Voters know better, and the ball is in their court

The central architects of what is arguably the most glaring and egregious failure of the recent 64th Legislative session now seek to camouflage their disruptive handiwork, presumably with an eye to paving over the indiscretion and getting themselves re-elected in 2016.

State House Reps. Wittich [R-Belgrade], Ballance [R-Stevensville], and Glimm [R-Whitefish] correctly take credit for their votes to kill SB 416 – a late-session bill that would have provided $150 million in essential infrastructure improvements and jobs to communities across the state.

But their June 2 guest column, “The Truth about Infrastructure Spending,” spins the debacle into an absurd fiction that would be comic if it weren’t so serious. In summary, the trio tries to say: “We did it, but it wasn’t our fault.” But in order to complete the sleight of hand, a host of misrepresentations were required – and we were treated to those, as well.

The authors claim the bill was overly partisan. In fact, SB 416 was crafted over two weeks of intense bi-partisan compromise involving the leadership of both parties in the House. As to claims that the governor was unyielding: The bill cut the governor’s original infrastructure request by half.

The authors claim that SB 416 was a simple wishlist of discretionary construction projects. Try explaining that to the shocked Montanan city and county officials, business leaders, and concerned citizens across the state whose communities this summer have been left high and dry—in Laurel, quite literally. The public needs to know that SB 416 contained an essential list of critical public works projects – painstakingly vetted – that will now be delayed at potential significant future public expense.

Lawmakers Wittich, Ballance and Glimm would like us to believe that their “Just Say No” approach to governance is somehow elevated. But voters know better: Doing nothing is an entirely inappropriate legislative response to the many pressing challenges to our quality of life here in Bozeman and elsewhere in the state, especially when it comes public safety and our aging infrastructure.

Montana will be better served by leaders capable of running government with a business approach, where certain investments in infrastructure are understandably paid for over time; where long-term capital plans like the renovation of the MSU’s iconic Romney Hall are not abandoned mid-stream; and, where bi-partisan leadership efforts to maintain our valuable public infrastructure assets are not recklessly hijacked on the House Floor at the 11th hour.

Representatives Wittich, Ballance and Glimm take apparent pleasure in derailing Montana’s critical infrastructure planning, killing thousands of well-paying Montana jobs – and then, if that wasn’t enough, having the moxie to circle back in our community paper to tell us that they’ve somehow just done us a favor.

Voters know better, and the ball is in their court to chart a corrective course in 2016: electing qualified leaders who understand their community’s needs and who can get the job done for the citizens of Montana.

View the original content and more from this author here: http://ift.tt/1QwvPrL

from critical infrastructure alliance http://ift.tt/1GoIqO5
via IFTTT