-term investments (I.e. government spending.)

needed to support families, businesses, and communities.

And yet, the “solutions” in Helena (Tax rebates have never been presented as a solution to poverty or healthcare. Her priorities do not align with Republican priorities, and she thinks it's the Republicans who need to conform to her priorities.

But democrats lost. Big Time. Elections have consequences.)

seem to come in one form: unprecedented tax cuts to the tune of $1 billion in lost revenue, (Returning excess taxation to those who originally earned it is not "lost revenue." The government took it from the taxpayer. It does not belong to government.)

largely benefiting those at the top. (Leftist slogan. It seems to be a surprise to the author that the ones who pay the most tax get back more.)

One of the largest is Senate Bill 121, which would lower the top income tax rate. The governor has touted SB 121 as a way to entice more out-of-staters to move to Montana. On average, SB 121 would give the wealthiest one percent a permanent tax cut of around $6,000, while most middle-income families will see less than $100.

Other proposals to provide expensive tax rebates may provide some Montanans with one-time support but will do nothing to solve inequities within the tax system in the long term. (What inequities might those be? And why didn't former democratic governor Bullock do something about it? And what about Schweitzer before him? There was a democratic governor from 2005 to 2021, and nothing was done. Democrats controlled the senate in 2004 and 2006. The house was an even split in 2004, 2006, and 2008. And nothing was done.)

What’s worse, many Montanans are left out. The current proposal for a one-time property tax rebate does not include the tens of thousands of Montanans who pay property taxes through their rent. (Astounding. The author thinks that people who do not own property should get a property tax rebate.)

Under House Bill 222, more than 80% of the wealthiest households will receive the property tax rebate (due to higher homeownership rates), but less than half of the rest of Montanans would get this property tax support. Fair market rent in many areas of Montana has increased by more than 15% over the past several years. Renters, often families living on lower incomes, are putting a significant amount of their household income into housing costs, including property taxes. (Duh. High property taxes are passed to the renters. Logically, lower property taxes would result in lower rental rates.)

Montana lawmakers can look at meaningful policies to address tax inequities, (Mentioned again, but no specifics.)

but those efforts must be done in coordination with budget discussions. Lawmakers are rushing to pass revenue-cutting measures before they’ve even started considering state budget needs. (How does she know this? We think it's highly unlikely that no one in Helena has looked at budget needs.)

Montana’s needs are significant and the future of our health care system and families are on the line. One in seven children in Montana face food insecurity. Montana ranks in the bottom five states for access to child care, meeting less than half of the demand. Health professionals and families have spoken to the gaps in health services across the state, resulting in growing waitlists for children accessing acute mental health services and adults seeking home- and community-based services. The Montana communities that are still reeling from past budget cuts need solutions not more cuts. These solutions exist, and they will require investing state resources to support families, providers, and communities. (They will require "investing" oodles of taxpayer money, solving no problem, addressing no need, and ameliorating no one's struggles. We know this because oodles of money has already been spent, and yet the problem is still there.)

Ramming through tax cuts to benefit the wealthy or provide short-term fixes will cost the state hundreds of millions in lost revenue, (She repeats her vapid claim.)

and it leaves policymakers without the ability to enact meaningful, long-term solutions to address growing pressure on Montana’s property tax system and rising housing costs for both renters and homeowners. (How does it leave policymakers without the ability to do stuff? We have never heard of any government being unable to do stuff because of tax rebates. 

And by the way, the potential "need" does not outweigh the current duty to return excess taxation to its rightful owners.)

We hope policymakers will slow down, make the needed investments to improve health services, access to housing, child care, and ensure the tax cuts they seek are helping those who really need it.


Heather O’Loughlin (she/her) leads the Montana Budget and Policy Center’s research and policy analysis, collaborating with partners to develop policy solutions backed by concrete data. Before coming to MBPC, O’Loughlin served as the legislative director and policy advisor for Sen. Max Baucus, managing the senator’s legislative team. Heather is originally from Great Falls and lives with her husband and daughter in Helena.