AG Fox Talks Policies in Campaign for Gov.

Montana Attorney General Tim Fox sat down with the Courier last week to discuss his campaign for the Republican nomination for the Governorship next November. Currently, Fox is taking on U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte and Dr. Al Olszewski in his bid for the party’s nomination, and if he is successful he will go up against either Montana’s Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney, Montana Representative Reilly Neill or Montana Representative Casey Schreiner on the Democratic ticket.

Fox, a Montana native from Hardin, kicked off his interview by highlighting his native roots. Aside from a stint at Marine Corps Officer Candidate School that ended with a medical discharge and not in a set of aviator wings, Fox returned to Montana to attend the University of Montana School of Law where he earned his Juris Doctorate. He joked that he finished his third U of M degree just last year when he completed the final credits for his Masters in Public Administration, which he had started in the '80s with his JD, but never completed.

After a long career in the private sector, Fox took up a campaign in 2008 for attorney general but lost the race. He claimed the mantle of Attorney General in 2012, however, and has held the post ever since. He will term limit out in 2020 and was quick to highlight the fact that he is the only statewide office held by a Republican that has reached its term limit. This highlight was a reference to Corey Stapleton, Montana’s Secretary of State who was elected to his first term in 2016, and had decided to run for Governor but dropped out after Rep. Gianforte entered the race in order to seek the nomination for U.S. House.

Fox said his political views were influenced a lot by his small town upbringing in Hardin, where he was raised by conservative small business owners. He explained that his parents had introduced him to politics at a young age by hosting candidates when they would arrive in Hardin to campaign. He reminisced about one of his first political jobs at the age of 17, which was to drive for former U.S. Congressman Ron Marlenee during a parade in Hardin. He credited those experiences with sparking his interest in politics and conservatism.

On political issues, Fox took the idea of coal use and development in Montana straight on, saying he, “believe[d] in an all of the above energy plan,” and that he also wanted a clean and healthful environment. He cautioned against rapid change in the energy sectors citing concerns that moving too quickly off of coal had harmed the town of Colstrip which relies heavily on the coal mine and coal-fire power plants there to provide jobs and economic security to the community.

He explained that he was “deeply concerned” about household energy costs in Montana if Colstrip’s power plants were to go offline, as they are expected to do in the coming years. He also derided coastal states for their policies to move away from coal-fired power. Specifically, he called out Washington stating, “I also am deeply concerned about our sister states, particularly coastal states, that repeatedly violate the United States Constitution’s commerce clause by picking winners and losers on the commodities that they allow to be exported from their ports.”

Fox went on to say that he had fought efforts by Washington Governor Jay Inslee to prevent the rail transport of oil from the Baaken formation in North Dakota from being exported from Washington ports. Fox stated that he had joined with the North Dakota Attorney General in filing a petition with the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking their ruling to strike down the amount of pounds per square inch allowed on Baaken oil cars. Fox said the law is preempted by federal law and is an example of, “rogue leaders in other states who hope to find anyway possible, including violation of the rule of law and violation of our constitution, to find ways to exact their ill-advised policies.”

On the subject of public land Fox was more nuanced. After stating that public lands are one of the great treasures in America, he stated that there were many things that could be done to better manage public lands. Specifically, Fox believes that public lands need to remain in the hands of the federal government and kept open for a “multitude of uses” for our citizens in Montana. He also said Montana needs to be lobbying Congress to make sure the maintenance of those lands are adequately funded and maintained to keep those lands managed in a way that prevents wildfires and “keeps those lands available for recreational use and enjoyment for generations to come.”

Specifically on the issue of wildfire management at the federal level, Fox attacked laws that allow special interest groups to hold up or stop projects to manage forest lands across the state. “Let me say that first of all, our federal land managers try to do the best they can and while they sometimes are not properly resourced by Congress I think the greater problem is loopholes in our federal land management laws that allow special interest groups to exploit our court system inappropriately to stop projects designed for greater forest health management and public land management in general.”

Fox said that his office had worked to sue the federal government in support of allowing federal agencies to thin and maintain forest health. He felt the fix could come in the form of Congress amending the land use laws to prevent special interests from having a say in how lands are managed.

On the issue of the American Prairie Reserve, Fox led off the topic saying that, “First and foremost we need to respect and promote private property rights.” He continued that the concept of private property is one of the freedoms in America that has contributed to making America great. He added that anytime you have a situation where brucellosis can be introduced in a way that affects other’s rights is a concern, but he also went after the federal governments inheritance tax citing it as a key reason why farmers and ranchers have been forced to sell their ranches.

On the topic of health care, Fox spoke negatively about the Affordable Care Act saying it was passed in the middle of the night without any bipartisan consensus. He added, “and that should be a concern for all Americans.”

He also claimed to have supported efforts to protect Montanans’ right to affordable access to health care. One such example he cited was his filing of amicus briefs in support of both the Little Sisters of the Poor’s and Hobby Lobby’s bid to be exempt from the ACA’s contraceptive requirement. “I felt the Affordable Care Act violated constitutional rights and the rule of law,” explained Fox.

He did moderate his view on health care access and the ACA saying, “So now that we do have Medicaid expansion in Montana, our’s is of a different form than many other states in that there are rules for trying to get people back into the work force and off of the public welfare rolls.” He did add that he believed it was up to Congress to fix “whatever may be wrong” with the ACA.

Fox took a swipe at Gianforte’s record while calling out Congress’ failed efforts to repeal and replace the ACA. He stated, “Unfortunately, Congress, even when it was controlled by the Republicans – including while Congressman Gianforte had become a Congressman, they didn’t get the job done and they let us down and they didn’t give President Trump a bill to replace Obamacare.”

He said that with Democrats in control of the House, it was unlikely they would see movement on fixing the ACA. He added that Montanans were now threatened by the loss of their Republican Congressman in the House with, “Congressman Gianforte deciding to abandon his incumbency and run for other office.”

Fox concluded his health care policy points by saying that as governor he would continue to fight for health care access in Montana, especially in rural regions like Glasgow and his hometown of Hardin. One portion of the ACA Fox claimed to support is continuing protections for preexisting conditions. “We need to continue to maintain that coverage for preexisting conditions,” explained Fox.

Fox finished off touting his record as Attorney General saying they had a record of results fighting human trafficking, substance use disorders, protecting consumers against the federal government by pushing back on the Waters of the U.S. Rule, the clean power plan and President Obama’s executive orders on immigration and fighting moratoriums on oil and coal leasing. “In all those respects I think I’ve been a successful attorney general in making sure Montana’s state rights have been protected,” said Fox.