Next Up on Montana Virtual Town Hall: Senate President Mark Blasdel, April 13
Wylie Galt, speaker of the Montana House of Representatives, and Llew Jones, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, took some time away from legislative floor action on Friday, April 9, to attend the first NFIB Virtual Town Hall for its members.
Members who were able to attend were not disappointed, treated as they were to a highly informative half-hour discussion with the two leaders. Answers to members’ questions included the topics of:
- Tax credits for job training
- Property tax relief
- Allowing 16-year-olds to be employed in the trade industries with supervision – Galt said he “was thrown on a tractor at 10” and that “a four-year college may not be for everyone.”
- Raising the exemption for business property taxes
- Income tax simplification
- Marijuana
- Time to institute a sales tax?
Jones took some extra time to discuss the sales tax situation in Montana, in response to a member’s question if big box stores were getting some special consideration over small businesses.
Jones said that at least big box stores paid a property tax to help fund water, sewer, and roads, whereas big online merchants such as Amazon paid nothing because the state’s lack of a sales tax—although he was not calling for one.
Next Up: Come meet and ask questions of Montana Senate President Mark Blasdel, April 13, at NFIB Montana’s next Virtual Town Hall. RSVP at this link.
One of the many benefits of NFIB membership is the opportunity your association presents to hear directly from and talk directly to the top policymakers making the decisions affecting your ability to own, operate, and grow your business. Virtual Town Halls are one of the ways NFIB creates this opportunity.
Our members make NFIB what it is and empower it to attract our state’s top elected officials to any opportunity to talk with the people at the pulsing heart of every economy in the world—Small Business Owners.
For more information, send an email to NFIB Senior Grassroots Manager Stacy Jenkins.
