Expo candidiates

At the Ronan Expo and tradeshow I had a conversation with the campaign manager for Janna Taylor.  In the last Montana legislature Ms Taylor had voted for HB 198 which:

"Authorizes public utilities to acquire property by eminent domain in order to provide service to customers or construct a facility without certifying that the acquisition is necessary for public use, whereas existing law required such certification"

http://votesmart.org/bill/12628/35878

HB 198 came about because a Canadian power company wanted to take farmers' and ranchers' land to build a power line.  Local Republicans claim they are for property rights... but apparently not when it comes for a foreign business.  No wonder all the local Republicans who voted this bill into law would like to pretend that didn't happen.

The campaign manager let slip that Ms Taylor warned him that her vote on this bill would come up in conversation.  Still, he wasn't able to defend her vote beyond the vague 'there were some good things in the bill'.  His defense withered away when I discussed the history of this bill and a similar bill in the legislature that protected a landowner's rights. That bill was side lined by the lobbyists and politicians.  Based on her vote on the matter I believe Ms Taylor doesn't deserve to be returned to the Montana Legislature.

http://laws.leg.mt.gov/laws11/LAW0211W$BLAC.VoteTabulation?P_VOTE_SEQ=H335