December 2008 - COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

Ron Erickson was assigned to three Senate committees - Taxation, Local Government, and Energy and Telecommunications 

November 2008 - ELECTION RESULTS

Ron Erickson, running unopposed, received 9439 votes, the most votes ever for any state senator winning an election in Montana. 

July 2008 - MORE ENDORSEMENTS FOR ERICKSON

Ron Erickson won the Endorsements of the Montana State AFL-CIO and the Montana Public Employee Association.

June 2008 - ERICKSON WINS PRIMARY RACE AGAINST ROSIE BUZZAS

Ron Erickson won all 17 precincts in Senate District 47 in the Democratic primary race .  The final vote count was 3241 to 1564.

May 2008 - ERICKSON RECEIVES PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS ENDORSEMENT

Here is text from the letter Ron received from the Progressive Democrats of Montana. 

"We greatly appreciate your solid advocacy across the spectrum of issues we embrace as an organization and have every expectation that, when elected, you will fight for the kind of socially, politically and economically just legislation that PDM was organized to promote."

May 2008 - ERICKSON RECEIVES CO-ENDORSEMENT FROM NARAL 

Here is text from the letter Ron received from NARAL.

"We are pleased to announce that you have received the endorsement of the NARAL Pro-Choice Montana PAC in your primary race.  We have chosen to co-endorse this particular seat because both you and your opponent have proven to be dedicated supporters for reproductive choice." 

April 2008 - ERICKSON RECEIVES CONSERVATION ENDORSEMENT

Here is text from the letter Ron received from the Montana Conservation Voters.

"On behalf of the Montana Conservation Voters, I am pleased to inform you that we have endorsed your bid for Senate District 47. Our endorsement is based on your extraordinary leadership on environmental policy in our state, and continued commitment to champion conservation issues in the senate."

February 2008 - ERICKSON RECEIVES EDUCATION ENDORSEMENT

Here is text from the letter Ron received from the MEA-MFT.

"It is my pleasure to inform you that the MEA-MFT Committee On Political Education has voted unanimously to recommend your election to the Montana State Senate.

MEA-MFT COPE took this step early in the election process in recognition of your superb record of support for quality public education, quality public services, and our 17,000 members who live and work all across Montana.

The MEA-MFT voting record shows that you received a perfect score of 100% on the issues that matter to our members. "

March, 2007 - Montana Kaimin story

Erickson keeps focus on education, environment

Four-term Democratic representative and retired professor co-founded UM's environmental studies program

Story by James Laber | March 23, 2007

Montana Kaimin

Ron Erickson has no qualms dealing with the “inconvenient truths” of Montana’s environmental policy.

When Erickson co-founded the University of Montana’s Environmental Studies Program more than three decades ago, he saw it as a marriage of the two most important things in his life: education and the environment.

“The Environmental Studies Program was kind of my baby while I was at the University,” recalled the 73-year-old Erickson. “I’m still fighting for its benefit here at the Capitol.”

As a four-term Democrat in Montana’s House of Representatives, representing Missoula’s University district, those issues remain his priorities today.

“Funding education at all levels has always been my first priority,” the tall, bearded, retired professor said. “And as long as I am here on Capitol Hill, it will always be first. ”That’s why during this session Erickson has been a vocal supporter of Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s aim to freeze college tuition over the next two years. If it passes, it would bring an end to nearly 16 consecutive years of tuition increases beginning in 1991, the year Erickson retired from teaching.

To help ease the heavy debts many students have taken on over that time, Erickson also sponsored a bill that would have given Montana college students a $500 per year tax credit for five years after graduation.

In boosting education or protecting the environment, legislative debates often boil down to money, and Erickson has made himself into one of the Legislature’s experts on taxation.

He’s been a member of the powerful House Taxation Committee in every session he’s served in the Legislature, twice as vice-chairman. But as a Democrat, he’s always been in the minority.

“The committee oftentimes tries to approve bills that allow tax breaks for corporations that, in their mind, will bring business to Montana,” Erickson said. “Though I am not always successful, I try to fight them every step of the way. ”That’s true again this session, in which the most divisive issue is how much of the state’s $1 billion budget surplus should return to taxpayers in the form of rebates or tax cuts.

Erickson has argued against permanent cuts, preferring to use more of that money to boost education, health care and other needs.

So far, Erickson said, he is “not at all pleased” with the direction of the current Legislature. Last month the GOP dismantled the governor’s budget, including his proposal to freeze tuition.

Also, Erickson’s bill providing more funds for affordable housing loans isn’t getting as much support as he had hoped. The tax credit bill had a hearing the first day of February, but has lingered in limbo since.

Even so, Erickson’s frequent Republican opponents, including House Majority Leader Michael Lange, of Billings, concede that Erickson is a force to be reckoned with. “While I don’t often agree with his politics, Rep. Erickson is a man who is listened to,” Lange said. “His ideas are unrealistic at times, but he presents them well.”

Professor Harry Fritz, a former legislator and chairman of UM’s history department, said that Erickson’s rapport with students and expertise in taxation and the environment makes him a good representative in a district that covers the University area.

“Ron knows environmental issues from teaching and has become an expert on taxation since becoming involved with politics,” said Fritz, who has known Erickson since he began teaching at UM in 1967.

“He is one of the few guys on the Dems’ side who can argue with the Republicans on taxation,” Fritz said.

It was through his work in developing the UM Environmental Studies Program that Erickson found his way into politics.

Erickson helped build the program into one of the most renowned environmental studies programs in the Pacific Northwest. Erickson served as its director from 1976 to 1984 and taught courses until 1998.

Among other things, the program has produced four current Montana legislators, all Democrats: Sen. Christine Kaufmann of Helena, and Reps. Kevin Furey, Betsy Hands and Michele Reinhart, all from Missoula.

Vicki Watson, a professor of environmental studies at the University since Erickson hired her at its inception, said that Erickson has always had a strong connection with his students and genuinely cares for students’ well-being.

“Ron has a connectivity to the students on campus that may be unique in the Legislature,” she said. “I think he does an outstanding job sticking up for students, who can sometimes go unheard in the world of politics.”

Earlier this month, at the eighth annual Montana Conservation Voters meeting, Erickson was honored with the group’s first-ever MCV Conservation Champion Award for his work in the Legislature on behalf of the environment. “Ron has been a constant and forceful advocate for Montana conservation,” said MCV co-chairman, UM economist Richard Barrett.

Erickson is one of the few legislators to ever obtain a 100 percent voting record for siding with MCV’s conservation values.

During this session, Erickson has proposed bills to promote responsible urban growth, to enact standards for monitoring carbon dioxide emissions and to slow global warming.

It has proved to be a difficult session for Erickson, with many of his bills biting the dust in the first half. His bills to slow global warming and promote responsible urban growth failed to make it to the Senate, while his bill to limit carbon dioxide emission has a hearing on Monday.

“My bills have not fared well this session, clearly my worst session in that narrow sense, but it was necessary to take on crucial issues like global warming, stronger environmental laws, better planning laws, affordable housing, an improved medical marijuana law and bills to tax major corporations that are not paying their fair share,” he said. “But, all of these ideas do not meet Republican standards – or lack thereof.”

For Erickson, being patient and persistent is the best strategy for achieving what he feels is best for his constituents.

“This has been a frustrating session,” Erickson said. “Being in the minority in every session does lead to tests of patience, but taking bad decisions with a sense of humor helps.”

After receiving the MCV Conservation Champion Award, Erickson quoted a line from one of his favorite poems, one that he first read when he was 19:

“Knowledge comes,” he said. “Wisdom lingers.”

March 2007 - MONTANA CONSERVATIONS VOTERS NAME RON ERICKSON “CONSERVATION CHAMPION”

As a member of the 1999, 2001, and 2003 legislatures, and now again in 2007, Ron Erickson has been a constant and forceful advocate for the conservation and protection of Montana’s environment and resources. It goes without saying that Ron has 100% ratings on MCV’s voting scorecards. But more than simply voting for the environment, Ron has introduced numerous environmental bills, covering issues ranging from carbon sequestration to planning for local growth, and has been a stalwart opponent of efforts to dismantle the Montana Environmental Policy Act, the Major Facilities Siting Act, and other cornerstone environmental laws. He has never had the luxury of serving in the House with a conservation majority, and his bills had often been killed, but he has persevered, and it is that perseverance we wish to honor.

Ron’s public engagements and accomplishments go back a very long way, long before he first ran for the legislature in 11998. Indeed, it is hard to look back at the last 30 years in the history of the environmental movement in Montana and not find him somehow, somewhere involved. The list is practically endless: Chairman of Missoula’s Open Space Advisory Committee, Missoula County Planning Board, two terms on the board of MEIC, consultant to the Northern Plains Resource Council during the first energy boom 30 some years ago. Perhaps most importantly, Ron was a co-founder of, and ultimately the driving force behind, the graduate Environmental Studies program at the University of Montana, a program which promoted advocacy alongside analysis and understanding and which produced a flood of graduates who have staffed the state’s environmental organizations (including our own) and been elected to the Legislature. Even higher office cannot be far behind.

Ron’s activities have of course resulted in recognition and awards, from among others, MEIC, the Montana Recreation and Parks Association and the National Wildlife Federation. But to best understand the quality and spirit of Ron’s work, listen to these voices of the friends he has worked with:

Margie MacDonald, at NPRC, says that Ron provided an “expert, articulate and lucid counterpoint” in the debate over energy development in Eastern Montana.

Jim Parker, in Missoula, who managed Ron’s campaigns, says that Ron always “speaks truth to power”. He cares deeply about understanding his constituents and having them understand him. Jim says that Ron will spend 30 minutes at the door, talking with a constituent who will never vote for him, because rational debate is so important. (From Jim’s point of view, as campaign manager, this kind of persistence is a mixed blessing; after all, Ron, there are a lot more doors to be gotten to).

And perhaps most revealing, Pat Judge at MEIC says “we have a nickname for Ron – Gandalf. He does look a little like Ian McKellen, but the real point is that he is so wise. He’s the Legislature’s environmental wizard, and we can always count on him for sage and astute advice.”
What Margie and Jim and Pat, and those of us who have had the privilege of working with Ron see is a public official whose efforts on behalf of the environment have been wise, honest, deeply committed and unflagging. It is for those efforts that Montana Conservation Voters today makes Ron Erickson the first recipient of its Conservation Champion Award.

ENDORSEMENTS 2006

Ron has received the endorsements of several political action committees in 2006, each recognizing his past work on behalf of the people of Montana. Here are their words to him regarding their decisions. (Endorsements for 2008 have not yet been made.)

Montana Conservation Voters

“On behalf of the Montana Conservation Voters, I am pleased to inform you that we have decided to endorse your candidacy for Montana House of Representatives, District 93. Our interview committee, MCV’s Political Action Committee and Board enthusiastically support your race. You demonstrated an understanding of and commitment to conservation in your responses to our legislative questionnaire, and interview.”

NARAL

“We are pleased to announce that you have received the endorsement of the Montana NARAL Choice PAC in your race. Your strong support for reproductive choice makes it a great pleasure to support your campaign by listing you in our 2006 Voter Guide sent to tens of thousands of pro-choice Montanans across the state.”

MPEA (Montana Public Employees Association)

“The MPEA-EPIC wishes to express our support for your election to the House of Representatives. You have been endorsed by MPEA based on your voting record as reflected by your grade of “A (2003)” and your support of public employee issues.”

MEA-MFT (Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers)

“It is my pleasure to inform you that the MEA-MFT Committee on Political Education voted unanimously to recommend you as the right candidate for House District 93. We support your candidacy in recognition of your excellent voting record and leadership on issues of importance to our members-educators and public employees.”

AFL-CIO

“I’m pleased to inform you that the delegates at the recent AFL-CIO 50th annual convention endorsed your candidacy for the Montana House. We are delighted that a legislator who supports issues to working families is again willing to invest the considerable time and effort it takes to run a successful race.”

PACE

"The Missoula Unified Political Action Committee for Education has diiscussed the issues surrounding the upcoming election and believes that you would be the best candidate for House District 93. We wish to give you our endorsement because of your past record of supporting public education. You have shown yourself to be a proven leader in supporting and expanding free public education in the state of Montana. We know you will fight for appropriate funding needs for public schools and will be supportive of legislation and legal decisions that make working conditions better for school employees and improve the education of children in our state."

News from the distant past

More Policy, Less Politics
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON, IR State Bureau, March 12, 2001

Rep. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula, brings wealth of knowledge to session through
his ability to analyze tough tax and natural resource issues
HELENA — When the Montana House of Representatives wades into complex tax and
natural resources issues, Democrats often turn to Rep. Ron Erickson of Missoula as a leading advocate.

Erickson is a retired University of Montana professor who taught chemistry and later environmental studies, a one-time state chess champ and one of the brightest members of the Legislature.

"Without the analytical minds like Ron Erickson, we’d make even more mistakes," House Minority Leader Kim Gillan, D-Billings, said of the Legislature. "He’s just really bright. It’s refreshing because he makes decisions based on policy, not politics."

Gillan added, "If the Legislature is ever going to think out of the box, it’s going to be someone like Ron Erickson pushing us."

Said House Majority Leader Paul Sliter, R-Somers:"Ron is clearly deeply set in his convictions. Even though we disagree on many issues, he’s always pleasant in person, and I appreciate that."

Erickson is serving in his second term in the House, where he is assigned to the Taxation and Natural Resources Committees.

He has been a community activist in Missoula for years, working on environmental and peace issues. Erickson also served on Missoula’s Open Space Advisory Committee, which oversaw the purchase of Mount Jumbo, portions of the North Hills and space for soccer and baseball fields at Fort Missoula
with money raised by open space bonds.

When he taught a course in environmental legislation, Erickson required students to pick out certain bills, learn the issues and come to the Legislature to testify. Among his students were Rep. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, and former state Auditor and Rep. Mark O’Keefe, D-Helena, who was the Democratic nominee for governor last year.

As a leader of the UM teachers’ union, Erickson and colleagues occasionally testified before legislative committees about the university’s budget.

So when a seat in his district opened up, Erickson decided to run for the House and has been elected twice.

Republicans have controlled both chambers and the governor’s office during both of his terms. As a result, Erickson often finds himself in the minority, strongly disagreeing with the majority’s decisions on budget, tax and natural resource issues.

"It is not always enjoyable," he said. "I miss the work in Missoula where you work on local issues and you see things happen."

Erickson has strong views and not always in line with his own party’s.

"I consider myself a progressive Democrat," Erickson said. "Yet there are certainly some areas, particularly in taxes, where I feel I am relatively conservative."

He said he is not one to boost revenue estimates, as he believes Republicans are trying to do, when he doesn’t believe the money will be there. He also supports lowering the state’s top marginal income tax rate of 11 percent, if possible.

What’s more, Erickson believes it’s worth looking at a sales tax, provided there are credits to take care of low-income people, it’s levied on the broadest tax base of goods and services and some proceeds are used to provide residential property-tax relief.

"I don’t want a revenue neutral tax system," he said. "We need more revenue."

Erickson said he’s discouraged by the Republican-controlled Legislature’s failure to look beyond the next two years and its inability to recognize that the $270 million in tax breaks passed in 1999 have not stimulated the economic development like the GOP had predicted.

He tried unsuccessfully to freeze the business equipment property tax at 3 percent rather than allowing it to phase out if the state’s economy meets a certain trigger.

Erickson’s concern is that these tax breaks have taken money away from the university system and public schools.

"Education is the foundation of civilization, and we have systematically held the university system down and we have such a bad formula for K-12 schools that we need to have a new formula and we have to fund it," he said. "The university system is right (in its budget request). Meanwhile, students are getting absolutely priced out of an education. They either can’t afford it or they have such a huge loan budget they frankly have a hard time staying in the state."

Erickson strongly opposes various Republican efforts that he believes will weaken the Montana Environmental Policy Act and the Montana Major Facility Siting Act. He has said MEPA "is nearly worthless if these bills become law."

"You’ve really got to look at all of these (Republican) environmental bills in context," he said. "Every session they come after a different body of the law to attack."

Republicans weakened reclamation laws in the special legislative session last year and earlier have taken after Montana’s clean air and water acts.

Affordable housing is another issue important to Erickson. The House has approved a pair of his bills that would shift $4 million in housing and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to a revolving loan account for affordable housing.

Erickson grew up in Peoria, Ill., where his father was a bookkeeper for Standard Oil.

"It was a typical Midwestern Republican family without any good reason to be Republican," he said.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bradley University, he obtained his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Iowa. One of his students there was his future wife, Nancy, a Montana native. They later wed and have been married 42 years. Nancy Erickson is a prominent artist whose art quilts are shown in galleries throughout the country.

He was a scientific researcher in Texas for two years and in Germany for NATO, before teaching for four years and conducting research at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. His expertise was physical organic chemistry and he worked on the chemistry of ozone with two of the leading scientists at the time.

In 1965, Erickson and his family moved to Missoula where he took a job as an associate professor of chemistry. In 1970, he was a cofounder of UM’s environmental studies program and was its director from 1976-84. He has taught a wide variety of science and policy-oriented classes and done research in air and water pollution. His later teaching focused on environmental ethics.

The Ericksons have two daughters, Chris, a history professor at Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, and Terrell, a wetlands biologist in Hawaii.