MATT GOURAS Associated Press Writer HELENA
The new Republican House speaker is an avowed conservative who feels the Republican party has left its base and has been part of the problem of government overspending. Rep. Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, plans to use the high-profile platform and slim Republican majority in the chamber to champion conservative causes. The GOP will now advance a potentially divisive abortion issue, push for moderate growth in government spending likely to require some cuts, and seek more tax relief than planned by Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer and the Democrat-controlled Senate. The idea is to draw a distinct line between Republicans and Democrats. “Yeah, it’s going to have a little more conservative slant to it,” Sales said. “But I think it’s going to be some stuff the people of Montana applaud.” The House speaker can be a powerful position, and Sales plans to use it to help shape the Republican Party. Some Republicans feel the GOP has lost ground by failing to cater to its base. “I’m one of those, I feel that way,” Sales said. “I am one of the few Republicans that has been critical of my own party.” Sales sent the first salvo shortly after he was chosen the party’s leader in the House last Monday, saying he opposes plans by other GOP leaders to put more money into higher education. But many Republicans campaigned on the promise of lowering tuition, and even though the promise had a big asterisk (GOP control of both the House and Senate), many are still planning to push for it. That goes for the rest of the party’s legislative campaign promises, too. “There is definitely going to be talk about keeping some of that stuff alive,” said Rep. Alan Olson, R-Roundup. “There is going to be talk about keeping the whole thing alive.” Olson barely lost to Sales in a very tight race for the leadership post, a race that was seen as a choice between the more moderate Olson and the more conservative Sales. Sales said he doesn’t want to “throw more money” at what he characterized as a higher education bureaucracy, especially since the Montana Board of Regents has final say on whether the money will be used to lower tuition. Senate Minority Leader Corey Stapleton, R-Billings, championed the tuition cut and he believes Sales is a great choice for leadership. “I actually think he is going to be great he is charismatic, he is bold,” Stapleton said. The new speaker said he will have two issues he champions above others: Smaller government and bigger tax cuts. He said he wants to restrain government growth to roughly the rate of inflation. And, of course, there are the social issues. Sales said Republicans will push for required parental notification for teenagers seeking abortions. “That’s definitely going to be a bill that is going to be discussed,” he said. Observers say the right wing of the Republican Party will now be on display at the Legislature. Democrats predict the strategy will backfire on the GOP. Democratic State Sen. Jeff Mangan of Great Falls, not returning in January due to term limits, was surprised at the Republicans’ choice. Both parties had been moving to the middle, supporting such issues as education, as the state becomes tighter and tighter in elections. Now, the Republican House caucus has veered to the right. “(Past leadership) was able to pull their party together, all 50 votes,” Mangan said of the House. “Now I think There may be some Republicans that are afraid to have an allegiance with the far conservative branch of the party.” Olson said he thinks the caucus will stick together, but Sales has his work cut out for him if he wants to oppose plans to reduce college tuition. “I think he is going to have to sell that position to the caucus,” Olson said. “It is going to be up to him to bring the caucus to his way of thinking.” The Republican advantage is slim in the House, 50 Republicans to 49 Democrats and one conservative Constitution Party member. Democrats hold a 26-24 advantage in the Senate. Schweitzer will have to find only a few moderate Republicans willing to make some bargains on the governor’s legislative agenda and the governor has already been talking to some of them. It could be hard for Sales to hold the caucus to a strict conservative, anti-government stance. “The Republicans won’t get anything done without Democrat help,” Olson said. “We’re going to have to be able to reach across the aisle to get some things done.” Can Sales do that? He says he can. First off, Sales said he hopes to get an invitation to talk to Schweitzer. And he hopes to talk the governor into a bigger taxrelief package. “He is already moving in the right direction in giving some of the money back, and I am going to help him,” Sales said. Sales said the Republicans need to pass a few high-profile pieces of legislation that would have broad appeal with voters legislation they can use in future campaigns to pick up more legislative seats. But it’s the tug-of-war inside the Republican party that could be most interesting to watch this legislative session. Some think the GOP needs to move to the middle, while Sales thinks the base is most important. “I am not as partisan as people think I am; I am probably harder on my own party than I am on the Democrats,” Sales said, pointing to the years of GOP control before Schweitzer. “We haven’t delivered where we said we were going to, especially on fiscal responsibility. Republicans, too, have been guilty of growing government at an unsustainable clip.”
