Education investment needed as cities prosper,
expert says
By MIKE DENNISON Gazette State
Bureau
HELENA - As Montana's economy booms around its urban
areas, the state is missing the chance to invest in these vehicles
of economic growth, a pair of experts told legislators and other
leaders in Helena Monday night.
"We can focus all our energy
on our biggest problems or we can focus all our energy on our
biggest opportunity," said Larry Swanson, a Missoula economist.
"This is vitality that needs to be harnessed."
Swanson,
director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University
of Montana, said major cities in the state are unable to respond to
economic growth because they can't raise money for things like
infrastructure and schools.
Local, voter-approved city sales
taxes are one way to finance these needs, but cities can't do that
without authority from the Legislature, he said.
John Cech, dean of the two-year Montana State
University-Billings College of Technology, said while there's big
demand for skilled workers in these centers of growth, the state
faces a critical labor shortage in many fields.
A big part of
the reason has been all but static funding for higher education,
particularly two-year schools, he said.
Montana is "dead
last" in the percentage of its college-age population enrolled in
two-year colleges, with only 21 percent, compared to the nationwide
average of 45 percent, he said.
Cech and Swanson spoke at a
Helena event organized by leaders in Billings, to bring these
concerns to lawmakers meeting at the 2007 Legislature.
The
Legislature will get its first look at a local-option sales tax
proposal this week, and education funding is a big part of the
budget debate before lawmakers.
Only a dozen or so
legislators showed up for Monday's event at the Great Northern Hotel
in Helena, which also was attended by some local government and
industry lobbyists and Billings officials.
Local government
officials, led by Montana's cities, have been trying for years to
get the authority to ask voters to approve a local sales tax, but
have yet to succeed.
Swanson said with a 3 percent
local-option tax, Billings and Yellowstone County could raise $12
million a year and Missoula could take in $9.6 million.
While
a local-option tax often is seen as benefiting only the city where
it's levied, Swanson said the money also will help the surrounding
areas, which is where most of Montana's growth is
happening.
It simply makes sense to invest in these areas
where growth is occurring, helping it expand outward into the areas
within 50 miles of major cities, he said.
"Instead, we're
almost disabling local governments," Swanson said. "I can't go to a
school board meeting where their backs aren't against the
wall.
"In this state, we have a human resource economy, and
we are disinvesting in human resources."
Cech said the state
and the nation are facing a "perfect storm" of labor shortages, with
millions of the baby boom generation preparing to retire and nowhere
near enough people from the next generation to take their
place.
All states are facing the same problem, so "there's no
place to look but from within," when it comes to solving the
problem, he said.
Montana has been lagging behind on its
funding for public schools and higher education and in encouraging
those missing out on education to get training that can mean
better-paying jobs, Cech said.
Published on Tuesday, January 30, 2007. Last
modified on 1/30/2007 at 12:12 am
Post your
comments, opinion or feedback about this story.
Billingsgazette.com encourages readers to
engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments
that are submitted go into a queue to be moderated and may
take several hours to be reviewed. By submitting a comment,
you are agreeing to the terms & conditions set out in our
comment policy.
If you would like to
report an inappropriate comment, click here.
The comments below are from readers of
billingsgazette.com and in no way represent the views of The
Billings Gazette or Lee Enterprises.
Education is.... wrote on January 30, 2007 8:05 AM ...an expense or investment? When they
want more money from us, the taxpayer...its an "investment." When
they talk about the easy to get student loans...its a "burdensome
expense" that should be forgiven. Even if that student is on the
infamous "Seven Year Missoula Plan." Well, which is it? Investment
or a burdensome expense??
Contact
Us | Subscribe
Comment Display Options
