Election 2024: Senate District 2, Dave Fern

Dave Fern, Democrat

Personal background: 

We have lived in Whitefish since 1988. I am currently a small business owner and I have been self-employed for 25 years. My wife and I have been married for 42 years and our three children matriculated through the Whitefish School System and various universities. My business and serving in the legislature are weak excuses for hobbies, but they’ve been time consuming. Perhaps reading along with long dog walks in public and private timber lands will have to do.

I am currently a lawmaker having served the past eight years in the Montana House. I’ve served on various committees, being vice chair of the House Tax and Transportation Committees, appointed to Local Government and Transportation Interim Committees and during this interim having served on the Property Tax Task Force and the Behavioral Health System for Future Generations Committee. Previous to my legislative years I served 24 years on the Whitefish School Board with various leadership roles.

What separates you from your opponent? 

I have gotten to know my opponent Doug Adams quite well and I have enjoyed his company breaking bread or debating the issues. I have institutional knowledge of the legislature and a reputation for collaboration and working across the aisle. I would think this valuable experience gives me a slight edge over my opponent.

Do you have specific goals if elected?

I hope to be instrumental in passing meaningful property tax relief for full time residential owners and small and medium sized businesses. I will be supporting a model developed in the Task Force that adjusts residential tax rates by increasing the multiplier for part time residential and short-term rentals and then apply a homestead exemption to full time residential properties discounting the rate to do so. Business appraisals will see a proposed threshold allowing those under the threshold to receive a discounted rate.  I will also be supportive of all 22 recommendations from the Behavioral Health Commission in reforming services to Montanan’s with mental health or developmental disability conditions. Finally, I will look towards the recommendation from the Housing Task Force to look at issues from land planning, housing supply, low interest loans and innovative housing products to meet demands for both market and deed restricted inventory.

Property taxes have been one of the most important topics in the past few years. How could the state help in lowering them? 

Mitigation of appraisals is the low hanging fruit in reducing property taxes. I reviewed one such model in the previous answer to question four. For such success there must be the political viability plus modelling that indicates a successful product. I think such a mitigation policy does so. There are other factors leading to high taxes. Non-general budget items of schools, counties and cities have grown at a disproportional growth as compared to their general budgets. This past cycle, fixed, non-floated state mills, which make up about 18% of one’s property tax bill turned out to be a windfall for the state. Corrections were made through HB 587 to buy down mills from the windfall and future collection of the state mills to pay for permissive, non-voted levies at the county level. This will show up in future tax bills as a reduction of mills. State income taxes have been cut the past two sessions, along with raising the threshold for the business equipment tax, have a positive impact on small and medium businesses along with farmers and ranchers. While the state has been flush with revenues, I expect such collections in the future to reflect a lower state GDP, and the end to covid stimulus expenditures.

Do you support CI-128 (the Constitutional Initiative on abortion rights)? 

 I support CI 128. It recognizes the Armstrong Decision of 1998 regarding the relationship to privacy and abortion as interpreted in our state constitution. It is helpful to review the  latest Pew Research and Gallup polls reflecting diverse thought on the topic. The public’s opinions on reproductive policy has been consistent through the years 63% of Americans polled, believing access to abortion is appropriate. 

Do you support CI-126 (open primaries)?

 I support CI 126, open primaries. Most legislative races in Montana are not competitive. Therefore, the primary often decides the winner of the race. Primaries often attract far fewer voters and thus the decisions made are often overly influenced by political activists from both ends of the spectrum. In some cases, a very conservative or progressive candidate is in fact the appropriate match for the district. Moderation is an important element of the legislative composition and often results in better communications and collaboration. I believe moderation is the winner through CI 126, conversely with little influence on the number of Republicans or Democrats elected.

Do you support C1-127 (majority vote elections)?

I support CI 127 knowing that ranked choice voting is a real dark horse as the method to determine a winner with more than 50% of the vote. It is assumed wrongly that CI-127 is all about ranked choice. The other likely option for the legislature to choose, would be an additional election as done in the state of Georgia. On the other hand, CI-126 can stand alone and we live on with the winner garnering  the highest percentage of votes.

What do you see as the top priorities for the next legislative session? 

The top priorities of the next session will be meaningful property tax relief, the reauthorization of Medicaid expansion  (health insurance through Obama Care for mainly low-income workers), implementation of recommendations from the Housing Task Force, recommendations from the Behavioral Health Commission, child care solutions, and K-12 funding.