Jackson's track record is frowned upon
Editor,
I have never been heavily involved in politics, nor the inner workings and the political machinery thereof, but as I read through information provided by the media, my curiosity has gotten the better of me. I have begun taking advantage of information to which we all have access.
If at all interested you can go to Google.com then Montana State Legislature and click on Bills. The more I read, the more apparent it becomes that we need to become more educated about our elected officials and their voting records before we go to the polls.
Over the course of his campaign, Verdell Jackson has urged the voters to allow him to continue his political career based on his legislative performance as a state representative for the district northwest of Kalispell. So, let's be fair to him and look at his record. First, not that volume is the best measure, but it is troubling to note than in Verdell's four regular legislative sessions since 1999, he only sponsored four bills that actually became law — marginal productivity at best. Of the four, one established a problem solving commission, another made that commission permanent; the other two, though doubtlessly important to the narrow interests concerned, were minor bills that steered well clear of addressing any of Montana's real challenges. One does have to wonder what he was doing all that time.
In the 2005 session, he sponsored HB 415, which sought to remove the following from the "basic system" of public education: kindergarten, school lunch program, recreation program, bus transportation, adult education, new buildings, debt retirement. In short, this bill would have either totally emasculated public education, or dramatically increased out property taxes to maintain our current system, or more likely both would have occurred. Fortunately, it died an inglorious death in committee with virtually no support from his colleagues.
His voting record is even more troubling. Under questioning on "KOFI Talk" he admitted that he voted to support SB468 that closed water rights in the Montana portion of the Clark Fork Basin, but he did not know what he was doing until he later applied to increase his own water rights, and his request was denied based on the new law.
He voted against HB124 that would have pooled school employees into a statewide health insurance plan with better benefits and at lower cost. And just to show that not all Republicans are pro-business, Verdell voted against HB667 — a bill with significant local impact that established insurance buying pools for very small Montana businesses (nine or fewer employees), thus enabling these employers to afford coverage for their employees. Fortunately, to the benefit of these businesses and their employees, many of whom are located in the Flathead Valley, this bill was passed into law as only 17 of 100 representatives (including Verdell) opposed it.
Per a Daily Inter Lake article last December, Verdell claims to have been "hoodwinked" in 2001 into supporting SB306, SB89 and HB294 — all of which granted increased pension benefits to state employees. Again, he in essence claims to not know what he was doing when he supported these bills. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…."
It is pretty clear that Verdell's record is a bit of an embarrassment to conservative Republicans such as me. In fact, I even wonder if he is a RINO — Republican in Name Only. To vote for him, one would have to conclude that his track record as a senator would be considerably better than the one he turned in as a representative, and there is no evidence that this would be the case. It would be sort of like betting on "Mr. Ed" if he was entered in the Kentucky Derby. You may win, but his track record tells you he will not even get a clean break out of the starting time.
No, Verdell. We do not want a professional politician in Senate District 5. And even if we did, your "track record" would force us to look elsewhere.
Larry C. Ashcraft
Yellow Bay