4/30/07

Thank you for the many kind words, and overwhelming response, in support of this effort that is just over a week old.  You represent every community in this state. If I placed a push-pin for each of you who signed up, on a Montana map, it would blanket the state! 

The calls and emails you placed to our leaders in Helena made a difference.    Your voice has been heard!   To recap: 

1. Montana is running its largest surplus in history – one billion dollars.   

2. Montana’s surplus is the largest in the nation, as a percentage of what it spends.   

3. Montana state government spending is projected to increase ~50% from the 2003 session, to the 2007 session, despite a population growth rate of only 1%/year. 

4. Montana’s Governor and Legislature did not come to an agreement, and will be called back to a budgeting Special Session for the first time that anyone in Helena can recall. 

Like you, I’m greatly disappointed that our leaders in Helena could not come to a budget/tax agreement before time ran out.   The voices of the politicians have been heard. Now the politicians need to hear the voice of the people.  It is time to regroup and ensure the voices of overcharged Montana taxpayers are heard.   

I must admit I had to chuckle when I read yesterday’s Billings Gazette (4/29/07), and noted that our governor is now saying “give it back”.   He said, "I have proposed to give it back, I have proposed to give more money back to the taxpayers than any other governor in the history of the state, and in 90 days they couldn't get it done,".   Only problem with that statement is he’s proposing to only return between 100-150 million dollars of your billion dollar surplus.   Growing up in Montana, I was taught that “someone who says they’ll meet you in the middle, is usually a poor judge of distance”.   I think we need our leaders in Helena to understand what meet-me-in-the-middle means.   

We will continue to bring our voice of reason and common sense to the debate --  give half the surplus --  500 million dollars --  back to the people who created it --  $1,000 to every Montanan who paid  income tax.   Meet us in the middle.  Let the people decide how they want to spend their money.   

Thanks again for signing up, and joining Montanan’s from across the state who are saying “giveitback”.    Please forward the link www.giveitback.com to your friends and neighbors across the state, and keep the momentum building.

Sincerely,

Steve Daines
Bozeman, MT