Meyers, Smith vie for open seat in Senate District 16

After one term representing House District 32, state Rep. Bruce Meyers, R-Box Elder, has set his sights on Montana's upper legislative chamber,

Meyers, an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, is the Republican candidate in the race for Senate District 16.

The district spans from Hill and Chouteau counties to Roosevelt County and includes parts of Rocky Boy's, Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Indian reservations. The seat is now held by state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, who termed out of that seat and is campaigning for the House seat now held by Meyers.

Meyers faces former state Sen. Frank Smith, D-Poplar, an Assiniboine and Sioux from Fort Peck Indian Reservation, in November's general election.

Meyers said that he decided to run for the Montana Senate because it would afford him the chance to represent and serve a larger population, especially in Indian Country.

As a trained mediator, Meyers said, he thinks of himself as a peacemaker.

"Not only do we need to have peacemaking between tribes and their neighbors, but we need to have mediation. I use mediation as a representative to bring both sides of the aisle together on issues," he said.

Meyers said his advocacy for Medicaid expansion and the Salish Kootenai water compact, helped persuade some Republicans to back both measures.

If he wins in November, Meyers said,  in the coming legislative session he will look to concentrate on issues of infrastructure funding, sentencing reform, school choice and strengthening partnerships between state, county and tribal governments.

Meyers said that before the problem of declining state revenues can be addressed, there needs to be an accurate detailed report of the state's fiscal condition.

From there, lawmakers can decide what should be done to either generate more revenue or reduce spending, he said.  

As a freshman lawmaker, Meyers said, he was initially impressed by the quality of the revenue reports from the state budget office, but heard from what he said were various camps that those projections were not an accurate representation of state revenue.

While Montana ranks in the lowest states for workers' wages, Meyers said part of the solution is to put together a report which would include the testimony of workers who earn minimum wage and look at their situation relative to the cost of living.

"We have a lot of working poor in our state," Meyers said. "They are working and they are still in poverty."

He said the information could then be used to determine if the minimum wage should be raised and offer lawmakers and others insight into the challenges facing low wage workers.

Meyers said there should be more cooperative ventures between Montana counties and reservations and local businesses to employ American Indians and non-Indians.

The need to repair infrastructure throughout the state has been a topic of discussion throughout the campaign season. Though he has expressed support in the past and voted for a bill in the last legislative session to allow state to use bonding to pay for state infrastructure, Meyers said it is now something he opposes.

He said that in the legislative session, he voted for legislation that would use a portion of the money from the coal tax fund to pay for infrastructure improvements.

The issue of whether to transfer federal public lands to state control is something that needs to be examined, Meyers said.

He said a thorough study should be conducted to determine if the state has the money that would be needed to properly manage the public  lands that are now under federal control.

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G. Bruce Meyers, Republican

Place and date of birth: June 14, 1948, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation

Professional history: Positions in higher education; public administration; social work; project management; grant work; consultant for tribal nations throughout the U.S. and Canada; project coordinator for the meth and suicide prevention initiative at White Sky Hope Center.

Education: Box Elder Schools, 1968; University of Montana, 1973, B.A in sociology; Montana State University, 1981, masters in higher education administration

Family/significant others: Divorced, six sons, two daughters

Military service: None

Previous political positions: Coordinator of Indian Affairs for Gov. Judy Martz

Organizations: None