Quist For House  

Lowering Property Taxes

Having Montana families shoulder more tax burden for wealthy individuals and large corporations isn't fair and I will fight for substantial, long-term property tax relief for homeowners and renters and I support capping a family's tax burden at a minimal portion of their household income, passing a homestead exemption for a family's primary residence, and expanding the elderly homeowner and renter credits.

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Freedom From Government Intrusion

I steadfastly oppose government overreach into the private lives of Montanans that violates the right of privacy enshrined in our Montana state constitution. The role of Government isn't to make your medical decisions, parent your children or choose the books you read. I will continue to challenge any and all attempts to constrain the rights of my constituents and hold power accountable.

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Affordable Housing

Every Montanan should be able to afford a safe and comfortable home in their community.

Solutions include investing in workforce housing through public-private partnerships, boosting state support to expand housing infrastructure and minimizing delays in the permitting process as well as continuing to fight for renter's rights and addressing the out of control growth of vacation rentals that used to house Montana families but now sit empty most of the year by incentivizing renting those units to locals.

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Cutting Childcare Costs

Expanding the Best Beginnings childcare program for working Montana families because our economy depends on high-quality childcare that working families can afford.

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Public Lands

Keep our public lands open and accessible and in public hands. Transferring ownership to the state, which lacks the resources to manage them, will result in a massive selloff of our public lands to corporate interests and wealthy investors. Many states have already lost what we still enjoy. We must defend our public lands for future generations to enjoy.

 

Education

We must make education a priority and invest in our children’s future. Montana teachers are among the lowest compensated in the country. To keep pace with inflation and the cost of living, and to represent the value of the service they are providing, Teachers salaries should be effectively doubled, bringing them back in line with where they were in the early 90’s.

 

Infrastructure

We need to repair and upgrade our state’s infrastructure to 21st century standards. Power lines can be moved underground, which creates jobs and opportunities for working Montana families, and saves money in the long run from not having to repair them every time a windstorm sweeps through and improves efficiency in the power lines.

 

Healthcare

We should expand Medicare to cover anyone making less than 50K per year and make Healthy Montana Kids an option for all children in the state of Montana.

 

Taxes

We should repeal the Martz Tax Cuts that apply to only the richest Montanans (a mere 400 households approximately statewide) and places more of the tax burden on the Middle class and Working Montana Families. The wealthiest Montanans can pay their fair share.

 

We should expand the “Resort Tax” which creates revenue from out of state, seasonal tourists and has been effective at increasing revenue in Whitefish and Big Sky and expand it to the whole state so that other communities can share in the bounty of our profitable tourism industry and lessen the tax burden on Montana Residents.

 

Drunk Driving

Montana leads the nation in Drunk Driving Fatalities on a per capita basis. Our DUI laws are long outdated. They punish driving under the influence with day long jail sentences that are more often than not deferred due to overcrowding in our jails, which allows dangerously negligent drivers on the road who have racked up 5-6 DUI’s with little consequence.

 

I will sponsor “Alice and Katie’s Law” named for the beloved Mother and Sister of my longtime friend who perished on the 4th of July when they were struck and killed in a head on collision with a driver who’s blood alcohol level was nearly 3 times the legal limit. Under Alice and Katie’s Law, a DUI shall be punished by no less than having one’s license suspended for 6 months, followed by 6 months of having a breathalizer attached to the driving apparatus. Those convicted of DUI’s and subject to suspended licenses can utilize ride sharing apps like Uber, Lyft etc. to get to work while their licenses are suspended and ponder their life choices. We must change the pervasive culture of drunk driving in Montana in order to keep our loved ones safe on our motorways. It’s been shown that bars, restaurants and taverns make more money when patrons drink responsibly and use ride sharing apps to get home.