Smith Seeks Re-election To House
Frank Smith has served the area at the state level for 22 years, and the Democrat feels he is the best person to be the representative for House District 31.
“I can still work for compromise,” Smith said. “We were able to get a couple of bills done last session.”
Smith is being challenged by Kaci Wallette in the primary election. Arlie W. Gordon of Fort Peck has filed on the Republican ticket.
“There’s so much that is still undone,” Smith said. One of the issues that he is concerned about remains the Keystone Pipeline. He notes that many people at the state level still want the project completed.
“I have all the paperwork against it,” Smith said.
He is concerned how the pipeline could harm reservations’ drinking water and irrigation projects.
Smith also wants the state to approach economic development projects differently. He says the great majority of economic development grants have gone to western Montana compared to eastern Montana.
“I know of a couple of good grants that were disqualified,” Smith said.
He explained that the amount of regulations and the overall long process are resulting in some businesses going to North Dakota rather than opening in Montana.
“It takes too long. Some of them should be in business here,” Smith said. “There’s so much that we should have here.”
He said another goal is improving the process of funding public education.
Smith says agriculture is always a vital issue for Montana. He notes that too many out-of-state people in the legislature don’t understand the importance of agriculture.
He offered a bill last session that would require a placard of County of Origin on beef or pork products. Information on beef and pork products will include “Born, raised and processed in the USA.” The Montana Farmers Union supported the bill, but the proposal was voted down in the House.
