Dispatch from the Laurel and Red Lodge Legislative Listening Tour Stops

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 22nd, 2023

CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org

Helena, MT – On the latest leg of the Legislative Listening Tour, Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers (D-Belgrade) and House Minority Leader Kim Abbott visited Laurel and Red Lodge to hear from Montanans in Yellowstone and Carbon Counties. 

With an engaged audience in Laurel, Senator Flowers and Representative Abbott listened to community members’ concerns about a variety of issues facing Montana. Flowers and Abbott were joined by Representative Mary Caferro (D-Helena), Representative Emma Kerr-Carpenter (D-Billings), and Rep. Tom France (D-Missoula) in taking questions.

Attendees brought up concerns about funding for public schools, increasing teacher pay to combat the teacher shortage, and the need for pre-K programs in the area. 

There were several comments about nursing home closures and the lack of available beds. One attendee mentioned that the nearby nursing home in Hardin had closed – the community lost 56 beds. Another brought up how low wages for nurses make it hard to staff rural critical access facilities: “We need loan repayment programs for nurses that want to work in rural hospitals specifically.” 

Senator Pat Flowers and Rep. Mary Caferro listening to community members at the Laurel Listening Tour

Later that evening, in a packed room at the Red Lodge Senior Center, Flowers and Abbott held the second town hall of the day to hear from the community. Reps. Caferro and Kerr-Carpenter attended as well. 

Like their neighbors to the north, Red Lodge has lost two nursing homes. Attendees expressed concern that the state government is not forward-looking, and failing rural communities by underfunding provider rates. 

Audience members brought up concerns about the property tax hike, and the economic impact of increasingly frequent natural disasters like the flooding that devastated parts of Carbon County last summer. Another audience member shared their worry that it’s getting harder and harder for young ranchers or farmers to get started. 

Several attendees expressed frustration at the lack of bipartisanship during the legislative session getting in the way of the real work that’s needed.

Senator Flowers, Rep. Caferro, and Rep. Abbott introducing themselves at the Red Lodge Listening Tour 

Audience members in Red Lodge sharing what is important to their community

Rep. Abbott, Senator Flowers, and Rep. Caferro thanking Red Lodge for sharing.

BACKGROUND
Democratic legislators are hosting the statewide Listening Tour to hear from voters and constituents directly, listen to concerns about the direction the state is moving, and answer questions Montanans might have about the most recent legislative session. The legislators use what they learn from community members to build their agenda for the next legislative session.

The Legislative Listening Tour kicked off in Great Falls earlier this summer, and has made additional stops in Belgrade and Fort Peck. They will be stopping in Lewistown and Havre next week. 

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