Taylor voted 'no' to deregulation

Editor,

Let's set the record straight. My father, Mike Taylor, voted against deregulation. Either Mr. Molnar does not understand the legislative process or is just misrepresenting the truth to gain political advantage. This fact is that both Mr. Molnar and the candidate he is supporting, Mr. Vick, both voted for deregulation.

To explain my point, I will provide some background on the legislative process and the facts surrounding my father's voting history on deregulation (Sen. Bill No. 390).

Each session legislators are confronted with approximately 700 to 1,000 bills of the 1,500 to 2,000 bills that are submitted each legislative session. It would be nearly impossible for a legislator to understand every nuance of a proposed bill upon first reading. The legislative process itself educates legislators as bills move in and out of committees and debates on the legislative floor.

Assuming that the legislator is not an ideologue, as the legislative process moves on, a legislator may change his mind regarding a bill that he originally thought was a good idea, because he gains new insight into the bill.

That is precisely what happened when my father voted against deregulation.

My father originally supported the deregulation bill (Sen. Bill No. 390), because he is an advocate of the free enterprise system and based on information supplied by lobbyists.

After the deregulation bill came out of committee and was debated on the senate floor, my father had some serious misgiving about deregulation, but voted on the second reading.

Based on these misgivings, my father consulted with his constituents and experts knowledgeable in the field of deregulation.

After obtaining more information, he voted against deregulation on the third reading, the vote of record, for the following reasons:

1) If Montana's energy infrastructure was sold, would Montanans be on a cost-plus basis?

2) It did not allow for competition among energy providers; 3) The stranded costs were out of line.

Senate Bill No. 390 was sent to the House and was amended and returned to the Senate for a vote.

My father voted "no" again — period.

Chris Taylor

Proctor