Veteran rural Columbia Falls House District 5 lawmaker Braxton Mitchell is seeking his fourth and final term in the Montana House or Representatives.

Mitchell, 26, is the Republican House majority whip and the chairman of the agricultural committee. Mitchell, a 2018 Columbia Falls High School graduate works in digital marketing and in the state Legislature.

On the issue of property taxes, he would like to revive Senate Bill 90 from the last legislative session, which would take the bed tax revenue and use it for property tax relief. Each county would then be able to use its bed tax generated there to lower property taxes within the county, he noted.

The idea was popular among Republicans in the last Legislative session, but deeply opposed by tourism advocates.

Mitchell, however, notes tourism is alive and well in Montana and the need for a tourism office is greatly diminished, particularly with social media constantly promoting the state.

House Bill 542, which overhauled the state’s tax code, gives primary residences a lower tax rate, but secondary homes and commercial properties saw a higher tax rate.

Mitchell said that 75% of secondary homes are owned by Montanans, they’re not often income-producing properties.

Other issues he’s looking forward to in the next session is regulating mass surveillance of people, such as the use of Flock cameras, which record license plate numbers and other data from people in places like parking lots and other areas. The data has been abused by some law enforcement agencies across the country.

On data centers he opposed a moratorium but said there needs to be more guardrails and community protections in place before projects can go forward.

Having said that, he said it was important for the U.S. to stay ahead of foreign adversaries like China in the development of artificial intelligence.

On the problem with repeat DUI offenders, Mitchell last session sponsored Bobby’s Law.

Named after Bobby Dewbre, who was killed by a drunk driver while crossing U.S. Highway 2 near the Blue Moon, several years ago, the law states any driver involved in a traffic fatality can be charged with a felony if their blood alcohol content is equal to or above 0.16, regardless of whether they otherwise acted negligently. Offenders face a state prison term of between three and 30 years, a fine between $10,000 and $50,000 or both.  

But he noted more reform measures are needed.

Since the law was passed, in Columbia Falls alone there have been two serious accidents from either repeat offenders or drunk drivers that have gotten into accidents, severely injuring people.

He suggested more severe penalties, perhaps making a third offense a felony, but promised it would be something taken up in next year’s session.

He said he supports DUI courts.

“I’m in favor of DUI courts. They’d be a big step in the right direction to handle repeat offenders,” he said.

As for the Constitutional Initiatives on the ballot, he claimed all three were backed by out-of-state “dark money.”

On I-132, which mandates non-partisan judge’s races, he claimed the reality is they already are partisan.

As far as I-194 which prohibits “artificial persons” from contributing to political campaigns, he also said that was funded by dark money and would stop businesses from being able to lobby for or against issues.

He also spoke to a recent court ruling that found the requirement that people put their birth year on mail-in ballots unconstitutional.

“I was asked by the Secretary of State to carry the bill. Most states require the last four of a social security number, your license number, or a full birth date when voting absentee. I told the SOS I would carry it if the county clerks supported it … Which they did. Then a former Democrat legislator, now judge, shot it down,” he said.

He also said he supported public lands.

“I support public lands and want them to stay in public hands. I’m opposed to any sale of public land. I grew up here running trails, hunting, and fishing and would hate to see any part of that go away,” he said.