Group plans April 1 rally in Helena to protest budget cuts

A group promoting health and human service issues in the state is planning to hold a rally in Helena on April Fool's Day: a "No Fooling with our Future!" rally.

Molly Moody, director of the Montana Organizing Project, was in Havre and on the Hi-Line this week collecting information and urging people to get on a sponsored bus in Havre next Friday morning to go to Helena and participate in the rally.

"It does make a difference to have real people there, instead of just legislators and lobbyists," she said.

Moody was in Havre last December as well during a tour of the state, talking to local officials and representatives of service organizations — and incoming legislators — about what concerns were in the upcoming legislative session now under way.

That seemed to have little impact, she added.

"It was important to have those conversations, but they're still doing what they're doing," she said.

Republicans who control the state Legislature have pushed an agenda saying Gov. Brian Schweitzer's budget assumes revenue will be available that is not guaranteed, and that he uses many one-time sources of funds and shifting of money from important programs to fund others — often using the term robbing Peter to pay Paul — in his proposal.

The group organizing the rally — the Montana Organizing Project is part of a broad-based coalition — has produced a booklet describing some of the comments from around the state, including from Havre Public Schools counselor Dana West, about what cuts in health, education and other service programs would mean to Montanans.

That report will be released in Helena April 1, before the rally takes place.

It gives "a smattering of the faces in Montana and how the budget affects them, " Moody said.

The cuts continue to be made even as the Legislative Fiscal Division has revised its estimates on what revenue will be coming in. Thursday the division revised the revenue availability up by more than $61 million, still $180 million short of Gov. Brian Schweitzer's budget proposal.

"Even though we have enough money to balance the budget, we're still far below the governor's budget, " Moody said.

Moody also cited reports from the independent Montana Budget and Policy Center, available online at http://www.montanabudget.org, including reports saying cuts proposed are unneeded and ill-advised, and will greatly impact Montana's children and those most in need of aid.

Moody said some of the legislative actions include refusing federal funds and matching money that reduce the state's programs without saving it any money.

Education has been under big attack, " Moody added. "We're worried how it will affect our public schools and university system."

She said buses will be taking passengers to the Helena rally from Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Kalispell and Missoula as well as Havre next Friday morning.

The advertisement for the rally calls for everyone — union members, community leaders, neighbors, teachers, firefighters, nurses, snowplow drivers, health workers, business owners, conservationists, cowboys and police officers — to join the rally.

"If people are not supportive of the cuts that happened, and want to reverse the cuts, they should join us for the rally, " Moody said.

The bus for Havre is scheduled to leave for Helena at 8 a. m. next Friday from the parking lot of the old Gary & Leo's IGA, at 15 W. 1st St.