State Legislature 2024: HD46-Emma Kerr-Carpenter (D)

What are your three most important policy priorities? What do you hope the impact of implementing these policies will be?

My top three priorities are to invest in our economy, help Montana families thrive, and make our city safer. I want Billings to have a robust economy with a healthy mix of good paying industrial jobs, a thriving small business ecosystem, and fair taxes that are being invested back into our city and state services. I want to make sure that Billings is the type of place where my son wants to stay and raise a family. In order to get there, we need to support families and grow our workforce by creating more affordable housing and improving the quality of our schools and childcare. Finally, a robust economy and welcoming community are dependent on making our city safer. There needs to be investments in all parts of our criminal justice system from cops on the street, to more jail and prison capacity for the most serious offenders, to robust post-release support programs that keep people out of jail and prison and gainfully employed.

In a recent survey of our members, an overwhelming portion of respondents (96%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “Reducing the cost of doing business in Montana generally benefits all Montanans.” What do you hope the Legislature will do to reduce the cost of doing business in Montana?

Two main areas that I hope the legislature will address to support business in Montana are workforce retention and upskilling. Parenting is one of many things that takes workers out of the labor force, and it is clearly addressable by allocating more resources into the childcare industry. I would like to see more resources to help make the childcare businesses profitable. Expanding the amount of quality childcare we have in this state will help bolster our labor force, reduce turnover and hiring and onboarding costs, and allow businesses in Billings and across Montana to enjoy greater continuity of staff who can provide great products and services. I would also like to see the legislature continue to strengthen workforce training in schools. Having skilled workers who enter the workforce reduces the training burden for businesses.

In our recent survey, public safety was identified as the number one policy issue for our members. During the 2023 Session, important bills to update the antiquated Youth Court Act and revise theft laws both narrowly failed. We expect those and other safety bills to come up during the 2025 Session. What legislative changes would you suggest to address safety issues in Billings and around the state?

Public safety is one of the primary issues I hear about in my district. In my work over the past four years on the budget subcommittee that deals with public safety across the state, I’ve worked with my colleagues to address all levels of the public safety system. We’ve increased the number of judges and public defenders in Billings to address some of the standstills created by the pandemic. Last session we pumped millions of dollars into expanding the state prison in Deer Lodge and increasing space across the state in our pre-release system, including a new pre-release center in Kalispell. This will hopefully help alleviate our local issues with prison capacity and ensure that parolees can stay closer to their home communities. I would definitely not say that the work is done though, there is much work to do across the state. We have got to improve our mental health care system and expand substance use services that divert people out of the justice system. To this end I am excited to work on ensuring we have a strong Medicaid system.

Last session, the Montana Legislature passed numerous bipartisan housing bills, reforming onerous regulations that restrict housing supply and appropriating an historic amount of funding for housing. Considering how much was accomplished, it was dubbed the “Montana Miracle.” However, the work is not done, and more recommendations are coming forward from the Governor’s Housing Task Force. Which recommendations to add housing supply and make housing more affordable will you consider supporting?

I am the first to admit that housing policy is not an area that I know a whole lot about. I tend to evaluate any bills about housing based on a few things: I will support any recommendations that will strengthen or do not conflict with Billings’ existing Zoning process. I will support any measure that will make resources available to prospective homeowners. In the governor’s Housing Taskforce, I saw many good policy changes for mobile homes and manufactured housing, which are an important supply of affordable housing in our state. However, I did not see anything in those proposals that would protect existing homeowners from bad faith investors who increase rents and provide sub-par services.

Over the last two sessions, the Montana Legislature took significant steps to reduce the business equipment tax, relieving 502 Yellowstone County businesses from the burden of paying this tax. Would you be supportive of further reductions, allowing even more businesses to keep more of their hard-earned dollars?

I see tax credits as a valuable tool that legislators can use to encourage industry growth or attract new industry to Montana. I am especially in favor of the business equipment tax credit going to our smaller to mid-sized businesses based in Montana with most of their workforce being Montana employees.

Reauthorizing Medicaid Expansion will be a major topic of debate in the upcoming session. Originally passed in 2015, the program provides significant benefits to Yellowstone County, creating over 1,500 jobs and providing healthcare coverage to approximately 10% of our local workforce. Are you supportive of reauthorization? With changes? Not at all?

I support lifting the sunset on Medicaid Expansion with no changes.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is consistently a topic at the Legislature, with supporters arguing it is one of the only economic development tools available to local communities in Montana, while some opponents contend it should be eliminated. The Billings Chamber has long been a strong supporter but acknowledges there could be room for improvement. What are your thoughts on TIF?

Tax Increment Financing is one of the most powerful tools available to Montana municipalities for supporting economic development. I’ve heard many critiques about TIFs: it is too easy to extend their lifetime, they take properties out of the general tax base and thus shift the tax burden to the rest of the community, they don’t contribute enough to local schools. These are valid critiques that I would be interested in addressing. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard a full-throated policy discussion at the legislature that actually addressed these issues in good faith. Instead, I’ve seen a lot of discussions about removing local municipalities control over the TIF process or generally making TIFs harder to form or maintain. At the end of the day, any changes to TIFs that hamper local decision making about where and how investments are made are nonstarters for me.

Considering the concern over recent property tax increases, the Governor established a Property Tax Task Force to offer recommendations for dealing with increasing property taxes. Which of the 12 recommendations, or other solutions, would you support to address property tax concerns?

I would support a three-pronged approach to addressing property taxes. First, I support instituting a True Homestead Exemption which would reduce the taxable value of primary residences and small businesses. Second, I support ensuring that our property tax rates are fair, especially for modest or middle property values. This would involve tweaking our current property tax formula. Thirdly, I am supportive of tax credits that would prevent property taxes from rising above an affordable percentage of income for seniors, renters, and workers with modest and middle incomes.