This past summer, an opening arose for me to pursue the Democratic Party nomination for Montana House District 68, and I was asked to give a five-minute introductory speech. Although I no longer have the final text as I presented it, the following is a fair representation based on my previous written drafts.
As an Air Force veteran, I have spent years in public service trying to make the world a better place. As a native Montanan originally from Big Timber, my roots in the state run deep, and I understand the struggles faced every day in the rural, low-income communities in Montana and understand the skepticism toward government agencies and assistance programs.
After my military career, I wished to continue on the path of self-improvement and enrolled at MSU using my GI Bill benefits to pursue my first degree. Upon graduation, my age and lack of experience closed the door on a career in that field, but world events stoked my interest in politics, and I began taking political science courses. I was originally enrolled in Physics Teaching but decided it wasn’t my path.
I’ve not had much occasion to give speeches thus far in my life, but these are extraordinary circumstances, as evidenced by this unusual stage on which my pulpit rests. While I accept that Zoom is an increasingly necessary tool in the present, I hope it isn’t also the wave of the future. The negative psychological effects of social distancing in this pandemic are only exacerbated by the limitations of virtual gatherings, adding increased emotional distress to the many medical issues being sidelined by this novel coronavirus.
There is no doubt that 2020 has been defined by CoViD-19, which has overshadowed everything short of global protests against racial inequity, and the country has been disproportionately affected by the disease because of the grossly inadequate response by national Republican leadership. Given this failure at the federal level, the onus is on us as Montanans to use good and just governance to prevent an outbreak from overwhelming our healthcare system. We must ensure that care providers are accessible to everyone and strive to make them affordable. Going to the doctor for a concerning mole or a CoViD test should not be a luxury.
The affordability of healthcare in this country is increasingly tethered to employment status, with the best insurance plans being provided through the workplace and many jobs being insufficient for paying the premiums for quality coverage. To resolve this ever-growing problem of under- and uninsured Montanans, we need to seek affordable alternatives to employer-based plans, increase the state minimum wage to at least $12 per hour, and reinforce the safety nets by permanently expanding Medicaid and modernizing unemployment insurance.
In redefining Montana’s workforce, we mustn’t limit ourselves to simply giving the job market a fresh coat of paint when it is clearly in need of full renovation. This state is suffering from a major case of “brain drain”—a perpetual exodus of young Montanans looking for work elsewhere—and without a course correction to sustain a young and viable workforce, our long-term economic prospects are bleak. A more robust and dynamic public education system would better prepare young adults to develop an informed career path, whether they opt for immediate entry into the workforce, technical school, or other higher education opportunities. With the world moving away from fossil fuels and agriculture moving toward automation, more middle-class jobs in manufacturing and technology need to be generated in the state to provide alternatives to the rapidly growing and poorly paying service and retail industries that are seemingly the only options in the current labor market.
As the pandemic has shown us this year, the best-laid plans to address these issues can easily go awry, revealing the structural problems that had been hiding behind the flashy aluminum siding. To buttress our state’s economy, education system, and public service sector against future crises of the scale we are currently experiencing, we need to fortify and expand our social, physical, and digital infrastructures. We are quickly learning that public gathering places are woefully inadequate for limiting the spread of disease, but equally as necessary for promoting good mental health. The renewed emphasis on sanitation is highlighting the importance of a stable supply of clean water, a reliable power grid, and efficient waste management. Finally, the diversion of jobs, education, and medical services toward the digital sector has placed undue strain on the existing online infrastructure and disproportionately burdened rural and low-income Montanans who lack the access or the financial capability for the high-speed broadband service that has become necessary to be fully engaged in this rapidly changing country.
As I knew from the beginning that my time to talk would be short, I tried to summarize my most critical points succinctly, but with the knowledge that this abridgment is hardly representative of all that I hope to accomplish as a member of the Montana legislature. I won’t say that I have a plan for everything, but I like to think that I can come up with at least one decent idea for every issue I run across.
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