Help Fight Dirty Politics in Montana

“The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.” Theodore Roosevelt

Welcome:

Thank you for visiting my website! I hope you will spend some time learning more about me, what I believe and what I hope do accomplish in the 2011 Montana State House of Representatives. If there is something that I haven’t covered that you would like to learn more about or you are concerned about an issue, please do not hesitate to contact me.

In short, I believe that our government should allow as much individual freedom as possible without infringing on other’s rights while having as much local control as possible. I commit to the residents of House District 57 that I will work with all Legislators, regardless of party affiliation, to do what is best for Montana. I am extremely concerned about rising healthcare costs and our failing mental healthcare system. I will work to reform these systems, promote a progressive energy policy, reduce the tax burden on families and small businesses and protect our environement.

About Me: I was born in Conrad, Montana to Elmer Munson, a carpenter and World War II veteran, and Patsy Munson, the 4^th of 6 children. I graduated from Eastern Montana College in Billings with a degree in Business Administration in 1976, putting myself through college in three years. In 1978, I married Thomas Bonogofsky and had two wonderful daughters, Amber and Alexis. My daughters, now grown, attended Riverside Middle School and then went on to Senior High.

My husband and I own and manage L.P. Anderson Tire Company, a second generation family-owned business. We bought the store from Tom’s father, Frank, in 1993 and worked hard over the years to provide what we believe is the best customer service in Billings. We have 17 hard-working and dedicated employees that are the backbone of the business and they deserve to have dental and health insurance, retirement plans and job security. I have run my own businesses my whole life from horse training and boarding to the tire store and know first hand how government policies affect small businesses, families and the economy.

I believe that my generation should leave Montana a better place for future generations.

Debra’s Goals:

1. Diversify and strengthen Montana’s economy:

A diversified economy is a strong economy and that is what Montana will need to do to recover from this economic recession and be strong for the future. That means we will need to support our farmers and ranchers and small business while bringing new industries to Montana. I believe we can support a strong manufacturing sector in our state.  My main goal in Helena in 2011 will be to promote policies that grow jobs and provide a good living for Montana’s families.

2. Affordable Healthcare:

Our current system of health insurance and healthcare is unsustainable and riddled with inefficiencies. In 2007, total national health expenditures were expected to rise 6.9 percent — two times the rate of inflation.[1] Total spending was $2.3 Trillion in 2007, or $7600 per person.  In 2007, employer health insurance premiums increased by 6.1 percent – two times the rate of inflation. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100. The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,400.[2]

Systematic problems in our healthcare system significantly increase the cost of medical care and health insurance for employers and workers and affect the security of families. e need a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to health insurance reform to all American’s access to affordable health care options. The majority of Montana’s businesses are small-businesses with less than 20 employees.[3] If you fix health insurance for small businesses, you fix it for Montana.

My Healthcare Values:

1. Affordable

2. Competitive

3. Transparent

4. Efficient

5. Realistic

3. Improve Montana’s Mental Healthcare System: Montana’s mental healthcare system faces profound challenges in the coming years Some of the good qualities of our system is that Montana is taking steps to address structural problems within complicated mental health system and we have a competent data collection system. Services have recently been aligned with Medicaid spending through three regional nonprofit agencies, taking into account local decision making.[4]What we lack is day treatment programs, adequate psychiatric hospital beds in Helena. Consumers report long hauls in shackles in the back of police cars taking them to the distant state hospital. The practice is not only an assault on individual dignity, but a burden on sheriffs, who are themselves victims of the system’s inadequacies. Statewide, there is a need for more inpatient beds – the supply of which is shrinking. Criminalization of mental illness is tied to capacity issues. If there are not beds in hospitals, it is easier to put people where there are beds – in jails and prisons. Jail diversion programs are needed in Montana. The absence of housing options, providers, and Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs) help fill homeless shelters as well.

ACT teams in Missoula, Bozeman, Billings, Great Falls, and Helena reflect a sensible deployment and a significant achievement. From the perspective of an overall system of care, however, without beds, the ACT teams are like an airplane trying to fly on only a wing and a prayer. Big Sky horizons need to be broader.

Alcohol abuse and co-occurring disorders have been a major problem for Montana, causing the state to consult national experts and develop a plan to address the problem. At a larger level, the Montana legislature has made efforts toward reducing its many highway deaths by outlawing open alcohol containers in vehicles. With alcohol and depression oftentimes underlying suicide, Montana has realized that it has to try to curb the high numbers of suicides in the state. NAMI applauds this first attempt to do just that.

With such a small existing infrastructure, consumer and family involvement is essential to develop appropriate services. We should support the development of ACT teams statewide, the first Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for law enforcement officers in Helena, and consumer and provider education programs has been instrumental in creating services that really work for the people they are intended to help.

4. Public Lands & Wildlife/ Public Access

In 2006, almost one million state residents and nonresidents spent $1.1 billion on wildlife recreation in Montana.[5] Hunting, fishing and recreational opportunities in our state generate revenue and support jobs. I am committed to the preservation of our natural resources and the public’s ability to enjoy these resources, fish and wildlife sustainability, and public hunting and fishing opportunities. We need to leave Montana a better place than we found it for our children. Our economy and our identity as a state rely on our abundant fish and wildlife and the publics right to access our public lands. The model’s basic tenets are the prohibition of commercialization of wildlife, fish and wildlife are reserved and managed instead for the non-commercial benefits of the public and are equitably allocate to the public, and the protection of critical habitat that sustains optimal populations — forever. Of the lower 48 states, Montana is clearly the greatest success for the model. Today these resources provide tremendous opportunities for diverse wildlife based recreation and are a driving force for the state’s economy.

I will work to:

1. Defend the public’s right to access public lands
2. Expand programs that provide incentives for landowners to allow hunting and fishing
3. Promote access to public lands that are not currently accessible

The Habitat Montana Program, Block Management Program, conservation easements, critical habitat acquisition, fishing access sites, and other Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks landowner incentive programs, created by public participation, are examples of collaborative efforts to provide public access to wildlife on private lands. All of these programs, laws, and partnership charters are tools used for resolving access issues.

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[1] Poisal, J.A., et al, Health Spending Projections Through 2016: Modest Changes Obscure Part D’s Impact. Health Affairs (21 February 2007): W242-253.

[2] The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Employee Health Benefits: 2007 Annual Survey. 11 September 2006. http://www.kff.org/insurance/7672/index.cfm

[3] http://ceic.mt.gov/MtByNumb.asp, Montana Department of Commerce

[4] http://www.nami.org/gtstemplate.cfm?section=grading_the_states&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=30988 National Alliance on Mental Illness.

[5] http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/NationalSurvey/reports2006.html, 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service