Varying views at forum: State Senate Dist. 14

Senate District 14 candidates Rep. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, and Sen. Greg Jergeson, D-Havre, gave their views on a variety of topics Thursday at the Havre High School Theatre during a forum sponsored by the Havre Daily News.

Havre High government teacher John Ita first asked the candidates to talk about their ties to the Hi-Line and what they thought were the main issues for constituents in the district.

Hansen said the redistricting that takes effect next legislative session has greatly changed the region covered. Her house district is part of Havre and western Hill County. After redistricting it now runs from the Canadian border in Hill and Liberty counties through Chouteau County to Cascade County just outside of Great Falls.

Hansen said she has been putting on a lot of miles this campaign talking and getting to know people throughout the four counties.

“I feel like I am quite prepared to serve this much-larger district,” she said.

Jergeson said his house in Havre is across the street from the building that once housed the Sacred Heart Hospital where he and his four siblings were born and where his mother worked while she was going to high school in Havre. Jergeson grew up working on his family farm in Blaine County and worked the farm as an adult, having to “walk the walk besides talking the talk” of Montana’s primary industry, and worked for years at the Montana State University-Northern Foundation, and was highly involved in the public school system as his daughters grew up, all of which show his roots and ties to the region, he said.

He said he again ran for the Senate last session because many folks are concerned and disgusted by the bitter partisan politics in both federal and Montana decision-making and lawmaking in recent years. He said he is proud of the role he played to help foster cooperation across party lines and that he wants to continue that in future sessions.

Both candidates gave their view on charter schools. Last legislative session, some Republican lawmakers including Hansen, who chaired the House Education Committee, supported changing the existing rules governing charter schools in Montana.

No school district in Montana has set up a charter school under those regulations.

Jergeson, who spoke first on the topic, said that existing public schools are subject to regulation by a local board and state rules. Setting up publicly funded charter schools that are not would not only remove the taxpayers having a say in the schools but also would take students and funding from schools such as those along the Hi-Line and throughout northern Montana, he said.

Hansen said charter schools are public schools and the legislation proposed last session would not have allowed charter schools to compete in smaller districts, only in larger school districts. Rural schools would have had the option to close the public school and convert to a charter school, she said.

She said charter schools give an option, especially for students who don’t function well in the public school setting. The schools could focus on areas such as agriculture or other areas.

She also agreed with Democratic House District 28 candidate Janet Trethewey that the members of the Board of Regents of Higher Education should be elected, not appointed by the governor, and said the same should be true of the state Board of Education.

When asked about how under-performing districts on American Indian reservations could be improved, she again talked about charter schools. While Hansen said charter schools are not a panacea to solve the problems in education, they could improve performance at reservation schools, such as having a tribal culture immersion school, she said. There are such schools in the country that are successful, Hansen said.

Jergeson cited comments made earlier in the forum by House District 32 candidate Rep. Clarena Brockie, and also echoed comments by both of the candidates in the race for House District 27, Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady, and Democrat Rob Laas of Chester. The key is selecting school administrators and school board members who would provide the leadership needed and having engagement from the parents, he said.

When asked about Medicaid expansion — one candidate said recent figures say that would cover 80,000 Montanans without insurance, up from last year’s figure of 70,000 — Jergeson said the Senate last session crafted a bipartisan bill that would have helped people who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to buy their own or to qualify for government help in buying insurance purchase coverage in the private market. He voted for that bill, he said.

That bill, a Senate reconstruction of a bill first introduced in the House by a Republican, died when it went back to the House. Hansen voted in a 50-50 vote to send it to the committee where it died and voted against reconsidering that action.

Jergeson said the number of people who would qualify for the expanded coverage equates to 1,400 people per Senate district. That means opposing it is the same as telling all of the registered voters in Highland Park they can’t have insurance, he said.

Hansen said she thinks everyone is aware of the gap between the people who qualify for Medicaid and the people who are eligible for subsidies under Obamacare. She said the governor just announced he has a plan to expand Medicaid, but has not released details, and that Republican legislators also are proposing changes.

She said she will “absolutely support” a plan that will include some fraud reform and include reimbursing doctors at closer to market rates if it can be paid for, but she cannot say if she will vote for a proposal and bill until she can see what is in it.

She previously said the state’s role in health care should include tort reform to reduce the chance of frivolous malpractice lawsuits, working to ensure Medicare and Medicaid pay rates closer to market rates and allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines.

Jergeson cited a law passed last Legislative laws showing what kinds of actions the state can do in health care, governing the patient-centered medical home model as is being used at Northern Montana Hospital’s Family Medical Center and at the Bullhook Community Health Center.