State Legislature 2020: Leigh Verrill-Rhys

Kitchen table politics has been a part of my life since I sat on a telephone book to reach the table. I became involved at the time of the Civil Rights Movement, Anti­ War Protests, Free Speech Movement and campaigned for candidates from the age of While living abroad, I was actively involved in civil, language and cultural rights in my community.

I returned to the United States nine years ago and until 2012, I had voted absentee as a registered Democrat. In that year, I reactivated my involvement in the Constitutional rights of American citizens and became increasingly aware of the disparages between what our elected Democrat leaders promised and what they actually did. I read widely about the socialists, Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky, and realized that the Democratic Party no longer embraced the ideas that inspired Civil Rights and Space Exploration; the party of my youth had become the party of unrestrained government power, that is, Socialist – a coercive system I had experienced while living overseas.

After moving to Montana, I continued my involvement with women’s conservative organizations – where I experienced an immediate support for freedoms that the Democrats were actively obliterating. When I was asked to stand for office, I decided the time had come for me to put my political interests firmly in the service of my community.

My first priority, if elected, would be to reduce wasteful government spending and focus on the real needs of Montana and its residents: infrastructure; education, including parental school choice; adult and child trafficking; drug trafficking and addiction. My intention will be, by these efforts, to keep Montana the “Last Best Place”.

The short-term needs of a community are often brought on by the near-sighted focus of our elected leaders. Fixing those ill-concevied policies takes a concerted effort on the part of all policymakers to work for their constituents, not short-term gains. Reducing wasteful government spending will be a first step to ensure the long-term benefits for future generations. The best possible education for all children will not only reduce poverty but ensure a competent workforce for future employers.

I, without equivocation, see myself as a delegate. However, having been a Trustee of at least one non-profit organization, I can attest that the role of a trustee is to follow the terms of the Trust. As elected officials we have a duty to honor and follow the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Montana, not our own political agenda. That duty acts as a balance to our role as a delegate. If elected, I will serve my constituents to the best of my ability and will never take their vote for granted, within the constraints of the Law as detailed in the above Constitutions.

There is no doubt that bi-partisan solutions and compromise are essential to the success of any state or nation. Throughout our lives, we must find solutions to problems which face ourselves and our families. A legislature is no different. No one political party or person has the “right” answer to address the matters at As a member of the Board at Trinity College in Wales, we discussed matters pertaining to financing, foreign students, campus policing and many others. Though faculty and students representatives often had divergent opinions, compromise and consensus had to be and were achieved through thoughtful discussion. As a Board member representing the creative and business communities, I was often able to provide the balance of opinion that made compromise possible.

Any effort to reduce the tax burden on Montanans must start with a reduction in government spending which entails a reduction in dependency on taxpayer-funded government-run programs which also entail the relinquishing of personal freedoms and responsibility. A recent example of tax over-reach occurred with regard to Healthcare: a 40% bed-tax increase received support from Democrats in the Montana Legislature which necessarily raised the cost of Healthcare in this state. This increase was, and is, a prime example of how government-run programs inevitably result in higher costs to be borne by taxpayers.

Montana cannot have a robust economy without employers’ ability to open their businesses. Personal responsibility plays a significant role in the health and well­ being of all individuals. Exemption from liability should not exclude responsibility on the part of all participants in transactions in which there is social contact. If employers provide protections for their employees, employees take responsibility for their own safety and that of customers, and customers take responsibility for their own and others’ safety, there should be no need for exemption from liability. However, we cannot always depend on the best behavior of others, and therefore, I believe employers and their employees, unless there is deliberate malfeasance on their part, should be granted protections.

Medicaid expansion is an example of a government-run program gone wild. Like government-run/taxpayer-funded Healthcare, there is no will or mechanism to prevent a continuance in expansion to cover the needs of an ever-increasing populace that embraces dependency. During my years living overseas, I experienced a system of socialized medicine which sometimes led to delays in treatment, occasionally denial of service as well as the deterioration of personal responsibility which allowed some to neglect their own health and encouraging a dependence on that system to take care of them.

The current cost to Montana taxpayers of Medicaid is $1.9 Billion per year, with no limit to the programs that are and will, in the future, be included. Under those circumstances, I would not consider further expansion without an in depth review of the program: and cut the waste, fraud, and abuse out of the program.

A free society cannot afford to fund healthcare for the able-bodied. This policy encourages dependency and is the #1 priority of power-grabbing politicians: “Control healthcare and you control the people.” – Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals.

Because Montana’s Constitution requires a balanced budget, shifting costs to local government is one way of meeting the constitutional obligation of the state legislature. As I have stipulated in my response to the question regarding my priorities if elected, I believe that mental health and drug addiction are linked and two of the several issues that affect the quality of life of Montanans. Under the circumstances of the COVID-19 impact on the state’s economy, it is the responsibility of the legislature to make adjustments to spending but not necessarily at the expense of local government. As a homeowner and employee, I also must make such adjustments though obviously on a much smaller scale. I see no reason for state government to shirk its fiscal responsibility, once again putting the onus on the taxpayer.

SB 340 [the 406 Impact District bill] would have cost Montana taxpayers many hundreds of millions of dollars over the next two decades and was rejected in committee. Such bills often favor businesses/employers within metropolitan areas forcing other enterprises to compete against these subsidized, business zone entities.

In 2019, the Legislature committed $2.7 Billion to infrastructure which will benefit all Montanans, not just the few in cities, leading toward a fate similar to that of other large metropolitan areas. Much better for the state legislature to support and create equal opportunity for all businesses with fair taxation and regulation that is reasonable and competitive with other states.