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MPEA Members Endorse Candidates for Statewide Office at Annual Meeting

                MPEA members attending the June 6-7 annual Meeting have endorsed the candidacies of Steve Bullock for Attorney General, Denise Juneau for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Linda McCulloch for Secretary of State, and Monica Lindeen for State Auditor. Governor Brian Schweitzer had already been endorsed in his re-election effort.

               Bullock, a Montana native reared in Helena, has been a private practice attorney in Helena for the past few years. He’s not new to either labor law or state government, however. Bullock was the Acting Chief Deputy Attorney General under Joe Mazurek and has also worked in the secretary of state’s office.

               During his four years with Mazurek, Bullock was involved with all of the department’s divisions, handled both criminal and civil cases and spent a fair amount of time in the legislative halls.

               Bullock is also familiar with labor law as representing unions and workers has been a significant part of his private law practice. In short, Bullock knows what a union is, what unions do and how they accomplish their goals for those they represent.

               Bullock and his wife, Lisa, have three children.

               Denise Juneau received member endorsement Saturday afternoon. She told members she believed education “undergirded all things here and everywhere.”

               “It takes all of us to make schools work---health care workers, teachers and technicians, social service workers---all of us,” Juneau said.

               She then provided members with a bit on her family and work background. “My grandpa was a truant officer and school bus driver in Browning. Getting gets into and to school is what he did; and, my grandma was a school cook and was up at four each morning to begin preparing meals for school kids.”

               Both her parents worked with students, her mom as an advisor and her dad as a school counselor and superintendent.

               After graduating from high school in Browning, Juneau attended MSU and studied English. While there she received a Rockefeller Scholarship to attend Harvard where she earned a master’s degree. Later she would attend the U of M law school and after graduation she clerked at the Montana Supreme Court where she was deeply involved in writing some of the briefs relating to school funding litigation.

               Juneau told members she believed and supported collective bargaining and would support the 130 workers at OPI. She concluded her remarks to members by saying that “at the end of the day, it’s all about quality education for kids.”

               Linda McCulloch has spent the last eight years of her life as Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. It’s a position which term limits prevents her from seeking again. So, she is running for Secretary of State. McCulloch was reared in a union family, maintained a 100 percent union voting record as a legislator, has had a great relation with her  OPI staff, which is represented by MPEA, and when pay plan legislation has been before committees during a legislative session has always appeared to testify in support of negotiated agreements.

               McCulloch believes that the secretary of state’s principal responsibility is to protect voters with fair and honest elections. She believes that office should have done more about CI97, the old taxpayers bill of rights initiative from 2006, noting that it was unions that took the issue to court and had it tossed by the supreme court.

               McCulloch was also critical of the incumbent secretary of state for the number of accounting errors noted by the state’s legislative auditor. The secretary of state’s office manages one federal grant program, McCulloch presently handles over 70.

               McCulloch outlined for MPEA members a program to bring young people into the polling place to help their grandparents and great grandparents who constitute the majority of those volunteers manning polling stations today.

               The secretary of state candidate discussed the records management responsibilities of the position then reminded members that she was trained and worked as a librarian for many years before getting into politics. She also noted that one of the primary responsibilities of the position is to serve on the state land board, which makes decisions on millions of acres of state land which is to be used to generate money for state schools. As superintendent, McCulloch already has eight years of experience on the board and she noted that her opponent has missed a great many of the land board meetings.

               MPEA members also endorsed the candidacy of Monica Lindeen for State Auditor. Lindeen brings to her candidacy the unique qualities of a successful business woman and a four-term legislator. Lindeen and a friend started one of Montana’s first internet services which was the largest in the state when it was sold in 1999.

               Lindeen explained the role of the State Auditor as the state’s insurance commissioner and as a member of the state land board and believes Montanans will be best served by selecting the candidate who will serve as the best advocate for Montana consumers. As a legislator, Lindeen will be remembered for her development of the Economic Development Trust Fund, her work to improve and fund the state’s children’s health programs her efforts to improve health care access and as a member of the Democratic Party leadership.

               Lindeen said she sees her role, in short, as one of protecting Montana consumers, continuing health care efforts and actively engaged in also protecting school resources as a member of the state land board. Lindeen explained that the state land board manages 5.2 million acres and in 2006 generated $65 million in revenue for schools.

               Lindeen is married, has one daughter at the University of Montana studying physical therapy, two sons and five grandchildren.           

VEBA: Health Reimbursement Accounts 

Want to learn about how health reimbursement accounts in Montana work? Click here for the Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Associate (VEBA) Web site. This may be the answer to some of your concerns about the cost of health care and its relation to your retirement.