Smith hopes to return to Helena

Eight years after he was ousted in a primary challenge, Frank Smith is hoping to resurrect his political career and reclaim the seat he once held in the Montana Senate.

In order to stage his comeback, however, Poplar resident Smith, 73, will have to fend off two political neophytes in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Senate District 16: LeAnn Montes, attorney general for the Chippewa Cree Tribe and Bobbi Jo Favel, who works for the Chippewa Cree Tribal Employment and Risk Management Office.

The winner of Tuesday's primary will then square off against state Rep. Bruce Meyers, R-Box Elder.

State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, who defeated Smith in primary challenges in both 2008 and 2012, is unable to seek another term in the Senate.

Windy Boy is instead running for the open House District 32 seat.

Senate District 16 extends from Box Elder eastward onto the Fort Peck reservation. The district includes rural communities as well as the Fort Belknap, Fort Peck and Rocky Boy's Indian reservations.

Smith, who is both Assiniboine and Sioux, was born and raised in Poplar.

After high school he went into carpentry and cabinet making.

He entered public service in 1962 when he joined the Poplar Ambulance service and helped start its Emergency Medical Technician program.

After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Smith worked for the Poplar and Fort Peck police departments.

He later started several businesses with a partner and worked as a lobbyist.

In 1998, Smith was elected to the Montana House of Representatives before winning a four-year term to the State senate in 2004.

Smith lost to Windy Boy when he sought re-election in 2008 and lost again when he mounted another primary challenge against Windy Boy in 2012.

Now, among other things he spends his time driving veterans on Fort Peck to doctors appointments.

A veteran lawmaker, he said he has a record of crafting and getting legislation passed.

He said that those in the fields of law enforcement as well as health and human services have looked to him to help write and guide bills through the legislative process.

Smith said he is disappointed in the current condition of Montana's state government. He said that at the end of the 2015 state legislative session there was a great deal of unfinished business including appropriations for economic development, highways and colleges.

Infrastructure

Bonding for infrastructure projects is something Smith agrees with to a certain point.

However, he said that he would have to see more precise figures to say whether he would support a specific proposal.

That issue was a point of contention between Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, and some Republicans during the 2015 legislative session.

Bullock urged the Republican-led Legislature to green light $300 million for repairs of roads and bridges and other infrastructure needs throughout Montana using state bonds.

Some Republicans argued that rather than borrowing the money, infrastructure spending should be paid for with money from the state's ending fund balance, which Bullock wanted to keep with a surplus to take care of unexpected expenses.

In the end, a $150 million bipartisan proposal that would have paid for the improvements using both bonding and cash on hand fell one vote short of the needed supermajority.

Bullock has recently called for $200 million in infrastructure spending but has offered few specifics.

Raising the state gas tax

Smith said past proposals to raise the state gas tax have been met with criticism and rejection.

Across the nation, state and federal gas taxes provide a share of the money used for infrastructure upgrades through taxes imposed on gasoline.

The state of Montana now has a tax of 27.75 cent tax on gasoline, which hasn't been raised since 1993. However with the price of gas so low even less money is coming into the state.

Last legislative session, state Rep. Nancy Wilson, D-Missoula, proposed legislation that would have raised the gas tax by 5 cents. The House Transportation Committee voted to table the bill, effectively killing the proposal.

"There's about five or six different organizations who get money from the money accrued from the state gas tax. About 20 percent is gone before the highway department gets to it," Smith said.

He said before an increase is considered, he would like to reduce the number of agencies who get money from it.

Smith said money generated from the gas tax should go exclusively to meeting the needs of highway and transportation projects.

Public lands

In his discussions with those who live in the district he hopes to represent, Smith said people tell him the state seems unable to effectively manage the lands that are now under its control.

Therefore, he said he would oppose the transfer of public lands from federal to state control.

In recent legislative sessions there has been spirited debate over whether such control and ownership of the 27,003.251 acres of federal land in Montana should take place.

Universal pre-kindergarten

Smith said he supports the idea of universal pre-kindergarten.

He said early education has proven to be a benefit for students in the long term.

Smith said in the town of Frazer there was a pre-kindergarten class where for five years those who took part outpaced their peers in the classroom.

"So it gives them a good head start," he said.

Montana is currently one of eight states without a publicly funded education option for 4-year-olds.

During the last legislative session, Gov. Steve Bullock put forth a $37 million proposal that would award grants to school districts who create or expand such programs.

However, the proposal was not taken up.

Smith said that such a program would likely require the state to train teachers differently, since teaching four year olds is not the same as teaching older students.

Medicaid Expansion

Smith said he supports the bipartisan Medicaid expansion bill that passed the Legislature and was signed into law last legislative session.

"Well, I think it's a good idea, but I think the government has to look at the way they are funding it a little better."

After some wrangling, Democrats and a faction of Republicans in both houses of the legislature approved the law which expands health care coverage to individuals who making $16,000 or less annually, or a family of four who makes $30,000 or less a year.

Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will cover the full cost of the expansion for the first three years. By 2020, that amount will drop to 90 percent, while the state will cover the remaining 10 percent.

Smith said he wants to ensure the state can sustain that commitment in the long run and do so without raising taxes.

Death Penalty

Capital punishment is an issue where Smith said he feels conflicted.

"My dad has always taught me that to put a person to death is murder no matter who does it or how it's done," he said.

During the 2015 legislative session, state lawmakers nearly approved legislation that would have eliminated the death penalty in Montana and replaced it with life in prison.

Ultimately, the measure was blocked by a 50-50 vote in the House. Montana is one of 31 states that has the death penalty.

But Smith said that doing away with the death penalty would add to the overall prison population in the future.

"That's one of the big expenses in our state right now is our prisons," Smith said.

The Death Penalty Information Center, a clearinghouse for information on capital punishment, said in the past 21 years three executions have taken place in Montana. As of January 2016, there are only two prisoners on death row in Montana.

Marijuana

In Montana, medical marijuana is legal but controlled, while marijuana remains illegal for recreational use.

Smith said such a stance is in line with his thinking on the issue.

"I like medical marijuana, I've seen what it can do. Recreational marijuana I'm not that much in favor (of) because I see what it can do," Smith said.

Marijuana for recreational use is now legal in four states and for medical use when prescribed by a physician in 20 other states as well as the District of Columbia.

The office of the Montana Secretary of State said on its website that signatures are being gathered for three contradictory ballot initiatives that would go before state voters in November.

One proposal would allow the individuals 21 and older to grow, purchase and use limited amounts of marijuana.

Another proposed initiative would repeal the Montana Marijuana Act, the state law allowing the use, sale and possession of medical marijuana with a doctor's prescription as approved by voters in 2004. If approved it "requires that drugs that are illegal under federal law are illegal under state law."

A third would loosen some restrictions on medical marijuana that are now in place under state law.