Sam Forstag

Government Reform Ban former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists after they have left office. Economy Support programs and resources to help young Montanans take over family farms and ranches or start their own, so that our state’s agricultural industry can feed the next generation. Civil Rights Tackle the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) crisis by fixing gaps in jurisdiction within tribal borders so that non-members who commit crimes aren’t beyond accountability, expand funding for tribal law enforcement, and hold the federal government accountable when they fail to investigate. Defense / Veterans Invest in expanded mental healthcare services, so that those who served our country aren’t left with nowhere to turn in moments of crisis. Education Increase teacher pay by investing in federal matching grants to make sure that every public school teacher, educational support staff, and early educator makes a living wage. Infrastructure / Transportation Data Centers: We need strict federal requirements on the construction of any new data centers. Government Reform Ban congressional stock trading by members and their spouses. Housing Incentivize zoning and regulatory reform in places where onerous and outdated zoning restrictions are standing in the way of building housing where working people need it most. Education Achieve universal free childcare by expanding investments in quality childcare to make sure that every Montanan who wants to start and raise a family can find free, quality childcare, regardless of where they live or how much they make. Government Reform Set strict, lower contribution limits to reduce the amount of money an individual can give to a federal campaign. Politics should be a battle of ideas, not of resources, and reducing the amount of money at all levels would help us get back to that. Healthcare Lower prescription costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for all prescription drugs directly. Wages / Job Benefits Fix the “private contractor” loophole in the National Labor Relations Act that lets corporations treat employees poorly and drives wages and protections down for everyone else. Criminal Justice / Public Safety End illegal surveillance by banning federal law enforcement from buying or using cell phone data without a warrant. Infrastructure / Transportation Fix our approach to appeals, litigation, and NEPA enforcement by investing resources up front in community collaboration to avoid drawn-out legal delays, and creating clear, enforceable timelines when disagreements arise. Abortion / Contraception Protect access to abortion and reproductive health by codifying Roe v. Wade, expanding funding for family planning providers, and reversing Ryan Zinke’s Medicaid cuts that prevent Medicaid from being used with certain reproductive healthcare providers. Economy Pass a federal right to repair so that large corporations can’t squeeze producers for more after they’ve already bought the equipment they rely on. Economy Lower costs and help Montana’s small- and mid-scale food producers compete with corporations by expanding investments in federal meat inspectors and in technical assistance to small-scale, local meat packing, and incentives to support agricultural cooperatives. Taxes / Budget Repeal Congressional Republicans’ tax cuts for the ultra-rich. The vast majority of the benefits in the “Big Beautiful Bill” went to corporations and the ultra-wealthy. Let’s repeal those provisions, keep the parts that help working people, like no taxes on overtime and tips, and use those resources to start fixing housing, healthcare, and childcare. Economy Require Country of Origin Labeling for the broadest possible list of farm and ranch products so that American consumers know where the food they buy is sourced. Immigration Make immigration courts independent and fund them adequately so that they can administer the law impartially and process our backlog of cases in a timely fashion. Taxes / Budget Make corporations carry their own weight by raising the corporate income tax rate to 35%. This would restore the corporate tax rate to where it was just a decade ago and ensure that corporations are paying their fair share. Healthcare Rebuild our broken mental health system by expanding funding for community-based mental health services. Montanans struggling with mental illness shouldn’t be left without healthcare and end up on the street or in our emergency rooms, jails, or state hospitals. Wages / Job Benefits Pass the PRO Act to guarantee workers everywhere have the freedom to organize and join a union if they want, and fight back against corporations that engage in union-busting. Education Increase Pell Grant funding so that Montanans who don’t come from money can choose to pursue a college education without being shackled by debt, and so that cost doesn’t stand in the way of attending community college or trade school. Immigration Finally pass real, bipartisan immigration reform. Both parties have failed to reform our immigration system to the point that legal pathways to citizenship have become near-impossible to navigate. We need sweeping, comprehensive reform that provides an achievable pathway to legal status and citizenship. Healthcare Expand Medicare to cover vision, hearing, dental, and long-term care for seniors. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Require judicial warrants for search, seizure and arrests. Defense / Veterans Fight efforts to privatize the VA and reverse DOGE’s cuts to VA healthcare staff. VA care should be fully funded, public, and readily accessible. Wages / Job Benefits Expand Paid Leave with federal matching grants to incentivize states to fund up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents. Taxes / Budget Eliminate the capital gains loophole. Income from the stock market shouldn’t be taxed at a lower rate than income earned by working for a paycheck. Government Reform Ban corporate election spending and get rid of Super PACs by passing a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Money is not speech, corporations are not people, and the limitless flow of funding into our elections poses a threat to working people’s ability to make government work for us. Healthcare Restore and expand the enhanced ACA subsidies to ensure access to free health coverage for anyone making 70,000 or less and affordable healthcare for everyone. Wages / Job Benefits Raise the federal minimum wage to at least 15 per hour and fix it permanently by tying it to the rate of inflation. Infrastructure / Transportation Rein in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Companies. This technology has the potential to pose an existential risk to our economy and to humanity itself. Housing End corporate home ownership by banning the purchase of residential property by hedge funds and private equity firms, and eliminating tax breaks for institutional investors and corporations. Wages / Job Benefits Pass the Protect America’s Workforce Act to restore collective bargaining rights to over 1 million public servants in the VA, the Bureau of Land Management, and about 30 other federal agencies where that basic right was stripped away. Housing Bring back the first-time homebuyer tax credit to make it cheaper for young and working people to buy and own a home. Immigration Restructuring, reform, and oversight. Enforcing the law cannot come at the expense of our constitutional rights or the safety of our neighbors and communities. Here are some basic requirements that ought to serve as baselines. Taxes / Budget Pass a minimum tax rate for millionaires by establishing a minimum marginal tax rate of 30% for income over 1 million per year, also known as the “Buffett Rule.”. Education Invest in universal Pre-K by expanding investments in programs like Head Start and public school-based pre-K to make sure that Montana kids’ access to early education doesn’t depend on how much their parents make. Healthcare Ensure that our rural hospitals can continue serving Montanans by increasing reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid. Housing Expand apprenticeships and trade school opportunities and dramatically increase the number of good, union jobs available in construction and the trades. Housing Deliver significant federal investment in affordable housing that’s equal in scale to the housing crisis we’re facing. That means large-scale, targeted investments to build more homes in the places we need them, and deliver rentals and houses that Montanans can afford, in the places we need them. Education Make sure public dollars stay in public schools. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Ban face masks and require that immigration agents wear body cameras and badges. Infrastructure / Transportation Rebuild and expand our public lands agencies and significantly expand investments in forest management and fuels mitigation. Defense / Veterans Invest in clinics, medical staff, and telehealth to make sure veterans can access care where they need it. Housing We can do this by investing in models like community land trusts, deed-restricted housing, and subsidies for building dense, infill housing with rent restrictions to make sure that public investment results in affordable rents. Healthcare Eliminate attempts at privatization through Medicare Advantage. Healthcare Expand funding for long-term care options, including community-based and in-home care. Wages / Job Benefits Protect pensions and defend benefits for workers who have fought for and earned a decent retirement. Defense / Veterans Fight for Montanans who are facing barriers to care for injuries they sustained while serving.