Highway 2 Association wants infrastructure action

Bob Sivertsen, president of the Highway 2 Association, has renewed his call for quick action to pass an “adequate highway and infrastructure funding” program.

He said he and the association had worked to pass an infrastructure repair project, but Democratic Gov, Steve Bullock and the Republican-dominated Legislature had “refused to budge.”

“Even though we provided information that justified a special session, as well, we submitted a Compromise Funding Proposal in hopes of getting the process moving,” he said.

He said Montanans were sick of the political “game blame” that results in “political gridlock.”

He said the $200 million Gov. Steve Bullock had proposed were spent on infrastructure investment, the state’s economy would “continue to spiral upward.”

He said the “window has closed for a special session this year ”as is allowed in the Montana Constitution, but he was hopeful for the future.

Sivertsen said the association will continue to build alliances to secure passage of an infrastructure bill in the 2017 legislative session.

Highway 2 Association is a group of Hi-Line business people, political leaders, government representatives and community activists whose goal is to make Highway 2 a four-lane highway from one end of Montana to the other. It has branched out to other areas in recent years.