Michele Reinhart

 Education
Investing in children is critically important. Michele supports funding a quality education and putting more money into classrooms. She supports better pay for teachers. She supports affordable college tuition and knows the burden of student loans. Two-year college degrees may be a key to the future, and more work to restore lost funding to K-12 are her priorities.

Health Care
Michele supports quality, affordable health coverage for all Montanans. She serves on the key interim legislative committee examining health care coverage and will continue advocating for increased coverage, especially for children. She served on the Health and Human Services Committee during 2007 session and fought hard for mental health services, as well as better access to healthcare services for the disabled, the poor, and children in need of affordable healthcare.

Economic Justice
Michele advocates economic justice and living wages with benefits. In Missoula we all know wages are not keeping up with the rising costs of living. She advocates for a fiscally responsible State budget that puts people first, including the lowest and the least, mom and pop small business owners, and local Montanans. She defended the minimum wage at the 2007 Session. She supports sustainable economic development, good paying jobs with benefits, work force training, value added agriculture, consumer protection laws, and economic justice. Michele currently serves on the Economic Affairs Interim Committee and during the 2007 Session was appointed to the powerful Business & Labor Committee.

Conservation
Michele knows the urgency of addressing global warming now, especially in light of extreme fire conditions, drought, and low river flows. Michele has been an active conservation leader since 2001, including as a community organizer for Northern Plains Resource Council, a grassroots conservation and family agriculture group on renewable energy, land use planning, value added local food, country of origin labeling, fair trade, and stronger reclamation laws. She has been endorsed by the Montana Conservation Voters in 2008 and 2006. Last session, she passed cutting-edge legislation for parks and open space, noxious weed prevention, and water conservation. She carried progressive legislation for renewable energy and biodiesel. Throughout her career, Michele has been a voice for environmental justice, for safe drinking water, clean air, family farms and ranches, public access to hunting and fishing grounds, and for the great quality of life Missoulians and Montanans enjoy.
With your help she can go back to Helena and keep pushing ahead for a better Missoula.