Speeches

Remarks of Governor Judy Martz
2001 Legislative Session Wrap-up Press Conference
Capitol / Helena, MT / 10:00 am
April 26, 2001

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Thank you for being here.

There has been no greater honor in my life than the privilege of serving as Governor of Montana. While one would like to believe that we can prepare ourselves to walk into the Governor’s office and know exactly how to do the job - I have learned in these few months that a lot of this you learn as you go - in many ways just like being a parent. I do the very best I can with the resources I have at my disposal to make the right decisions for the people of this great state.

These times are not easy. But I love my job as Governor. And frankly, we’ve gotten some good things done in just a few short months.

Because I believe that our children deserve a world-class education, we invested more than $31 million more in our secondary schools and over $20 million in our university system than in the previous budget. We have made education a priority and will hopefully do even more next session.

Because I believe that economic prosperity and environmental protection are interwoven, we made it easier, cheaper and more efficient for our job creators to comply with our stringent environmental standards. Some would prefer that we adhere to the arcane laws of the past, but I believe that progressive, visionary leadership starts by recognizing that times and technologies have changed and our laws must change with them. We did good things to streamline and modernize our procedures, without weakening clean air and clean water laws.

Because I believe that government can no longer serve as a barrier to business recruitment and retention, we made government more efficient and responsive by reforming the Department of Commerce and by consolidating the myriad government programs into a user-friendly resource for entrepreneurs who want to start and expand a business under the Big Sky.

Because I believe that families are the very core our way of life, we fought every effort to increase taxes and implement unnecessary regulation. It never ceases to amaze me how our critics always point to our income as among the lowest in the nation, yet are willing to fight so passionately for higher taxes and more regulations on the hardworking families and small businesses that are the foundation of our economy. We held firm and we won the battle for now.

Because I believe that a strong economy is predicated on an affordable, reliable source of energy, we took the necessary steps to move toward market based solutions that will allow us to enter into public/private partnerships to increase competition and energy supply. These complex solutions have no easy answers, but working together we put the tools in place to overcome our challenges.

We didn’t get everything in our plan done - but we have much time left. Tax reform is my top priority for the next session, because I believe that until we lower our top marginal income rates, jobs and opportunities will go to neighboring states.

Reforming our school funding formula is another top priority. So is regionalizing our mental health system to control costs. So too is working fervently to expand our economic base with higher paying jobs and more opportunities, using the tools we obtained in this legislature. And we will continue night and day to meet the challenges of our energy crisis. I outlined on Saturday where we have been and where we are going.

I am thrilled with the team we have put together. Our directors and staff our doing outstanding work - I get complemented almost everywhere we go. With the exception of a few minor bumps, we are off to a good start.

With our first legislative session behind us, I look forward to beginning the strategic planning and goal setting stages of my Administration. I want to come to the next legislative session with my own initiatives and proposals beyond what we were able to get done in this session.

I am confident that if I stay grounded in who I am, if I keep sight of why I ran and I place trust in the people of this state to help me along the way that I will continue to meet the demands of this truly awesome job.

-END-