LEMAN, GREG

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
State House of Representatives
District:
60
Political Affiliation:
Republican

Survey

Response Legend

  • SSStrongly Supports
  • SSupports
  • OOpposes
  • SOStrongly Opposes
  • *Comment
  • −Declined to respond
  • †Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question Response Comments/Notes
1. Public School Funding in Montana is at an inadequate level. SO
2. Parents should have greater freedom to choose how and where their children are educated, including options such as education savings accounts, tax credits, vouchers, or other school-choice mechanisms. SS* Education should be the domain of families, not the government. Public funding has a role in ensuring access, but decisions should stay close to parents and local communities, not centralized in bureaucracy. Charter schools provide flexibility and real choice. Market forces are the best way to improve education.
3. Parents should be allowed to homeschool their children without additional state regulation SS* Homeschooling reflects parental responsibility and should be respected, not overregulated.
4. Curricula based on Critical Race Theory (CRT) should be prohibited in Montana public schools SS
5. Comprehensive sex education should be taught in public elementary schools, beginning as early as kindergarten. SO
6. Montana’s income taxes are too high. SS
7. Montana’s property taxes are too high SS
8. Montana’s corporate taxes are too high SS* Montana's budget surplus from the last session was $3.5 Billion, which comes out to about $8,600 per family.The state is running a surplus because taxpayers sent more money to Helena than the government needed. When a private company runs a profit, it returns that money to its shareholders. Government, instead, just finds new uses for the money.The property tax system needs more than just a few adjustments to rates or fiddling with who pays more. It needs radical reform. We need to decouple taxable value from fair market value. In Montana, we tax agricultural land based on productive value, but we tax residential property based on inflated market value. A family’s tax bill rises because of speculation and demand, not because their income increased. That is not stability. And when homeowners must keep paying more each year just to stay in their homes, it begins to feel like you are renting your property from the government.Increases in taxable value should be capped at the CPI + 2%, and if fair market value drops below the taxable value it should be adjusted. We should look at how far back we can go to set the taxable value. A value from before the Covid induced boom should be sustainable.
9. The Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms for self-defense. SS* I am a gun owner, a hunter, a certified firearms instructor, a lifetime member of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, an NRA Range Safety Officer, and I used to do some competitive shooting. I don't understand what politicians find so confusing about "Shall not be infringed" and "Shall not be questioned." I think the ATF should be a convenience store, not a government agency.The government’s job is to protect life, liberty, and property. Beyond that, it should stay out of the way. Prosperity flows from freedom, not central management.
10. Montanans should not be discriminated against or treated differently based on their vaccination status. SS
11. Climate change is a serious problem that requires increased government regulation. SO
12. Environmental regulations in Montana are currently too restrictive. S* The climate has always changed, and serious people can debate how much of today’s change is driven by human activity. What I oppose is using climate policy as a justification for expanding government control or imposing mandates that ignore economic reality.Montana’s Constitution protects a clean and healthful environment, and that principle matters. But how we balance environmental protection with affordable energy, jobs, and economic stability should be decided by elected lawmakers accountable to voters. Montanans deserve environmental policy shaped by open debate in the Legislature, not driven primarily through courtroom strategies.
13. Abortion should be illegal at all stages of pregnancy. SS* Every innocent life deserves protection. A society that murders children for convenience cannot endure. Life begins at conception. Protecting the life of the mother is a more nuanced issue than the general statement given. If a mother has a serious medical condition, physicians may provide treatment aimed at curing the condition so long as the child’s death is not the intended goal or chosen means of the treatment. In the US, a person may face up to 1 year in federal prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for the crime of destroying the egg of a bald eagle. We should treat unborn humans at least as well as we treat unborn eagles.
14. Abortion should be legal only in the early stages of pregnancy and restricted after a specific point, except when necessary to save the life of the mother. SO
15. Abortion should remain legal at all stages of pregnancy, without restriction. SO
16. Individuals and organizations should be allowed to opt out of abortion-related mandates, if those mandates violate their religious or moral convictions. SS
17. Physician-assisted suicide should be legal in Montana. SO
18. Biological males who identify as transgender should be allowed to compete in women’s and girl's athletic competitions. SO
19. Medical procedures intended to change a minor’s sex or gender should be prohibited. SS
20. Same-sex couples should be permitted to adopt children. S* I think that children deserve a mother and a father, but being raised by a same sex couple is preferable to remaining unadopted.
21. State and local nondiscrimination laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the same manner as race, religion, and national origin. SO
22. Montana’s marriage laws should be revised to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. SO
23. Objective moral truths exist and should inform laws and public policy, rather than shifting cultural preferences. SS
24. Government should be limited in scope, with most decisions best made by individuals, families, and local communities rather than centralized authorities. SS
25. Homosexuals and transgender people should be allowed to adopt children: S
26. Personal responsibility and self-governance are more effective at solving social problems than expanded government programs: SS
27. Parents—not government institutions—are the primary authority responsible for the education and moral formation of their children: SS* The purpose of government is to protect our rights. The founders understood that these rights came from God, not some social construct. Our rights exist whether or not the government de jure recognizes them.Homosexuals and transgender people deserve respect for their human dignity. While my personal faith tells me that their lifestyle is not biblically supported, that does not change the existence of their basic rights. I am unwilling to use the power to government to enforce my own faith on others.