HELENA — The Democrat candidate for House District 79 is Luke Muszkiewicz. HD 79 is currently an open seat with no incumbent.
Muszkiewicz told MTN he is running for the legislature because he was born and raised in Helena and wants to make sure the lawmakers remain responsive to people in the Helena Valley.
The top issues he wants to see addressed by the legislature are public education funding, property taxes, civil dialogue and bipartisan cooperation in the legislature.
House District 79 comprises the west side of the Helena Valley, the upper west side neighborhood, Rimini, Unionville and Fort Harrison. The Republican candidate for HD 79 is Jill Sark, you can learn more about her here.
Watch our full interview with Luke Muszkiewicz
Q: Why are you running for the legislature?
Luke Muszkiewicz: First and foremost, because I love the greater Helena area. I was born here, I was raised here, and I've raised a family here, and I want to make sure that the Montana legislature remains responsive to the people who live in the Helena Valley.
Q: What are three key issues you believe need to be addressed by the next Montana legislature?
LM: Yeah. First and foremost is a former Helena public school school board trustee. I believe that we need to reassess our investment in public education and ensure that our public schools and our public educators have the resources they need to serve our children. I think the second issue is property taxes. We need to provide residential property owners with the property tax relief they have received in previous sessions and are so overdue right now. This is a real issue for everyone I speak to in the district, and the next legislature needs to take action. And the third thing, I think, is we need to be electing and sending people to the legislature who are committed to remaining civil, remaining respectful, and working across the aisle to get things done for people in the greater Helen area,
Q: Housing and property taxes are a key issue for many Montanans, what actions if any do you think the legislature should take?
LM: Absolutely. Property taxes are an incredibly important source of income to this, to the people, the state of Montana. However, what occurred after the last legislative session is that we've shifted too much of the burden of paying property taxes onto residential homeowners and long-term renters within the Helena area and throughout the state. We need to make sure that we are shifting that property tax liability to large corporations, larger businesses, industrial property taxpayers, quite frankly, people who own second homes or own short-term investment properties, we need to be fairly assessing in distributing that, that tax burden across all of those different groups of people.
Q: This fall Montanans will be voting on access to abortion. What do you think the legislature’s role regarding abortion should be following that vote?
LM: Well, I do support access to sexual and reproductive health care, including the right to receive an abortion. I am a strong proponent of that constitutional initiative, and I hope it passes. And should it pass, and I believe it will. I think the Montana legislature needs to support the will of the people, and specifically the right to privacy that protects that right to an abortion in the Montana constitution.
Q: Another issue impacting Montana families is childcare, are there actions you think the legislature could take to address the issue?
LM: I think it's a great, I think it's a great question. I'm not an expert in this area, but I absolutely hear from my potential constituents that access to child care is a real issue. I think one of the things we ought to look at, as we have in past sessions unsuccessfully, is state-sponsored pre-K. Not only would this give our kids a huge advantage going into kindergarten that would serve them through the rest of their lives, but it would also provide a high-quality option for parents who are struggling to work and put food on their table because the cost of health care and private pre K options are just so expensive and so hard to find.
Q: Is there anything else you want to say that we haven't covered so far, or that you think voters should know?
LM: I don't think so. You know, again, I was born and raised here. I've raised a family here. Helena is my home, and I am absolutely committed to reaching out, getting to know and understanding the interests and the priorities of everybody in House District 79 regardless of the political party that they may affiliate with. We need to represent Helena as a whole, the greater Helena area, in the Montana legislature, and I'm committed to doing that in a fair and civil and mutually respectful way for everyone well.
