Candidate wants voters to have a clear choice

An unabashed Democrat in a predominantly Republican county, Melanie Knadler has an “easy answer” to why she’s running for Montana House District 4, Evergreen and the rural area south of Columbia Falls.

“We need a clear choice,” she said. “My opponent has been in office for several terms, and my views are 180 degrees apart. My opponent votes based on his personal beliefs rather than the allowance of personal choice.”

Knadler said she’s concerned her opponent, Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, will support placing restrictions on abortion, same sex marriage “and other moral decisions as opposed to personal rights.”

Born and raised in Eureka, Knadler graduated from the University of Montana with a bachelor’s in English and education and went on to teach in Oregon. She received her master’s in English and education from Portland State University in 1997.

Returning to Montana a few years later, Knadler taught at Columbia Falls High School from 2001 to 2008 before taking a job teaching English and writing at Glacier High School. Her husband, Joel Knadler, is the band teacher at Columbia Falls Junior High School. They’re celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year.

This is Knadler’s first run for elected office. She has volunteered for Habitat For Humanity of the Flathead and as a student advisor. Her hobbies include hiking, art and “a lot of reading.”

On education, Knadler said she wasn’t sure if the funding formula for public schools was equitable, but in any case she’d like to see the legislature provide more money for public schools. She’d also like to see the two-year tuition freeze for university students continued.

Budget surplus money could be used for education, she said, but she’d also like to see surplus money go to job creation.

“‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,’” Knadler said, quoting the novelist Anne Ritchie. “It’s a lot of money. It could be used as seed money for new businesses and alternative energy projects.”

Knadler said she’s not in favor of returning surplus money to taxpayers.

“The rebate would be so small, it wouldn’t be worth it,” she said.

Although she hasn’t read the 1,200-page long proposed Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes water compact, Knadler said the legislature should approve it.

“There’s been a lot of outspoken people opposed to it, but the commission has been working on the compact for a decade,” she said. “I think we stand to lose a lot more than we would gain if the legislature doesn’t approve it.”

Knadler wholeheartedly supports expanding Medicaid coverage for the 70,000 Montanans in the doughnut hole not covered by Obamacare.

“It’s not a giveaway — we’ve all been paying into this since 2008,” she said. “We have a surplus, and this is a great use for it. I’m glad to help out.”

Many of the people needing Medicaid coverage are working poor who end up going to emergency rooms, overtaxing the system, she pointed out.

“What all this leads to is my long-view vision for people in Montana,” she said. “Helping people in crisis situations who need preventative care, which creates more vibrant communities and a healthier Montana.”

Knadler said the financial condition of pension plans for teachers and state employees is not as bad as people think, and a recent increase in how much teachers and state employees pay into the system will help.

She also opposes talk of transferring federal land to state governments.

“That’s a gateway to privatizing public lands to whomever can write the biggest check,” she said.

Knadler encourages people to vote against Legislative Referendum 126, which would eliminate voter registration on Election Day.

“Voting is such a basic right,” she said. “It should not be denied simply as a matter of convenience to government workers.”