Skees outlines draft bills

Shrinking government, getting tough on

criminals, re-organizing education and bringing “mini-nukes” into

Montana — these are some of the ideas Derek Skees has been working

into draft bills for next year’s legislative session.

“I’m all about de-centralizing and

localizing government,” he explained.

Described as a Tea Party Republican,

Skees defeated Democrat Will Hammerquist this fall to replace Rep.

Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, as the state representative for House

District 4, which includes the urban part of Whitefish.

Skees moved to the Flathead from

Orlando, Fla., in 1982 and graduated from Columbia Falls High

School four years later. He returned to Orlando, where he received

an associate’s degree and attended college for a while before

leaving for “a good job with UPS.” He returned to the Flathead in

1998 and now works with R Porch Construction. He had worked in

construction for his father, Dick Skees, while living in the

Flathead.

As a “51-49” victor, Skees says he’s

been meeting with many groups that had opposed him during the

election to get their support. He said the biggest issue that came

up time and again was protecting water quality in lakes and rivers,

which he says he supports.

Skees said he plans to update a

newsletter on his Web site (www.derekskees.com) every two weeks

while in Helena. People who want to contact him can call him at

212-5493, e-mail him at derekskees@gmail.com or mail him at P.O.

Box 5331, Whitefish MT 59937.

Among the draft bills Skees hopes to

introduce next year:

• Repealing the state ban on nuclear

facilities. Skees points out that many Democrats, including

President Obama, and many environmentalists believe nuclear power

might be the answer to the nation’s growing demand for electricity

and the need to keep carbon emissions low.

“Mini-nukes,” such as the Toshiba 4S

reactor, which could provide 10 megawatts to small rural

communities, is an example of the new generation of small,

inexpensive nuclear reactors. It was featured in the February issue

of National Geographic.

With the Flathead Electrical

Cooperative’s supply of cheap power from the Bonneville Power

Administration now capped, small nuclear reactors could address the

valley’s growth needs while not requiring expensive and contentious

transmission-line construction.

Skees said he agrees with Jopek that

the 32-year-old state law on nuclear facilities reserves the right

to allow such facilities to “the people of Montana.” But state

representatives are elected by the people, he points out. He said

he’ll leave it up to the state’s Legislative Services to determine

if changing the law requires a ballot initiative.

Skees would also like to repeal the

state law requiring utilities to use renewable energy. He said he’s

talked with Brad Molnar at the Public Service Commission and

recently-elected commissioner Bill Gallagher about the issue.

“Rates are going up because of the high

cost of green energy,” Skees said. “Wind power doesn’t work in a

free market because it needs to be subsidized by taxpayers.”

Eliminating the renewable energy

mandate would save taxpayers two ways — lower rates and lower

taxes, Skees said.

• Eliminating voter registration on

Election Day. Skees says this privilege has been abused and he’d

like to bring back the requirement that voters register at least 14

days before Election Day.

Skees would also like to see

“nonpartisan blanket primaries,” similar to California’s

Proposition 62 and Louisiana’s “jungle primary.” In such a scheme,

all candidates run against each other, regardless of party

affiliation.

“This would stop Demo-crats from

crossing over and voting for Republican candidates to control the

outcome,” he said.

• Changing education. Some of the state

Office of Public Instruction’s redundant and bureaucratic functions

need to be eliminated, Skees said. There’s no need for curriculum

to be determined at the state, district and then school level — it

should be handed over to local officials.

He’d also like to consolidate school

districts. The 53 schools in the Flathead Valley could be brought

into one school district, he said. That doesn’t mean students would

be bused to other schools — it means reducing administrative costs,

especially expensive school superintendent salaries, so teacher pay

can be increased.

“This could also lower property taxes,”

he said. “School administrators are the only people who’ll fight

this.”

He’d also like to repeal tenure for

school teachers — in fact, he’d like to take the word “tenure”

completely out of the code for all government officials. Out of 47

staff members at Flathead Valley Community College, for example,

30-35 of them have tenure, he said, leaving FVCC hamstrung for

managing teachers and staff.

“It doesn’t make sense from a private

sector point of view,” he said. “If they mess up, they should be

fired. Good teachers don’t need protection.”

Not on his draft bills list — Skees

would like to see all five members of the state Board of Regents

elected. Districts would be the same as used by the state Public

Service Commission.

• Shrinking government. One of Skees’

draft bills calls for reducing the size of the Montana Supreme

Court from seven to five justices.

“This would address their bloated

budget and staff,” he said. “Five can do what seven do.”

He said he’d also like to see a

requirement that the five justices be elected from the five Public

Service Commission districts.

“There’s too many judges from Helena —

they don’t represent the people of Montana,” he said.

Skees would also like to create an

all-volunteer council on efficient government, modeled on a system

used in Florida.

“Their mandate would be to save money,”

he said. “And it would have teeth, with the legal right to audit

departments.”

• Stiffen criminal penalties. Skees

wants convicted felons to lose any state pension they might

receive. Teachers convicted of a felony also would lose their

certification, he said.

• Balancing the budget. About half of

the state’s budget is not covered by the budget passed by the

legislature, Skees said. Hidden in that half is “pork” and funds

not covered by the state constitution’s requirement for a balanced

budget.

“It’s earmark spending,” he said. “It

constantly needs money to fund, but there’s no legislative

control.”

Skees would also like to implement the

“zero-based budgeting” system used in Florida. Budgets would not be

based on the previous year’s budget, he said. He also wants to make

the budget process more transparent by posting department budgets

online.

“Departments need to justify their

budgets,” he said.