By Rep. Ray Shaw, Sheridan
For the last six years, I have served in the Montana House of Representatives with Nancy Ballance and Theresa Manzella. If there is one thing you should know: Ballance exercises good judgment and Manzella exercises bad judgment.
We are currently living though the worst pandemic in nearly 100 years. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc on our state. Our schools are closed and people are losing their jobs. Ensuring that people have access to good health care has never been more important.
In the 2019 session, Ballance stood on the side of Montanans and supported House Bill 658, the Medicaid expansion bill. House Bill 658 provides health insurance to 80,000 Montanans and ensures our rural hospitals remain open.
However, if Manzella had her way, thousands of Montanans would be without health insurance in this time of crisis. The largest group of people utilizing Medicaid expansion are the working poor, the people stocking our groceries and cooking our food. Unlike Manzella, I don’t think it is a good idea to have the people handling my food going without health insurance.
Moreover, Manzella would dramatically increase the cost of your private health insurance. According to testimony from representatives of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, if Medicaid expansion is terminated there will be a $450 million cost shift to private health insurers. That is roughly a $6,000 per member tax on your health insurance to cover the cost of uncompensated care.
Manzella isn’t just bad for your health and bad for your pocketbook, she is wrong on a whole host of other issues. Manzella voted against a bill to prohibit sanctuary cities, with radical environmentalists and liberal Democrats to kill Colstrip, and against the interests of Montana businesses.
We need real leaders in the Montana Legislature. Nancy Ballance doesn’t just exercise good judgment, she is a key leader and an important voice in the Legislature. On the other hand, Theresa Manzella is not respected and is not regarded as anything other than a fringe voice who is best ignored.
Ballance is the best choice for Ravalli County. I would encourage you to support her when you cast your ballot.