HELENA, Mont., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Improving the climate for Montana's modest high-tech sector is an important step in bringing better-paying jobs to the vast Big Sky Country and preventing existing jobs from moving to low-wage overseas locations, Gov. Judy Martz suggested Wednesday in releasing her economic strategy for the state.
Dubbed the "Roadmap for a New Economy," Martz's strategy stressed better education and training for Montana's work force and tax reductions aimed at luring businesses to the sparsely populated state that has for year been trying to boost the pay scale for its growing population.
"Growth by itself has not been the problem," the 20-page report said. "In the past 20 years, Montana gross state product has increased more than 300 percent, but at the same time, our per-capita income has declined from a rank of 33 to 47 among the other states."
The report said jobs created in Montana have been largely on the lower end of the wage scale because they primarily require low-skilled workers. The result has been a vicious circle that leaves Montana unable to build up the pool of high-skill workers needed to help lure tech firms and their jobs to the state.
"It is the type of growth that has fueled our decline," the report concluded. "Montana continues to grow fastest in jobs requiring lower worker skill levels that have correspondingly lower wages."
The report, unveiled by Martz, urged a greater emphasis on training through 2-year college programs and distance learning to upgrade the technical skills of Montana residents. At present, 25.6 percent of Montana's work force has a 4-year college degree and 5 percent have 2-year associates degrees.
Martz also called for tax reform that would include an across-the-board income tax cut and a sharp reduction in capital gains taxes that the report considered a "formidable barrier to growth."
"We cannot take our economy for granted," Martz noted. "A vibrant economy, made up of strong businesses, lends itself to healthy communities and a high quality of life."
In another development, Martz announced in her State of the State speech Tuesday night that she was in favor of moving ahead with the delicate task of removing a dam upstream from Missoula where tons of potentially toxic mining waste has collected over the decades.
The Milltown Dam was built in 1906 and has become a federal Superfund site due to the estimated 2,100 tons of poisonous arsenic, a heavy metal, that have built up behind it. Periods of high water often cause contaminates to escape from the dam and flow downstream. At the same time, the dam is a barrier to fish migration.
Tearing down the obsolete dam, however, is complicated by the potential of large amounts of waste flowing downstream into Missoula.
"This is a difficult decision because of the magnitude of the issues surrounding removal of the dam," Martz pointed out. "However, the safety and health of our families and the environment simply must come first. Removal of the dam, and the subsequent cleanup of the water and sediment in the area is simply the right thing to do."
(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles)
