BILLINGS - U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said there will be opportunity to get things done with the Republican-controlled Senate next year.
Tester, Montana’s senior senator, said Democrats need to lend support to passing laws that benefit the middle class. And they need to work with Republicans to do so when possible.
“We have been anything but inspirational in Washington, D.C., and hopefully we can start doing some things that I think the country expects, to move us forward economically,” Tester said Monday. “The fact is, if you look at folks that do not have a college education, they are not in particularly good shape. Their net worth continues to be static or declining. So there’s things we need to do.”
Tester told The Gazette editorial board that his controversial vote last week to approve the Keystone XL pipeline was motivated in part by the need for more opportunities for the middle class.
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He said Democrats should work with Republicans to make tax policies more favorable for middle class families. He also favors a Highway Bill to fund American infrastructure projects, which would create jobs for middle class workers.
The economic condition of the middle class has been all but forgotten by Congress in recent years, Tester said, citing the inattention as a possible reason two-thirds of eligible American voters didn’t participate in the Nov. 4 election.
Democrats from President Barack Obama on down say the no-show by voters hurt their candidates.
“The bottom line is that hopefully people have heard what happened in the last election. Democrats didn’t do particularly well and there are lessons to be learned from that,” Tester said.
The senator said he would work with Republicans to reduce some regulations, perhaps loosening the group insurance plan for businesses with one employee, or returning the focus of Dodd Frank financial reform laws to large Wall Street institutions and away from small community banks.
“I think there’s a yen for adjustment of the health care act, Dodd Frank, those kinds of things,” Tester said. “There are things we can do to make those work better. I think regulation for the sake of regulation is stupid.”
Tester said he could find common ground on tax reform with incoming Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.
