Varying views at forum: House District 28

The candidates for House District 28, Republican Stephanie Hess and Democrat Janet Trethewey answered questions at the forum for state Legislature candidates.

Trethewey said she grew up in Hingham and chose to return to the Hi-Line after going to college. She said she has worked here, volunteered here and is very active in the community. She serves on Havre City Council.

Hess is a social worker, working with the elderly and disabled at the Northern Montana Care Center for the last few years. She said she has spent her career serving and she would like to continue to do so.

The candidates were asked about the referendum that will be on the November ballot that asks voters if they would like to change the time in which voters can register before an election from the same-day registration to 5 p.m. the Friday before.

Hess said she supports the move away from same-day registration.

“For the sake of our clerk and recorders, I am going to vote yes,” Hess said, explaining that the work it takes for them to check registering voters’ information takes some time.

Trethewey said the same-day registration is not a problem in this technological age. She said she has worked in a clerk and recorder’s office and it does not take that much time to get the voters registered. Trethewey added that the process is “not a big deal” and allows thousands of people to get their vote it.

“I don’t think its unreasonable to ask people to register the Friday before,” Hess said in her rebuttal. “Everybody knows there’s an election coming up.”

The candidates were also asked about Medicaid expansion in the state.

Trethewey said Medicaid expansion is important because it is designed to help the people who are making minimum wage and low salaries to become insured.

“We need to balance having more people having insurance to having more providers to help those people,” Trethewey said.

Hess said everyone can agree Obamacare has experienced a lot of bumps and has left thousands of Montanans without insurance or experiencing problems.

“If I’m driving my car down the street and it starts belching out black smoke, I don’t drive it faster,” Hess said. “I fix the problem.”

Trethewey, in her rebuttal, said the reality of the situation with the Affordable Care Act, at this point in time, “this is the best solution we have to provide insurance to the most people possible.” She said it is not perfect, but until a better way is found, they need to ensure people have access to insurance.

The candidates were also asked if marijuana should be legalized in Montana.

“The reality is people are using pot,” Trethewey said, adding that legalizing it and “taxing the heck out of it” would help pay for the large number of people in jail for drug charges.

“I think there’s some reasonableness in legalizing marijuana in the state” Trethewey said. “But I think it has to be done carefully, with a lot of forethought.”

Hess said she understands there are some medicinal purposes for marijuana use, but she has serious concerns about legalizing it.

“The marijuana that’s available today is a hybridized version, not the same as the marijuana that was available in the '50s and '60s,” Hess said, adding that the potency of the marijuana and children’s access to it gives reason to pause.

In their closing statements, Hess said she she is running to help Montanans and the people in District 28.

“I love this state and I love this town,” she said, adding that the town is full of hardworking Montanans. She said the government should be looking for solutions to problems, not trying to beat each other in the bipartisan fight.

“I believe that government should represent everyone,” Trethewey said. “Not just serve special interests.”