Senator Jon Tester Discussed Healthcare, Forests and Financial Forum and Answered Questions at City Club Missoula April Forum

Passing the health care reform bill is a major step forward and is the best bill passed in a long time, according to Sen. Jon Tester http://tester.senate.gov/ who spoke about a variety of issues to an overflowing audience of about 150 at City Club Missoula’s http://www.cityclubmissoula.org special April forum.

The health care bill will work well for Montana and rural America, Sen. Tester said. It will save taxpayers money, make Medicare stronger, and will not add to the national debt. Furthermore, Montanans won’t have to sell the ranch to pay health care bills. No woman will have to miss a mammogram because it’s now covered. Families can focus on being caregivers instead of financial advisers.

Rumors have helped make this bill controversial, he said. In fact, the bill will not hurt Medicare, it will make it stronger; it is not government-run health care; it will not be given to illegal immigrants; it will not take away veterans benefits.

Some of the benefits of the recently passed bill include:

• Pre-existing conditions will be covered;

• People under age 26 will be covered under their parents’ insurance plan;

• For older Americans, the Medicare “donut hole” will be eliminated;

• Health care consumers will be able to shop prices and options;

• Competition among insurance companies will allow for more choices.

Forest Jobs and Recreation Act

Another important bill – introduced by Sen. Jon Tester – is the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, which will designate almost 700,000 acres of new wilderness and mandate stewardship contracting to create jobs and provide locally grown timber products. Sen. Tester said that he worked with a diverse group of people – loggers, ranchers, environmentalists, government officials and many others – to put the bill together. By passing this bill, we will be able to treat pine beetle infestation and reduce forest fires while creating new jobs and strengthening the economy, he said.

Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009

Wall Street reform is another important issue before the Senate. The bill will create regulations for the biggest banks, but should not affect small banks or credit unions in Montana, he said. The senator said he voted against bailouts because this sort of policy doesn’t do enough for Main Street. Main Street should not have to pay the price for Wall Street, he said.

Question and Answer Session

After Sen. Tester’s presentation, City Club Missoula participants asked a number of questions. Following are a few of the questions put forward to the senator.

***

Q: The Wall Street reform bill is important, and we definitely need to look at banking reform, but why are small businesses being drug into all these issues? We didn’t have anything to do with it and why should we have to deal with the penalties?

A: It shouldn’t affect Montana’s small businesses. Give me a call and we’ll talk about it.

***

Q: Could you tell us a story about what was happening on Capitol Hill during the last two weeks when the health care reform bill was passed? What can we do to make the dynamics between parties better and how can we help?

A: We spent a lot of time trying to get bipartisan support for the health care reform bill, but it didn’t work. In particular, Sen. Max Baucus spent a great deal of time trying to get support – he worked really hard, but couldn’t get the support. One way to help is to read what the bill says and get educated. On good Web site for information is http://www.healthreform.gov. So many people are negative about the bill – it’s not perfect but it’s a giant step forward.

***

Q: How can we increase funding to Montana schools? (One of the Sentinel high school students asked this question. A record number of high school students were at this forum.)

A: Right now we’re working on increasing Pell grants and streamlining federal student aid (FAFSA). Access to higher education is dependent on Pell grants.

***

Q: Education is vital to economic development. The Race to the Top has spent billions of dollars, but doesn’t really take rural economies into account. What can we do about this?

A: We need an educated society. Race to the Top is a continual challenge and doesn’t address rural issues. We will continue to work with administrators and schools to make it work.

***

Q: The pine beetle infestation spreading throughout Montana needs to be combated. What can we do?

A: Under the forest bill, wildland interface will be given priority. There are millions of beetle kill acres that need attention. We can use that wood for feedstock and biomass energy, providing new opportunities for our economy.

***

Q: How much will the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act cost, and are you concerned about the negative precedent of timber harvesting?

A: It will cost money – I can’t tell you how much. It will provide opportunities for jobs. We’re only talking about harvesting 10,000 acres out of 3 million acres. That’s not much and many of those acres need treatments. We must prevent forest fires. Harvesting could set a good precedent instead of letting forests burn. Think of the uses – biomass energy for one. The bill will create jobs, the economy will pick up and demand for lumber will pick up.

***

Q: National debt is a problem. With the stimulus package, we have to spend money. How can we pull it back?

A: The debt didn’t just happen over the last 15 months – it happened a long time ago. The debt can’t be turned around in 20 years. But we’ll have to turn it around. Once the economy gets going, I’ll be pushing to start pulling back.

***

Q: What can we do to make Montana a nuclear-free state and direct money to education?

A: Do you want to run me out of Great Falls? (laughter) It does have deterrent value. I put a lot of stock in the military.

What additional questions would you have asked? You can add them as comments to this post.

MATR welcomes articles, events, comments and company listings from registered members (also free) http://www.matr.net/login.phtml After you’ve registered, just go to the upper right hand side of the home page to "My Account"

***

Broadcasts of City Club with Senator Tester (Bresnan Cable Channel 11):

Beginning this Sunday @ 5pm, repeating Monday @ 8am

This program will air each Sunday and Monday until the next City Club meeting.

***

City Club Missoula is a nonprofit organization with the mission of bringing together people to inform and inspire citizens on issues vital to the Missoula area community through public forums that encourage the discussion of new ideas and free exchange of thoughts. City Club Missoula welcomes everyone in the greater Missoula community to come to the Forums and participate in the discussions.

City Club Missoula is membership supported with fees on a sliding scale to make it possible for everyone to participate from city leaders and business executives, to students and senior citizens. The strength of the organization is in the volunteers who organize the speakers, arrange the meetings and help maintain the organization’s neutrality and openness.

Become a member of City Club Missoula http://cityclubmissoula.org/

City Club Missoula designs public forums on vital issues and encourages the free exchange of thought. We invite all points of view in a non-partisan setting. Your membership supports this important mission.

Membership Benefits:

* Support civic discourse in our community.

* Network with community leaders and involved citizens.

* Advance notice of upcoming events.

* Member discounts on forums.

Please join us as a member of City Club today. http://www.cityclubmissoula.org/join/index.html

*********************

Missoula panel discusses tweaks to Tester’s wilderness, jobs bill

By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian

The first major Montana wildlands legislation in decades hopes to clean up a lot of the loose ends created by the state’s deadlocked wilderness debate.

"This is the first meeting in 30 years where there weren’t pickets outside and 400 people in the room," former U.S. Rep. Pat Williams told about 100 people at a panel discussion of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act on Thursday evening. Instead, the largely supportive crowd came to hear reasons why Tester’s bill would finally improve the state’s logging industry and its treasured backcountry.

Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_30058dba-4395-11df-a17f-001cc4c002e0.html