Values and Important Issues

Finding high quality affordable childcare is stressful and difficult. When it is affordable, the workers may not be making enough to pay their own bills. Our state has the resources to help with this, but we need more primary caregivers in the room to talk about this issue and move it forward.

Working people in this state are underwater with the skyrocketing cost of living and low wages. Corrupt influences are trying to kill our collective bargaining abilities by making Montana a so-called "Right to Work" state. The ultra-rich are making Montana their personal playground at the expense of the people doing all the hard work, and they are buying up all the property and shutting the rest of us out. 

Our rights to make decisions about our own bodies, our healthcare and the way we care for our children's unique needs are under attack now. Whether you are a person making family planning decisions or someone who is seeking treatment for issues such as gender dysphoria, your privacy and autonomy is paramount to your freedom. If we don't own ourselves, then we truly are not free. Our Montana constitution has held so far to protect those rights, but there is a barrage of attacks attempting to dism

Our teachers are barely making ends meet and they are stressed with ever growing class sizes and fewer resources to support their roles in educating the future of Montana. We need to fund our public schools and stop the bleeding of funds into private enterprises. We need to show our teachers that they are valued for the essential services they provide to our most precious loved ones. We have a shortage of teachers because we have some of the lowest wages for teachers in the country.

We need affordable housing. We also need to fix up our low-income neighborhoods to make them safer with improved community centers, parks, special improvement district projects and public art.

Our law enforcement and courts are overwhelmed and it is being reflected in the perceived lack of safety on our roads and in our neighborhoods. We need accountability in our policing and adequate resources for support when child safety, mental health and addiction are factors in crime. 

We all deserve to access the incredible natural resources that make Montana an exceptional state. The ultra-rich are building mansions adjacent to our public lands and trying to find ways to shut the rest of us out. We must maintain our fishing accesses and ease of access to the wealth of public lands around us. We stand to lose this in short order if the people in power succeed in their attempts to pave the way for the privatization of public lands.