Skees outlines draft bills
Shrinking government, getting tough on
criminals, re-organizing education and bringing “mini-nukes” into
Montana — these are some of the ideas Derek Skees has been working
into draft bills for next year’s legislative session.
“I’m all about de-centralizing and
localizing government,” he explained.
Described as a Tea Party Republican,
Skees defeated Democrat Will Hammerquist this fall to replace Rep.
Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, as the state representative for House
District 4, which includes the urban part of Whitefish.
Skees moved to the Flathead from
Orlando, Fla., in 1982 and graduated from Columbia Falls High
School four years later. He returned to Orlando, where he received
an associate’s degree and attended college for a while before
leaving for “a good job with UPS.” He returned to the Flathead in
1998 and now works with R Porch Construction. He had worked in
construction for his father, Dick Skees, while living in the
Flathead.
As a “51-49” victor, Skees says he’s
been meeting with many groups that had opposed him during the
election to get their support. He said the biggest issue that came
up time and again was protecting water quality in lakes and rivers,
which he says he supports.
Skees said he plans to update a
newsletter on his Web site (www.derekskees.com) every two weeks
while in Helena. People who want to contact him can call him at
212-5493, e-mail him at derekskees@gmail.com or mail him at P.O.
Box 5331, Whitefish MT 59937.
Among the draft bills Skees hopes to
introduce next year:
• Repealing the state ban on nuclear
facilities. Skees points out that many Democrats, including
President Obama, and many environmentalists believe nuclear power
might be the answer to the nation’s growing demand for electricity
and the need to keep carbon emissions low.
“Mini-nukes,” such as the Toshiba 4S
reactor, which could provide 10 megawatts to small rural
communities, is an example of the new generation of small,
inexpensive nuclear reactors. It was featured in the February issue
of National Geographic.
With the Flathead Electrical
Cooperative’s supply of cheap power from the Bonneville Power
Administration now capped, small nuclear reactors could address the
valley’s growth needs while not requiring expensive and contentious
transmission-line construction.
Skees said he agrees with Jopek that
the 32-year-old state law on nuclear facilities reserves the right
to allow such facilities to “the people of Montana.” But state
representatives are elected by the people, he points out. He said
he’ll leave it up to the state’s Legislative Services to determine
if changing the law requires a ballot initiative.
Skees would also like to repeal the
state law requiring utilities to use renewable energy. He said he’s
talked with Brad Molnar at the Public Service Commission and
recently-elected commissioner Bill Gallagher about the issue.
“Rates are going up because of the high
cost of green energy,” Skees said. “Wind power doesn’t work in a
free market because it needs to be subsidized by taxpayers.”
Eliminating the renewable energy
mandate would save taxpayers two ways — lower rates and lower
taxes, Skees said.
• Eliminating voter registration on
Election Day. Skees says this privilege has been abused and he’d
like to bring back the requirement that voters register at least 14
days before Election Day.
Skees would also like to see
“nonpartisan blanket primaries,” similar to California’s
Proposition 62 and Louisiana’s “jungle primary.” In such a scheme,
all candidates run against each other, regardless of party
affiliation.
“This would stop Demo-crats from
crossing over and voting for Republican candidates to control the
outcome,” he said.
• Changing education. Some of the state
Office of Public Instruction’s redundant and bureaucratic functions
need to be eliminated, Skees said. There’s no need for curriculum
to be determined at the state, district and then school level — it
should be handed over to local officials.
He’d also like to consolidate school
districts. The 53 schools in the Flathead Valley could be brought
into one school district, he said. That doesn’t mean students would
be bused to other schools — it means reducing administrative costs,
especially expensive school superintendent salaries, so teacher pay
can be increased.
“This could also lower property taxes,”
he said. “School administrators are the only people who’ll fight
this.”
He’d also like to repeal tenure for
school teachers — in fact, he’d like to take the word “tenure”
completely out of the code for all government officials. Out of 47
staff members at Flathead Valley Community College, for example,
30-35 of them have tenure, he said, leaving FVCC hamstrung for
managing teachers and staff.
“It doesn’t make sense from a private
sector point of view,” he said. “If they mess up, they should be
fired. Good teachers don’t need protection.”
Not on his draft bills list — Skees
would like to see all five members of the state Board of Regents
elected. Districts would be the same as used by the state Public
Service Commission.
• Shrinking government. One of Skees’
draft bills calls for reducing the size of the Montana Supreme
Court from seven to five justices.
“This would address their bloated
budget and staff,” he said. “Five can do what seven do.”
He said he’d also like to see a
requirement that the five justices be elected from the five Public
Service Commission districts.
“There’s too many judges from Helena —
they don’t represent the people of Montana,” he said.
Skees would also like to create an
all-volunteer council on efficient government, modeled on a system
used in Florida.
“Their mandate would be to save money,”
he said. “And it would have teeth, with the legal right to audit
departments.”
• Stiffen criminal penalties. Skees
wants convicted felons to lose any state pension they might
receive. Teachers convicted of a felony also would lose their
certification, he said.
• Balancing the budget. About half of
the state’s budget is not covered by the budget passed by the
legislature, Skees said. Hidden in that half is “pork” and funds
not covered by the state constitution’s requirement for a balanced
budget.
“It’s earmark spending,” he said. “It
constantly needs money to fund, but there’s no legislative
control.”
Skees would also like to implement the
“zero-based budgeting” system used in Florida. Budgets would not be
based on the previous year’s budget, he said. He also wants to make
the budget process more transparent by posting department budgets
online.
“Departments need to justify their
budgets,” he said.