Lang makes a bid for Senate District 17

State Rep. Mike Lang, R-Malta, spoke to the Pachyderm Club Friday about his experience in the state Legislature and what lies ahead in the next legislative session when he hopes to return to Helena, this time as a state senator.

A two-term member of the Montana House of Representatives, Lang is making a bid for the Senate District 17 seat now held by termed-out John Brendan, R-Scobey. The district starts about the middle of Hill County from the Canadian border down to U.S. Highway 2 and east to the to the North Dakota border in Sheridan County.  

Lang is going up against Democrat Douglas Adolphson, a plumber and motel owner from Glasgow, in the November election.  

As a lawmaker who has represented House District 33 in the state Legislature, Lang said he has often sought guidance.

"I pray for wisdom a lot because that is what you need to make these decisions," he said.

Lang said that, at times, knowing how to vote on a given issue is not always clear.

That is why, he said, he needs input from constituents.

He said that in the 2017 legislative session money is likely to be tight, as the state is predicted to face a shortfall.

"The Legislature was right, we weren't going to have all this revenue the governor thought we were going to have," Lang said.

Members of the Legislative Fiscal Division, which provides the state Legislature with its budget numbers, said the ending fund balance for FY 2017 will be $109 million rather than the $314 million initially projected,

"We are $200 million short right now from where the governor wanted to be and definitely from where the Legislature wanted to be," Lang said.

He added that, despite the reduced revenue, the Legislature will balance the budget as mandated under the Montana constitution.

Lang said that in the coming session, the major battle will likely be to keep Montana property tax from being raised, adding that the focus should instead be on cutting spending.

"They won't go down for the entitlement people and this is where we all get frustrated. We're suffering. Why don't the entitlements situations go down a little?" Lang asked.

Lang sits on the House Committee on Labor and Business,

He said he believes government should impose fewer regulations and not handcuff businesses.

"We have to have regulations, but as long as it's not unethical, then the business should go ahead," he said.

Lang is one of two members of the state Legislature who sits on the Montana Sage Grouse Oversight Team. Lang helped carry the bill through the Montana Legislature that created the team.

He said he amended the bill so that a member of the Montana Senate and a member of the Montana House of Representatives would be part of the oversight team.

The team is tasked with overseeing the implementation of state regulations outlined in an executive order signed by the governor that many hope will allow the state to protect sage grouse without the bird being placed on the endangered species list.

Areas of the state, primarily in central and eastern Montana, are sage grouse habitat.

About 70 percent of sage grouse in Montana have habitats on private land, according to the state. If the bird was to be declared an endangered species, many landowners worry it could restrict their abilities to manage land and wildlife and would restrict economic activity.

In 2015, an executive order was signed by the governor as a compromise that would both protect sage grouse and the rights of landowners.

The team is tasked with implementing the executive order and is made up of the governor's natural resource policy advisor, several department heads and one member of each state legislative chamber.

Lang said he wants more dollars for classrooms in Montana schools but said he doesn't support the demands of teachers unions.

He said most of the criticism he gets comes from retired teachers who receive union newsletters who say he is against education,

"We want more dollars to the classroom, we don't want more dollars to (the Office of Public Instrution)," Lang said.

He said rural Montana is having trouble hiring teachers, adding that this is partly because the credentials for getting a degree and teaching are too high. If someone wants to be a math teacher, he said that along with knowing math and algebra, graduates also have to take courses in physics and calculus to get a degree in math.

"Well if you know physics and you spend that $80,000 on your degree to become a teacher, you are going to work for some company that pays you more," he said.

In the coming legislative session, Lang said, he wants to put forth a bill that would do away with a requirement that bans school districts from re-hiring school teachers who are about to retire.

The retired teacher who would get their pension could then be hired immediately to fill the need for a teacher at half the pay.

He said it would be easier to hire a retired teacher who lives in the district and is known by school administrators rather than try and hire someone from outside the area who might have trouble finding housing.