Issue Position: ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Issue Position

Montana's minimum wage is $8.65/hour. I am committed to increasing that over a several year period.

Currently, a single parent in Montana working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at the minimum wage, earns just $346 a week. That's $17,992 a year -- without any time off. That salary is roughly $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of four. Consider that an average one bedroom apartment in Bozeman is $1,000 a month rent. This is unacceptable.

In 2017, over 127,000 Montanans (12.5%) and over 32,000 Montana kids (14.7%) lived below the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage would raise tens of thousands of Montanans out of poverty. This would mean increased consumer spending, which would drive local economic growth and create jobs. Raising the minimum wage is a commonsense way to grow our economy, support job creation, and rebuild the American middle class. It will also reduce the number of Montanans who now rely on government assistance.

Apart from wages, another important aspect of economic justice involves access to healthcare. The 2018 Montana legislature did wonderful work by expanding medicaid to cover 100,000 Montanans. We must be prepared to maintain and defend that progress. At the same time, we can reduce the number of Montanans relying on medicaid expansion by raising the minimum wage.

Economic justice also demands better access to affordable housing and protection for renters. Montana's landlord-tenant act is skewed towards landlords and state law prohibits local governments from remedying those inequities. Although affordable housing is largely a local issue, as part of Bozeman's legislative delegation, I will work for State law which aids cities in creating more affordable housing.

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