Issue Position: The Economy
Issue Position
Montana is one of only two state that does not have any debt. We are mandated by our constitution to balance our budget based on projected revenues. However, in just three years (2007-2010) we have gone from a projected $1.2 billion dollar surplus to facing a $400 million dollar deficit. This has been caused by multiple reasons. Primarily, our projected revenues are down, specifically tourism revenues. Tourism is the second largest generator of revenue in our state behind agriculture. The problem is, in a down economy, people start to cut back. As disposable income goes down during a recession, one of the first things people cut back on are vacations. As such, until the U.S. economy recovers, we are likely to see decreased revenues brought in from tourism. Governor Schweitzer and the Montana Legislative Fiscal Division have projected that tourism revenues will not return to pre-downturn levels until as late as 2015.
We must grow. In order for us to meet our commitments to educate our children, pave our streets, keep our communities safe, etc. we have to grow. In order to do so we need to focus our efforts on base sectors of our economy. These would be things like agriculture as well as resource production. Increasing tourism will increase tax revenues for the state coffers but it does not bring the type of jobs we need. Tourism increases jobs in the service sector. Things like restaurants, gas stations, motels, novelty shops, etc. The problem is that a hard working Montanan cannot support a family waiting tables at the local diner or cleaning motel rooms at the Hotel 6. By increasing the production of our resources we will create light industrial labor. People will have jobs harvesting resources, others will be needed to transport them, others will have a job processing them, still others will have jobs refining and selling them. An increase in base sectors of our economy will create good paying jobs, with benefits amongst multiple other sectors of the state economy.
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