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Author: JP Pomnichowski
Campaigns take a lot of time and effort–and money–from a lot of different people in order to be successful, and I’m so grateful for all your help.
A friend contacted me last night that one of my links for online contributions didn’t work.
Bad geek am I!
It’s fixed now. You can contribute online, here: https://secure.actblue.com/page/jpforsenate
The saying “Many hands make light work” is true, and it’s manifested in a campaign like mine. I really appreciate your help of time and effort, like door-knocking and talking to voters with me, addressing envelopes, helping with fundraising events, or contributing some dollars to my campaign.
Thank you, one and all!
I’m proud to be endorsed in my campaign for Montana Senate, District 33, by the Montana Sportsmen Alliance! The group was formed two years ago and was quite active in the 2013 Legislative Session. I served on the House Fish, Wildlife, and Parks committee, and was proud to vote for greater hunting and fishing access, common-sense policies for hunting, and greater opportunity for youth hunters.
Thank you, Montana Sportsmen Alliance, for your endorsement, and for your active involvement in the legislation that shapes Montana’s outdoor experiences, for everyone.
For more information on MSA, their website is here: http://www.montanasportsmenalliance.com/
Montana Sportsmen Alliance mission statement: The Montana Sportsmen Alliance (MSA) is comprised of Montana hunting, angling, and conservation minded individuals who are committed to insuring the effective representation of rank and file sportsmen in public policy matters. We work to continue the core values of public ownership of public wildlife, and public access to public resources. We work with public officials and agency personnel to promote sound stewardship of natural resources and to preserve Montanas hunting and fishing heritage.
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| JP at the Montana State Capitol |
It’s official! Moments ago, I filed my candidacy to represent Senate District 33 in Bozeman in the Montana State Senate!
REP. POMNICHOWSKI FILES FOR MONTANA SENATE
BOZEMAN, January 9, 2014 Three-term Rep. JP Pomnichowski of Bozeman today filed as a candidate for a seat in the upper chamber of the state legislature in Senate District 33.
Pomnichowski, 46, decided to run for the state senate when the reapportionment required after every federal census essentially dismantled her present house district, reassigning its present area into three other house districts.
This is a vibrant senate district that includes the citys newer neighborhoods, its newest schools and the lions share of the major transportation corridors, plus the historic northeast section, major commercial areas, downtown Bozeman, the high school and the fairgrounds, Pomnichowski explained. With my experience in the legislature and service on its several committees, I am confident I can represent this district well. I have worked hard from the Democratic side of the aisle to forge bipartisan progress in Helena.
Senate Dist. 33 is bounded approximately on the north and east by Rouse Avenue and Interstate 90 and on the south by Story and Babcock Streets. It extends nearly to Gooch Hill Road on the west.
Today I filed with the Secretary of State as a candidate for the Montana State Senate, said Pomnichowski, a fifth-generation Montanan who has lived in Bozeman since 1985. Born and raised in Great Falls, she graduated from C.M. Russell High School there and from Montana State University in 1991.
In her previous sessions, Pomnichowski has served as Vice Chair of the House Natural Resources and House Taxation committees. She has actively supported job-creation laws and sponsored legislation for Montana sportsmen and women and small businesses. She has voted for economic development, for two tuition freezes for Montana university students, and after the 2009 natural gas explosion and fire in downtown Bozeman, passed a law to protect the property values of the entire Bozeman Downtown district. She has supported legislation for veterans and seniors.
In previous campaigns, Pomnichowski has been endorsed by Montana Conservation Voters, Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers (MEA-MFT), the AFL-CIO, and Montana Game Wardens Association.
Pomnichowski served as chair of the Bozeman Planning Board for several years, has worked to guarantee a safe city water supply and has actively promoted educational and research construction and improvements at Montana State University. She voted for appropriations to help build the new Bozeman Public Library. She and her husband live in southwest Bozeman near the Museum of the Rockies, which they have supported for many years.
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| photo courtesy Mike Greener, Bozeman Daily Chronicle |
The thing I like best about being a legislator is working on policy. I know that sounds dry, but it isn’t; it’s helping constituents get answers and help from state agencies, and it’s trying to improve all variety of things, like working conditions and road safety and water quality, all the things that matter in our lives.
This past week is a good example of my typical policy work, although this week was busier than most (at least, out of campaign season!)
Monday, Sept 23, 2013
I get a broad range of questions and requests from constituents, and this week began with two requests for help: one with child support payments and another about wine shipments in-state. I emailed and called our state agencies in Helena, and had answers within the day for my voters.
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| End Childhood Hunger summit, Bozeman |
Then, I want to the first of a two-day End Childhood Hunger summit at MSU. Governor Bullock and many other illustrious speakers presented information on how communities, a variety of charitable organizations, and all of us can help to combat food insecurity for our neighbors. Monday night was a screening of A Place at the Table, a film by Lori Silverbush. She and her husband, acclaimed chef Tom Colicchio, held a Q&A after the film.
Tuesday, Sept 24, 2013
I was proud to serve on the board of the Greater Gallatin Watershed Council for several years, and happily help that group however I can. Today, that included design work for the GGWC Annual Fall Tour and also a community meeting on a local creek that is impaired by pollutants, and forming a plan to stop the degradation of the creek and improve water quality.
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| US Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz |
The day also included a gathering to hear U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida 23), who talked eloquently about the threatened government shutdown and other policy action in Washington, D.C.
Wednesay, Sept 25, 2013
The day began with a two-hour meeting with a grad student at my alma mater, Montana State University, on tax increment financing (TIF) districts. TIF is a mechanism used for economic development. A TIF district is typically one that needs an influx of money for infrastructure improvements or other features to spur business growth. The boundaries of the district are drawn, the current tax value is determined (which becomes the base tax value) and for 15-30 years, the increase over the base tax value is returned
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| vibrant downtown Bozeman |
directly to the district. In Bozeman, our historic downtown has been improved by its TIF district, with new water/sewer infrastructure, street lamps, cross walks, traffic signals, and amenities which keep and draw businesses to a vibrant downtown.
Next, a meeting with watershed people, then constituent work and evening meetings about the upcoming city commission election and school bond issues on the ballot in November.
Thursday, Sept 26, 2013
This morning, I worked on a constituent request from a pediatrician in Bozeman who’d like to organize her fellow physicians statewide to target legislation next session.
Then, an evening meeting with State Auditor (Montana State Insurance Commissioner) Monica Lindeen, on how the Affordable Care Act will be implemented. Lindeen is touring the state with informative townhall meetings to describe how the insurance marketplace will work, how people can use tax credits and deductions to buy health insurance, and the role the
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| photo courtesy Montana Standard |
Montana Auditor’s office plays in helping people with insurance claims, coverage, and companies. The meeting was very well received by everyone there…and it was a packed room.
Friday, Sept 27, 2013
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| Governor’s Task Force on Equal Pay for Equal Work |
I attended the Governor’s Task Force on Equal Pay for Equal Work, hosted at MSU. The task force will study the inequality on women’s pay ($.67 to every $1.00 a man earns) in Montana. With Montanans working hard for lower wages than comparable work in other states, it’s important that a dollar carries the same value for every worker.
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| Governor Bullock at the WWAMI White Coat Ceremony |
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| Montana students entering the WWAMI program…Montana’s future doctors! |
Next, the White Coat Ceremony for this year’s medical students from MSU! Montana students aspiring to be physicians participate in the WWAMI program (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) to go to medical school in WA, since only one of those states, Washington, has a medical school. For 42 years, Montana had 20 students a year enter the program. This last legislative session, I was proud to vote with many other legislators to ADD TEN SEATS! Here’s the first class of THIRTY MONTANA MEDICAL STUDENTS at their White Coat Ceremony yesterday, a wonderful day for them, for me, and for the state! Congratulations, doctors!
Saturday, Sept 28, 2013
Today’s article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on Governor Bullock’s task force meeting on Equal Pay for Equal Work, by Gail Schontzler:
American women workers earn only 77 cents for every $1 men earn and that is simply unacceptable, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday in Bozeman at the kickoff for his Equal Pay for Equal Work task force.
When President John Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, U.S. women earned 59 cents for every $1 men earn, and in 50 years that has improved only 18 cents, the governor said.
In Montana, he said, It’s even worse.
Montana women earn just 67 cents for every $1 Montana men earn, which means the state is one of the 11 worst for pay gaps.
Bullock created the 12-member task force to investigate and recommend actions that state government can take. He spoke at its first meeting, held at Montana State University’s stadium.
All our workers deserve a fair wage for a hard day’s work, Bullock said. As the father of two daughters, he added, he wants to be sure they don’t grow up to face doubts that their work is valued and respected the same as men’s.
Pam Bucy, state commissioner of Labor and Industry, will co-chair the task force with Sheila Hogan, director of the state Department of Administration.
Two things they plan to do are to conduct an audit of the state’s 13,000 employees to see if there’s a pay gap in state jobs. Hogan said they’ll also look into state contracts, which may offer ways to influence the pay gap.
For example, Hogan said, the standard language in state contracts says the contractor will follow federal law. One possibility would be to spell out the federal law on equal pay, to bring it to contractors’ attention.
MSU President Waded Cruzado, a task force member, said she believes one reason for the pay gap is ignorance, and once people become aware they’ll say, Let’s fix it. Cruzado said later she doesn’t know yet whether there’s a pay gap among the university’s 3,000 employees.
Billings Mayor Tom Hanel said one reason for the pay gap is that for years people looked at women as belonging in the home, cooking and raising families. That’s changed, he said, but pay hasn’t caught up. Barry Good, dean of Missoula College, agreed it’s a cultural issue that goes back hundreds of years.
Barbara Wagner, chief economist for the state Department of Labor and Industry, said the pay gap can be found in every occupation, every industry, every education level, every age group and every state. It has improved over time, but the rate of improvement has slowed, she said.
One major reason for the gap, she said, is that women choose occupations and industries, like teaching, that pay less than male occupations, like piloting aircraft. Women take time out to have children, and when they do, they earn less. When men become fathers, on the other hand, they earn more.
Occupation, industry, experience and union status explain roughly half the pay gap, Wagner said, leaving about 41 percent unexplained which could be discrimination.
State Rep. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman, told the task force, There’s a strange dichotomy in Montana between chivalry and chauvinism.
If I work hard and you work hard, my dollar should equal your dollar. It shouldn’t be two-thirds.
Task force members include representatives of the Montana Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, Native Americans and small business.
American women workers earn only 77 cents for every $1 men earn and that is simply unacceptable, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday in Bozeman at the kickoff for his Equal Pay for Equal Work task force. When President John Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, U.S. women earned 59 cents for every $1 men earn, and in 50 years that has improved only 18 cents, the governor said.
Read more at: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/economy/article_5b4cf602-27cb-11e3-96d8-0019bb2963f4.html
kickoff for his Equal Pay for Equal Work task force. When President John Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, U.S. women earned 59 cents for every $1 men earn, and in 50 years that has improved only 18 cents, the governor said. In Montana, he said, It’s even worse. Montana women earn just 67 cents for every $1 Montana men earn, which means the state is one of the 11 worst for pay gaps. Bullock created the 12-member task force to investigate and recommend actions that state government can take. He spoke at its first meeting, held at Montana State University’s stadium. All our workers deserve a fair wage for a hard day’s work, Bullock said. As the father of two daughters, he added, he wants to be sure they don’t grow up to face doubts that their work is valued and respected the same as men’s. Pam Bucy, state commissioner of Labor and Industry, will co-chair the task force with Sheila Hogan, director of the state Department of Administration. Two things they plan to do are to conduct an audit of the state’s 13,000 employees to see if there’s a pay gap in state jobs. Hogan said they’ll also look into state contracts, which may offer ways to influence the pay gap. For example, Hogan said, the standard language in state contracts says the contractor will follow federal law. One possibility would be to spell out the federal law on equal pay, to bring it to contractors’ attention. MSU President Waded Cruzado, a task force member, said she believes one reason for the pay gap is ignorance, and once people become aware they’ll say, Let’s fix it. Cruzado said later she doesn’t know yet whether there’s a pay gap among the university’s 3,000 employees. Billings Mayor Tom Hanel said one reason for the pay gap is that for years people looked at women as belonging in the home, cooking and raising families. That’s changed, he said, but pay hasn’t caught up. Barry Good, dean of Missoula College, agreed it’s a cultural issue that goes back hundreds of years. Barbara Wagner, chief economist for the state Department of Labor and Industry, said the pay gap can be found in every occupation, every industry, every education level, every age group and every state. It has improved over time, but the rate of improvement has slowed, she said. One major reason for the gap, she said, is that women choose occupations and industries, like teaching, that pay less than male occupations, like piloting aircraft. Women take time out to have children, and when they do, they earn less. When men become fathers, on the other hand, they earn more. Occupation, industry, experience and union status explain roughly half the pay gap, Wagner said, leaving about 41 percent unexplained which could be discrimination. State Rep. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman, told the task force, There’s a strange dichotomy in Montana between chivalry and chauvinism. If I work hard and you work hard, my dollar should equal your dollar. It shouldn’t be two-thirds. Task force members include representatives of the Montana Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, Native Americans and small business.
Read more at: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/economy/article_5b4cf602-27cb-11e3-96d8-0019bb2963f4.html
kickoff for his Equal Pay for Equal Work task force. When President John Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, U.S. women earned 59 cents for every $1 men earn, and in 50 years that has improved only 18 cents, the governor said. In Montana, he said, It’s even worse. Montana women earn just 67 cents for every $1 Montana men earn, which means the state is one of the 11 worst for pay gaps. Bullock created the 12-member task force to investigate and recommend actions that state government can take. He spoke at its first meeting, held at Montana State University’s stadium. All our workers deserve a fair wage for a hard day’s work, Bullock said. As the father of two daughters, he added, he wants to be sure they don’t grow up to face doubts that their work is valued and respected the same as men’s. Pam Bucy, state commissioner of Labor and Industry, will co-chair the task force with Sheila Hogan, director of the state Department of Administration. Two things they plan to do are to conduct an audit of the state’s 13,000 employees to see if there’s a pay gap in state jobs. Hogan said they’ll also look into state contracts, which may offer ways to influence the pay gap. For example, Hogan said, the standard language in state contracts says the contractor will follow federal law. One possibility would be to spell out the federal law on equal pay, to bring it to contractors’ attention. MSU President Waded Cruzado, a task force member, said she believes one reason for the pay gap is ignorance, and once people become aware they’ll say, Let’s fix it. Cruzado said later she doesn’t know yet whether there’s a pay gap among the university’s 3,000 employees. Billings Mayor Tom Hanel said one reason for the pay gap is that for years people looked at women as belonging in the home, cooking and raising families. That’s changed, he said, but pay hasn’t caught up. Barry Good, dean of Missoula College, agreed it’s a cultural issue that goes back hundreds of years. Barbara Wagner, chief economist for the state Department of Labor and Industry, said the pay gap can be found in every occupation, every industry, every education level, every age group and every state. It has improved over time, but the rate of improvement has slowed, she said. One major reason for the gap, she said, is that women choose occupations and industries, like teaching, that pay less than male occupations, like piloting aircraft. Women take time out to have children, and when they do, they earn less. When men become fathers, on the other hand, they earn more. Occupation, industry, experience and union status explain roughly half the pay gap, Wagner said, leaving about 41 percent unexplained which could be discrimination. State Rep. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman, told the task force, There’s a strange dichotomy in Montana between chivalry and chauvinism. If I work hard and you work hard, my dollar should equal your dollar. It shouldn’t be two-thirds. Task force members include representatives of the Montana Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, Native Americans and small business.
Read more at: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/economy/article_5b4cf602-27cb-11e3-96d8-0019bb2963f4.html
REP. POMNICHOWSKI ANNOUNCES
RUN FOR MONTANA SENATE
BOZEMAN, August 1, 2013 Three-term Rep. JP Pomnichowski of Bozeman Thursday announced her intention to run for election to the upper chamber of the state legislature in Senate Dist. 33.
Pomnichowski, 46, decided to run for the state senate when the reapportionment required after every federal census essentially dismantled her present house district, reassigning its present area into three other house districts.
This is a vibrant senate district that includes the citys newer neighborhoods, its newest schools and the lions share of the major transportation corridors, plus the historic northeast section, major commercial areas, downtown Bozeman, the high school and the fairgrounds, Pomnichowski explained. With my experience in the legislature and service on its several committees, I am confident I can represent this district well. I have worked hard from the Democratic side of the aisle to forge bipartisan progress in Helena.
Senate Dist. 33 is bounded approximately on the north and east by Rouse Avenue and Interstate 90 and on the south by Story and Babcock Streets. It extends nearly to Gooch Hill Road on the west.
Even though formal filing for office doesnt open until January, today I filed with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices my statement of candidacy allowing me to start organizing a campaign, said Pomnichowski, a fifth-generation Montanan who has lived in Bozeman since 1985. Born and raised in Great Falls, she graduated from C.M. Russell High School there and from Montana State University in 1991.
In her previous sessions, Pomnichowski has served as Vice Chair of the House Natural Resources and House Taxation committees. She has actively supported job-creation laws and sponsored legislation for Montana sportsmen and women and small businesses. She has voted for economic development, for two tuition freezes for Montana university students, and after the 2009 natural gas explosion and fire in downtown Bozeman, passed a law to protect the property values of the entire Bozeman Downtown district. She has supported legislation for veterans and seniors.
In previous campaigns, Pomnichowski has been endorsed by Montana Conservation Voters, Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers (MEA-MFT), the AFL-CIO, and Montana Game Wardens Association.
Pomnichowski served as chair of the Bozeman planning board for several years, has worked to guarantee a safe city water supply and has actively promoted educational and research construction and improvements at Montana State University. She voted for appropriations to help build the new Bozeman Public Library. She and her husband live in southwest Bozeman near the Museum of the Rockies, which they have supported for many years.
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Today in the Montana Legislature is a re-enactment of a 1913 legislative session and the rededication of the Charlie Russell painting that graces the House chamber! We’re all in period dress. Here I am with some fellow representatives: from left, Tom Woods, Lea Whitford, me, Clarena Brockie, and Jean Price!
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Mike Greener/Chronicle Gallatin County State Representatives Kathleen Williams, JP Pomnichowski and Franke Wilmer discuss what has been happening in the state legislature during a public forum on issues important to women at the Bozeman Public Library Friday afternoon. |
Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Saturday, March 2, 2013–Some of Bozemans legislators think a balanced budget is possible, but not if they cant hold off irresponsible tax cuts and refunds.
On Friday, the Gallatin Valleys female Democratic legislators expressed frustration as they summarized the first half of the legislative session and outlined their hopes for the outcomes of the second half.
Speaking to around 40 residents in the Bozeman Library community room, Reps. Kathleen Williams, JP Pomnichowski and Franke Wilmer said they had worked hard in their committees to keep bad bills from moving forward, along with trying to get a few of their own bills passed.
About three weeks into the session, I was starting to feel a little like the goalie with 10 kickers in front of me, Williams said. You feel like youre racing to figure out which issues you should jump for in your committees and on the floor.
Together, the three are members of some of the more contentious committees, including Taxation, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Theyve all served previously and said theyre discouraged by some of the poorly written and shortsighted bills, such as those dealing with voting rights, school choice and sex education.
Theres a lot of propaganda, Wilmer said. On the record, witnesses claimed that Planned Parenthoods agenda was to fuel the abortion industry.
Williams has been around the Legislature long enough to have seen the effect of term limits, and she credited some of the dysfunction to the fact that at least one-third of the legislators are rookies.
Theres been a change in the functioning of the Legislature: the ability of people to get up to speed and find out who theyre willing to trust, Williams said. I try to make sure theres accurate information, which is incredibly challenging.
Williams managed one squeaker victory when the House passed her bill with a 50-48 vote. HB 534 will allow corporations to get credit for using some resources to further social causes, such as environmental protection, rather than simply maximizing profits.
But when it comes to state resources, the Taxation committee has allowed several tax cuts to pass through that the appropriations committee now has to reconcile with the state budget, Williams said.
Another budget issue is using part of the states surplus to give taxpayers a refund, but some suggestions have Pomnichowski worried.
She supported a bill giving property owners a one-time $400 refund, but it stalled. The bill that Republicans passed would pay out $104 million the first biennium, and the refund would continue to increase in following years.
Thats unsustainable thats proposing to spend a bonus that you dont know you have, Pomnichowski said. But those of us that think thats irresponsible are out-numbered.
There wasnt much to be proud of coming out of the Natural Resources or Agriculture committees, Williams said. But the one shining moment came when they killed a bill that would have opposed Sen. Jon Testers Forest Jobs and Recreation bill.
That was a real fight. It was very close and there was a lot of strategy, Williams said. There would have been an incredibly divisive debate on the House floor, and it was better for all involved that we didnt have to do that.
Wilmer said the political balance between the Legislature and the executive branch means GOP chairmen put off some big money issues such as public employee pensions, education funding and Medicaid expansion that would make an additional 70,000 Montanans eligible for Medicaid until other issues are decided.
Theyre held hostage to negotiation and compromise, Wilmer. Theres no way that either party will get 100 percent of what they want. When they both face that whos not going to get what thats whats in play.
Some of the funniest coincidences in the legislature are the simplest things, like matching outfits with other representatives without even trying. Some examples:
Every day, the Standing Committees of the Montana Legislature meet for hours to hold hearings on bills. The variety is amazing: bills that propose an alternative to the death penalty with life in prison without parole, tax credits for alternative energy systems and energy conservation measures, creating a Parks Board separate from the Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission, and the list goes on.
Some ideas are very worthy: expanding the program for school lunches to more kids, increasing funds for public transportation (sometimes the only method of transportation for the disabled or the elderly, who might not have drivers licenses or vehicles, and for students and Montana families for whom the regularity and reliability of public transportation is the surest way of reaching school and work), funding our state computer systems to secure all of the data in state computers (one of my favorites; see my earlier post!), and offering responsible property tax relief to Montanans without jeopardizing the budget in future years.
But some ideas make it out of committee that shouldn’t, and that can be pretty painful. Take, for example, House Bill 392, allowing the excavation and sale of paleontological remains (fossils) from Makoshika State Park to benefit the park.
Our state parks (and national parks) are formed to preserve and protect the natural environment for the enjoyment of all of us, and policies to date have secured everything in the parks from anyone’s excavation or disturbance or vandalism to those treasures. You can’t pick a flower in a national park, for heaven’s sake. Nearly everyone has heard the saying, “Take only pictures, leave only footprints” in relation to our state and national parks? Can you imagine Pictograph Caves if someone were allowed to excise the pictographs from the rocks, or Lewis and Clark Caverns if someone were allowed to take the stalagmites and stalactites?
The bill that proposes removal of fossils from Makoshika does say that “antiquities permits may be granted for the excavation and removal of paleontological remains at Makoshika state park for the purpose of selling the paleontological remains and using the revenue from the sale to benefit Makoshika state park” and that “The department may adopt rules establishing conditions for the use of antiquities permits granted”, but who’s to say that someone could excavate something quite precious and then report they’d found nothing? The dangers of privatizing our public resources are rife in this bill, but it passed the committee and is headed to the full House for a vote.