Achievements

Jobs and Economic Development
Education
Health Care
Affordable, Reliable Energy
Agriculture
Outdoor Heritage
Community
Individual and Property Rights

 

 

Jobs and Economic Development

Successful Business Woman - Through hard work with family and friends, Monica built a highly successful Internet business, Montana Communications Network (MCN), one of the first Montana-based, local providers in the high-tech industry.
Economic Development Trust Fund – Through hard work and discussions with businesses and communities across Montana, Monica sponsored and passed the Montana Economic Development Trust Fund.  This fund provides a long-term, stable funding source that assists in economic development by creating good-paying jobs, and retaining and attracting business to Montana.
Workforce Training – Through bipartisan efforts, Monica sponsored and passed the Primary Sector Workforce Training Act which was created to attract more good-paying jobs to Montana by providing workforce training incentives for businesses that were relocating or expanding in the state.  To date, hundreds of employees have been trained for good-paying jobs as a result of this program.
Montana Main Street – Monica sponsored this successful common sense, community driven approach to revitalizing traditional downtowns through historic preservation and economic revitalization.  Since 1980, more than 1,700 communities across the U.S. have established Main Street programs.  These communities have seen $18.3 billion reinvested in their Main Street communities as a result.  Anaconda, Red Lodge, Polson, Stevensville, and Butte were chosen as the first pilot programs under Montana Main Street.
Made in Montana – Monica supported reinstating the Made in Montana program to assist Montana businesses in marketing their products.
Ease Business Tax Burden – Monica supported easing the tax burden for over 13,000 Montana businesses through support of an increased cap on business equipment.
Committed to Economic Growth – Monica is clearly committed to economic growth and business development in Montana.  Her legislative work on these issues, her role as a board member of the Big Sky Economic Development Authority, her legislative candidate endorsements by the Billings Chamber of Commerce, and her own business experience clearly demonstrate that commitment.

Education

Definition of Quality Education – As Chair of the House Select Education Committee in the 2005 Montana Legislature, Monica led Republicans and Democrats to successfully and unanimously define a quality system of public education for our children in Montana.
K-12 School Funding – As Chair of the Quality Schools Interim Committee,  Monica took on the challenge of working with Republicans, Democrats, educators, administrators, school board members, and other interested groups across Montana to develop a new school funding formula in response to a legal court decision which concluded that Montana schools were not adequately funded.  The work of the committee led to a successful special session in December of 2005 which passed legislation to increase school funding and added new funding components to address quality educators, Indian Education for All, closing the American Indian student achievement gap, and at risk students.
Indian Education for All – Monica believes educating all our citizens about Montana’s First Nations is a unique and critical part of quality education in Montana.  Under Monica’s leadership and commitment, the Montana constitutional requirement of Indian Education for All, was funded for the first time in Montana’s history in the 2005 legislative session.
Career & Technical Education – Understanding the growing importance of two-year technical education and training for good-paying jobs, Monica fought for and supported bonding to grow our career and technical colleges in Montana.
Personal Higher Education - Monica took the Montana values she learned from her parents and grandparents and put herself through college at MSU-Billings, earning a teaching degree in English and History, and completing the majority of her master’s degree work while teaching part-time in the English Department and the Department of Educational Foundations. Monica was the first in her family to earn a college degree.

Health Care

Prescription drugs for seniors – Monica stood up for Montana’s most vulnerable citizens by supporting passage of a prescription drug discount program for seniors and the disabled. 
Small business health insurance – Monica pushed for hard-working Montanans by supporting the creation of tax credits and pooling for small businesses that offer health insurance to their employees.
CHIP – Monica supported fully funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to care for another 3,000 of Montana’s children
Equitable Medicare Benefits – Monica successfully sponsored a legislative resolution stating that Congress be requested to bring equitable funding of health care services and benefits to all Medicare recipients, regardless of where they live, to allow citizens in rural states the same health benefits.

Affordable, Reliable Energy

Affordable & Reliable Energy – Monica fought for a state energy policy that maintains affordable, reliable power for Montana’s citizens and businesses, and promotes economic growth in new energy technology fields.
Renewable Energy – Monica promoted and supported the rural economic development of renewable energy by requiring utilities to obtain a portion of their energy supply from renewable energy such as wind power.
Ethanol – Monica fought for and supported legislation to encourage economic development in rural communities through the production of ethanol, by adding this value-added agricultural product to gasoline.
Energy Policy Subcommittee Chair – As a member of the Environmental Quality Council, Monica was chosen to chair a subcommittee to study and consider recommendations to Montana’s energy policy.
LIHEAP – Monica resisted deep cuts proposed by President Bush to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and supported an increase in state funding to ensure Montana families would be warm in the winter.

Agriculture

Agricultural Experiment Stations – Living in an agricultural community, Monica understands the importance of research to the future of our agricultural producers.  In the 2001 legislative session, Monica successfully fought for an appropriation of matching money for capital building projects at our agricultural research centers across Montana.
COOL – Monica supported successful legislation to promote Montana and American agricultural products with Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).
St. Mary’s Water Project – Monica fully understands that the St. Mary’s project provides critically needed water for agriculture and communities along the Hi-Line in Montana and she supported several pieces of legislation to appropriate state funds for the project which will also require federal assistance for completion.
Conservation Districts – Monica worked closely with conservation districts across Montana in 2003 to successfully amend the streambed and land preservation act.

Outdoor Heritage

Public Access – Monica understands our unique quality of life in Montana depends on the proud traditions of hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation and is a strong supporter of public access.  She worked hard to keep state lands open to our communities by pushing for public access to our rivers, streams, and state lands by maintaining existing county roads for public access.
Second Amendment Rights – Monica is a strong supporter of our second amendment rights as gun owners and has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Montana Shooting Sports Association as a legislative candidate.
Habitat Montana – Monica supported making the Habitat Montana program permanent in order to secure, develop, and maintain wildlife habitat.
Fishing Access Enhancement – Monica supported increasing fishing access with bipartisan support for public access to private and public lands through the fishing access enhancement program.

Community

Clean Water – Access to clean, quality water is a number one priority for Monica and she supported efforts to establish a permanent trust to fund water treatment at the Zortman-Landusky mine clean up site.
Methamphetamine Abuse – Understanding the devastation methamphetamine abuse has on our communities, families, and children, Monica supported legislation to place restrictions on the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, ingredients necessary to make meth.
Amtrak Passenger Rail Service – Rail transportation for our Montana communities on the Hi-Line is critical for many of our citizens and Monica supported legislative resolutions urging the continuation of Amtrak passenger tail service.
Coal Tax Shared Account – Monica successfully sponsored legislation in 2005 to restore cuts to the coal tax shared account.  This account funds important projects for communities across the state through the Coal Board, the state library, conservation districts, and the Growth through Agriculture program.

Individual and Property Rights

Eminent Domain – Monica is a strong supporter of property rights and she led the way to pass legislation to clarify that an easement is the preferred interest taken in eminent domain.  This successful piece of legislation in 2001, was a direct result of her efforts in the 1999 session and on the Environmental Quality Council Eminent Domain Subcommittee interim study in 2000.
Patriot Act - Monica understands that protecting our civil liberties is an important part of the job of anyone who is elected to represent us.  That’s why she—along with 85 percent of Montana legislators, Democrats and Republicans—voted for a resolution in 2005 urging Congress, the President and Montana’s Representatives to fix this law so it would protect the civil liberties of all Americans.