Dear Editor: Don't Buy the Beltway Spin

Dear Editor,

Don't buy beltway spin-Montana's budget is built the Big Sky country way.

Glossy mailers, social media posts, and robocalls from Americans for Prosperity (AFP) are flooding Big Sky Country with talk of "exploding spending." But AFP is based in Virginia, with no stake in our land, and they're twisting the numbers to fit a story that just doesn't add up.

Here's the reality: our nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Division reports state spending growth at about 0.7%-well below inflation. That's careful, Montanastyle budgeting that keeps us deficit-free.

AFP's "explosion" comes from lumpin...