Duct tape & baling wire
I don't want to come off sounding like Scrooge but the school funding fix wangled in the legislative special session last week was something put together with duct tape and baling wire.
State government — the governor and the Legislature — have had plenty of time to look at this issue and come up with something better than the temporary fix that has the Democratic side of the equation feeling smug and the Republicans doing their partisan best to remind us why they are no longer in control of the governor's mansion or either chamber in the Legislature.
Frankly, I'm tired of the two-party system, especially when the two parties seem more interested in maintaining or regaining power than working together. A party-line vote on anything can't be a good solution. It just means when the other guys regain control, they're going to change it back.
The real problem with the funding fix arrived at last week is that nearly half of the $71 million will come from the state's budget surplus. You can bet anything that enough surplus won't be in place every year or every biennium to keep doing that. So we really didn't fix anything, we just threw some duct tape and baling wire at to get us down the road a few more miles.
When the Montana Supreme Court ruled last year that education funding was inadequate, I doubt they were thinking about such roadside maintenance. Members of the Montana Quality Education Coalition, who prompted the lawsuit that led to the high court ruling, have not been shy about saying they're not happy with the solution. Those people are talking about meeting before the end of the year to consider additional legal actions.
It was disappointing to see Republicans whining that there was no education reform in the fix. Excuse me, but what happened to No Child Left Behind? It has been the catalyst for significant reforms in state school districts. And it's measured regularly. I believe that was passed by a Republican dominated Legislature looking for more federal funding instead of coughing up state monies.
And the GOP cry for tax relief for Montanans as part of the fix wasn't a good idea. Montana taxes need to be addressed as a whole from the smallest use tax to the income and property tax. And special fees for services needed to be considered in that discussion because it seems like the state gives you a property tax break and than raises something else that costs you more money in the long run. That's smoke and mirror politics that comes with the partisan crap we have to put up with.
A sincere Merry Christmas to all of you. And stock up on the baling wire and duct tape. I have a feeling we're going to need it in the coming year. — Roger Morris