Candidate profile, House District 27: Ed Hill, Republican

Lifetime Havreite and former state Rep. Ed Hill has filed as a Republican to represent Havre and North Havre in the Montana House of Representative in the coming Legislative session, putting him on track for an electoral rematch with Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre, who beat him in the last election.

Hill said he's not planning to go to Helena with any particular agenda and, while there are some state agencies and programs he would like to see improved, he has no particular bills he is looking to get passed.

Instead, he said, he wants to be a barrier to bills that he believes are unworthy, primarily spending bills that conflict with his goal of governmental fiscal responsibility.

"I would really like to see the government pull back out of things more and let people work and reap the benefits of their labor," he said.

When he was young, he said, he was taught the difference between wants and needs, and the government needs to learn that lesson too.

Hill said inflation is still hurting people, even if it is slowing, and people are still struggling to pay for utility bills and find affordable housing, but he maintains that the government should intervene less.

He said during his time in the Legislature a lot of people were expecting him to support housing subsidies, but "the government can't subsidize housing."

In a similar vein, he said he wants to break people's dependence on government programs that provide assistance for things like food, housing and medical care, by establishing harder time limits on the programs and altering their structure to incentivize people to become self-sufficient.

Hill said a lot of programs are cut off after the people using them reach a certain level of employment or income, and that revocation of benefits can put people back and incentivize them not seeking more employment to avoid losing benefits.

By instituting a more gradual reduction of benefits with a harder time limit, he said, programs will encourage people to move past them and save the state money.

He also said the government is providing too many subsidies in general and, even though they are sometimes needed, they should always be temporary, which will prevent people from abusing them or getting trapped in poverty.

He said he has a similar philosophy when it comes to how institutions like the VA provide things like disability assistance and physical therapy.

Hill said people often reach a point where they stop getting as comprehensive treatment after they reach certain milestones, and that lack of followthrough often causes them to regress and they end up needing more assistance again, which is bad for them and the state.

He said these are the issues he's most interested in solving, but the Legislature has plenty to do in general, especially with regards to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park and how recreation in the state is handled.

He said the state is increasingly seeing people coming into the state to hunt and recreate and he believes Montanans should be getting priority.

The animals, he said, are property of Montana and the rights of Montanans to hunt them should be prioritized over people from out of state.

Another issue on the minds of many is the recent spike in Montana property taxes, an issue Hill said wouldn't be solved entirely through legislation as it is a "normal free market response" to people coming to the state, though new zoning laws should are helping reduce the spike.

After a very chaotic 2023 Legislature with a number of unexpected vetoes from Gov. Greg Gianforte and rising tensions between the Legislature and the state's judiciary, many have expressed concerns about the relationship between the government branches.

Hill said he thinks state judges are ruling based on their personal feelings, contrary to the intent of the state's laws.

As for the state's executive branch, in light of many unexpected vetoes in 2023, he said, he hopes the governor's office can communicate more closely with the Legislature so they understand its position on bills.

He said bills often have unintended consequences, and often all they need to avoid them is to be told about a potential problem, as even the best legislator can't know the potential effect of every bill on every group or industry.

Hill said he never aspired to politics but after going to a number of Republican events in town, and being asked multiple times to run for the Montana House he eventually came to see it as a sign from God, though one he heeded with some reluctance.

He said being in the Legislature is a bit like drinking from a firehouse given the number of bills and sheer volume of information, but he learned some tricks during his time there.

He said his opponent, Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss, is a good man who's helped a lot of local businesses, but he thinks he's the better choice for those interested in a more fiscally responsible government.