Ingraham supports small businesses

Letter to the Editor:

With the election season close at hand, we can expect to hear candidates promising many things.

While many of us are concerned about our economy and the need for good paying jobs in order to keep our families in Montana, one of those claims we will be hearing is that they will be bring good-paying jobs to our state and help the economy. But what candidates really have what it takes to ensure that we have a prosperous economic future ahead?

The answer to that question lies in how a lawmaker will vote on key business issues, especially small business issues. More than 97 percent of businesses in Montana are small businesses. While most candidates say they are for small business, they really aren’t.

It’s not as easy to tell when a candidate is just starting out how they’ll support small business, but many of those people running do have voting records you can go back and check, which I would encourage you to do. For me, after looking at Chamber voting scores for two of our House candidates in our area, I found that one of our candidates, Pat Ingraham had a score of 100 percent for small business.

In fact, our Representative, Pat Ingraham was awarded a “Champion of Business” award for her work during the 2007 legislative session. This was an award created by the Montana Chamber of Commerce to recognize those lawmakers who stood up for small business, free enterprise and job creation.

For me, a vote for small businesses is a vote for jobs and a more prosperous future for our children and after looking at the voting scores, I’ll be supporting the candidate that supports our small businesses and jobs for Montanans, and that candidate is Pat Ingraham.

Bud and Judy Leufkens

Thompson Falls