GOP legislators decry failure of anti-abortion bills

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – Twenty-nine Republican lawmakers gathered in the capitol today to blast Democrats for the Legislature’s failure last night to revive five anti-abortion bills that remain locked in committee.

“Last night, Democrats essentially voted to muzzle the people of Montana on one of the most important issues of our time: abortion,” said Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Havre (pictured).

Warburton said most of Democrats vote for pro-abortion measures, whereas Republicans are “fighting for life.”

Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, sponsored two of the bills, Senate Bill 46 and Senate Bill 406. Both sought to amend the state constitution to set the foundation for future abortion bans. Republicans last night fell short of the 60 votes necessary to "blast" the bills from committee to the House floor.

“It is truly unfortunate that the big business of killing babies has so persuaded the Democratic Party,” McGee said.

McGee said Republicans attempted to work with Democrats on these issues but it did not seem to take. He also compared abortion with slavery and predicted an upheaval comparable to the Civil War. “You bet there will be,” McGee said.

Democratic House Speaker Bob Bergren said these failed "blast" motions are typical fare for the Legislature and his party. “Democrats support the constitutional rights of all women,” Bergren said.

Bergren said he found it ironic this same group of legislators opposes “proactive measures” against abortion, such as sex education and contraception for the poor. He also said it was indicative that 23 of the 29 Republicans at the press conference were men.

“Where are all the women if this is good for women?” Bergren said.

Allyson Hagen of the Naral Pro-Choice Montana Foundation, said despite GOP assertions of civic upheaval, Montanans do not support these measures.

“Montanans are actually grateful that these bills didn’t pass,” Hagen said. “In Montana, we greatly value the right to keep the government out of our personal, private medical decisions.”

SB 46 would have defined unborn human life as a compelling state interest, allowing the state to interject itself in personal privacy issues. SB 406 would have defined personhood at conception in the Montana Constitution. Previous attempts to ban abortion have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because of privacy concerns.

The other failed bills included Senate Bill 374, which would make parental notification of a minor’s abortion mandatory; Senate Bill 327, which would heighten charges brought against someone who assaults a pregnant woman and hurts the fetus; and House Bill 661, which sought to create licenses and more regulations for abortion clinics.

The four Senate bills passed out of the GOP-controlled Senate with narrow margins, usually running on party lines. They hit a partisan wall in the evenly split House committees, where a tie vote means means the bills are probably dead.

House OKs bill to blunt effects of reappraisals

HELENA – The House gave initial approval today to a bill seeking to prevent the recent statewide property-tax reappraisal from automatically raising many Montanans' taxes.

By a 75-25 vote, lawmakers approved House Bill 658, sponsored by Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish (pictured). The bill would follow a similar model used in past sessions by reducing tax rates and offering exemptions for residential and business properties.

Property reappraisal in Montana occurs every six years. Since 2002, property values in Montana have risen by an average 55 percent statewide.

Jopek's bill would blunt that increase by jacking up one of the major property-tax exemptions for residential property called the "homestead" exemption. The exemption would increase gradually from 35.9 percent to 42 percent by 2014.

Supporters called the bill a good starting point, adding that there are additional exemptions and tax credits for elderly homeowners on fixed incomes. They also said they expect the Senate to continue shaping the bill with amendments.

But opponents said the bill won’t help lower- and middle-class taxpayers because they will be subsidizing the tax exemptions for the rich.

“If you don’t live in Lake County, Flathead County or Madison County, this is a bad bill for you,” said Rep. Wayne Stahl, R-Saco.

Rep. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to have property taxes based on a “circuit-breaker” system, which a person’s property taxes would be based on their income and ability to pay them.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Senators endorse bridge-access legislation

HELENA – The state Senate today gave initial approval to a bill that would allow anglers, floaters and hikers to gain access to the state's rivers and streams via public bridges on public roads. The vote was 47-2.

House Bill 190, carried in the Senate by Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor, allows recreational access to waterways at bridges, while also allowing landowners to connect fences to bridges and abutments to contain their livestock. Landowners would have to modify those fences to allow access. Such work would be administered and paid for by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“It ain’t perfect, but there’s no such thing as a perfect fish and game bill,” Shockley said. “Nobody’s totally happy, but most the people are pretty happy.”

The Senate voted to add amendments to the bill, including one that would allow landowners to have wood-rail fences along the river access points as long as people can get to the water. Another amendment changed the bill to say only one access point is necessary on a given stretch of river, instead of the original four.

Previous Senate amendments to the bill gave landowners more protection from liability for recreationists’ accidents.

The bill’s sponsor in the House, Rep. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, supported all of the amendments.

Supporters said it represents a good compromise between landowners, recreationists, environmental groups and state agencies. Opponents said it does not solve the problem because it does not address prescriptive easements, which are roads that have been used by the public for so long that the county gets right of way, whether or not it runs through private land.

HB 190 passed the House in January with a large majority as well, 97-3.

Disputes over stream access have been a legislative staple since 1985, when lawmakers enacted Montana’s landmark law allowing recreational access to the beds and banks of the state’s navigable waterways.

This session's debate reflects a Madison County judge’s October ruling granting recreationists a right to access streams and rivers from bridges in the public right of way. But it also gave landowners a right to build fences up to those bridges to control their livestock.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Committee tables bill to abolish the death penalty

HELENA - Members of the House Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 today to table a bill that would have abolished the death penalty in Montana.

Senate Bill 236, sponsored by Sen. David Wanzenried, D-Missoula, would replace the death penalty with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The bill received considerable attention so far this session, with emotional and lengthy hearings.

The committee vote was mostly party-line, with all nine Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Arlene Becker of Billings, voting to block the measure from advancing to a vote of the full 100-member House.

Supporters of SB 236 said the death penalty is expensive, out-dated, unfairly used and goes against the right to life. Opponents maintained that some crimes are worthy of death, and capital punishment is useful to prosecutors as a bargaining chip to win guilty pleas to lesser charges.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Tie vote blocks bill to expand medical marijuana

HELENA - A bill to increase the amount of medical marijuana patients may possess and expand the list of diseases for which the drug can be prescribed was stalled Friday on a tie vote in the House Human Services Committee.

Senate Bill 326, which passed the Senate with a vote of 28-22, would have increased the legal amount of medical marijuana a patient can possess from 1 ounce to 3 ounces. It would also expand the narrow list of diseases for which the drug can be prescribed to include diabetes, post-traumatic stress disorder, hepatitis C and Alzheimer's, among others.

In hearings, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula, said he aimed to ease more people's pain and expand access to the drug for those who already have prescriptions.

But critics, including some in law enforcement, said they feared that an expansion of users would encourage an expansion of the illegal marijuana market as well. Others said the current amount of available medical marijuana was sufficient.

The bill is probably dead, unless 60 members of the House vote to bring it out of committee for a vote.

Bill to ban relocation of Yellowstone bison stalls

The House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee has tabled a bill that would have banned the relocation of quarantined Yellowstone National Park bison to anywhere in Montana, except the National Bison Range near Moiese.

Senate Bill 337, sponsored by John Brenden, R-Scobey, would have prohibited the relocation off specially quarantined Yellowstone Park bison, even though the animals are certified to be free of brucellosis, an infectious disease that can cause cattle to abort their calves.

At the bill's hearing Brenden said the bill would prevent further spread of the disease that has cost the Montana cattle industry millions of dollars.

But state livestock officials, bison conservation groups and the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap tribes, said that there was no need to fear brucellosis transmission to cattle because the bison would be certified to be free of the disease and would be heavily monitored upon relocation

Officials from the Fort Peck Fish and Game Department argued that the bill's real intent of was to keep their tribe from acquiring the animals.

Brenden did not return calls for comment Friday.

- by CNS reporter Lauren Russell. (Photo courtesy of the National Bison Range.)

Bridge-access bill advances in the Senate

HELENA – A bill that supporters say will solve the dispute over public land use between landowners and outdoor enthusiasts is heading to the Senate floor after it passed out of committee, 7-2.

House Bill 190, sponsored by Rep. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, would allow public access to waterways at bridges while also allowing landowners to connect fences to bridges and abutments to contain their livestock. Landowners would have to modify those fences to allow access. Such work would be administered and paid for by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Supporters of the bill say it is a hard earned compromise worked out between landowners, recreationists, environmental groups and state agencies. Opponents say the bill is incomplete because it does nothing to address the issue of prescriptive easements, which are roads that have been used by the public for so long that the county gets right of way, whether or not it runs through private land.

The Senate version of the bill includes language aiming to protect landowner from legal liability for recreationists' accidents. It also says that it's not the state's intent to create or extinguish any prescriptive easement.

The bill passed out of the House at the end of January with a 93-7 vote.

Disputes over stream access have been a legislative staple since 1985, when lawmakers enacted Montana’s landmark law allowing recreational access to the beds and banks of the state’s navigable waterways.

This session's debate reflects a Madison County judge’s October ruling granting recreationists a right to access streams and rivers from bridges in the public right of way. But it also gave landowners a right to build fences up to those bridges to control their livestock.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Bill for stronger specialty beers wins Senate's OK

HELENA – The state Senate gave initial approval to a bill that would allow higher alcohol content in certain beers brewed and sold in Montana, passing the measure 39-11.

House Bill 400, carried in the Senate by Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, was approved by the full House in February. The bill would allow brewers in Montana to increase the alcohol content in beers to 14 percent from the current limits of 8.75 percent alcohol by volume.

Brueggeman said the increase would only apply to specialty beers, not the “garbage” beers one could find at a gas station.

“The bill specifically limits it to those beers that are produced with 75 percent malted cereal grain,” Brueggeman said, describing the product as “fine craft beers produced by local breweries.”

Senate supporters said the change in law would help Montana breweries compete in the national and international beer markets.

“Why is the German beer better than ours?” asked Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish. “It’s not a question about getting a buzz; it has to do with quality.”

Zinke said America has some of the best agricultural products and brewers, so it should be in the top tier of the beer business.

“Why isn’t the U.S., the greatest nation in the world, producing the best beer?” Zinke said.

Sen. Cliff Larsen, D-Missoula, said the beer in question would be equivalent to a fine wine in which the alcohol was allowed to mature.

“Craft beers are unique, they are special,” Larsen said. “It’s not like you’re running out to get a bottle of Malt 80.”

But opponents to the bill said it would exacerbate the underage drinking problem in Montana.

“I don’t think it’s good policy for us to allow that high of percentage of alcohol content of any beer in Montana,” said Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning. “(Underage drinkers) are going to send in the runners to get this beer and they’re going to get drunker faster.”

HB 400 needs final Senate approval and a signature from the governor before it can become law.

- Story by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy. Photo by Alison Smith

Despite protests, House passes stimulus spending

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – The House today approved a plan to spend millions in federal stimulus dollars, despite numerous attempts from Bozeman-area legislators to change or reject the bill. The vote was 64-33.

The hearing for House Bill 645, which appropriates the state’s $870 million share of federal stimulus money, lasted over two and a half hours, most of which was spent on debating the merits of particular uses for the money.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said the bill was imperfect but as close as Montana would get to getting immediate financial relief.

“For everyone that is disappointed, don’t think you’re alone,” Sesso said. “But I can just tell you that the piece that is before you, the elements that are included in this bill are going to do a lot of good work in this state; it’s going to help a lot of people.”

Despite Sesso’s assertions, a delegation of Bozeman-area lawmakers tried to rearrange funding to help their districts.

Rep. Brady Wiseman, D-Bozeman, tried unsuccessfully four times to get $400,000 for Bozeman to aid in rubble and debris removal from the site of the natural gas explosion downtown.

“We’ve got a big problem in the city of Bozeman,” Wiseman said. “We have a city block lying in rubble and we can’t afford to clean it up.”

Rep. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman, supported Wiseman’s amendments saying the city could start as soon as possible on the clean up and could pay the money back.

But Rep. Bill McChesney, D-Miles City, opposed the amendments. He said his city had suffered similar destruction in the recent downtown fire, but the stimulus bill was already strapped.

“In the end, the help that Miles City, Whitehall and Bozeman need is going to be there,” McChesney said. “The funding and the resources need to be found outside of the stimulus bill.”

Each of Wiseman’s attempts was rejected by the House by at least 70 votes. The one amendment to pass on the stimulus bill came from Sesso. His amendment allowed cities struck by disaster, including Bozeman, Whitehall and Miles City, to use their share of stimulus money for debris removal. It passed 90-13.

No other amendments were proposed on the bill, but several Republican lawmakers from Gallatin County expressed their distain for the stimulus package in general.

“I have a sense that we are presiding over the demise of the American republic,” said Rep. Joel Boniek, R-Livingston. “My problem with receiving fed dollars is that these dollars are fraudulent.”

Boniek also told lawmakers they were “posturing” by pretending to know how the bill would affect Montana, something he called a “poorly disguised attempt to give legitimacy” to stimulus money.

Tensions broke after Rep. Michael More, R-Gallatin Gateway, accused lawmakers of succumbing to the “call of money.”

“What god do you serve?” More asked the House. “Is this all pretense, the Pledge of Allegiance?”

More continued his speech against HB645, calling it “manna from Heaven” for the lawmakers. When asked by Rep. Dennis Himmelberger, R-Billings, if his comments were pertinent to the bill, More said they were, “If you can grasp that, Mr. Chairman.”

More was gaveled down for being out of order. He later apologized, saying he did not intend to offend anyone.

On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee reallocated $75 million of Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s original proposal, leaving much of HB645 intact. The bill works in coordination with the state budget bill, which is currently being considered in the Senate.

Senate approves coverage for autism treatments

HELENA – The state Senate approved a bill today that would require insurance companies to cover a range of treatments for children diagnosed with autism. The bill passed 36-14.

Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Sen. Kim Gillan, D-Billings, would compel insurance providers to fund treatments that have been shown to improve the quality of life for autistic children.

The bill, which faced a tough road in the current economic downturn, garnered emotional testimony during its hearings. Parents said they paid for these treatments out of pocket and could hardly afford to do so. Supporters told lawmakers that these treatments can help children assimilate into society at an early age and give them equal footing in the long run.

But opponents said forcing insurance companies to cover these treatments would prove costly because of rate increases. Insurers said a hike in insurance costs could make more Montanans drop their coverage and go uninsured.

SB 234 will move on to the House for approval.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Local-option sales tax bill heads toward a vote

HELENA – A bill that would give cities the option of implementing a local sales tax will go before the full Senate after it was passed out of committee, 6-5.

Senate Bill 506, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, would allow local voters to choose whether to apply a 4 percent sales tax on tourist-centered services, such as prepared food, alcohol served by the drink, lodging, rental cars or recreational machines, and recreational services like sightseeing tours and outfitted trips.

The bill requires that 20 percent of the income from such a sales tax must be shared with counties and, to ease property taxes, 35 percent must go to property-tax relief. Voters could determine if they wanted to enhance those percentages, and they would also decide what to do with the remaining money.

In hearings earlier, supporters said it would provide much needed property tax relief for Montanans, especially the elderly community. Opponents said even though the taxes would be aimed at tourists, the taxable businesses could suffer.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Committee backs changes in stimulus spending

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – A key House panel voted 18-2 Tuesday to spend some of the state’s $870 million in federal stimulus money on cities, counties and public education instead of investing in the teacher’s retirement fund and new license plates.

The House Appropriations Committee decided to reallocate $75 million of Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s original proposal but left the rest of House Bill 645 intact.

Committee Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said the amendments to House Bill 645 were based on a level of unparalleled bipartisanship and cooperation with the state administration.

“This was truly a team effort,” Sesso said.

Sesso said the committee endorsed a “lion’s share” of Schweitzer’s proposal, and the amendments should be taken in proper perspective.

“We rearranged the deck chairs on $75 million out of $800 million,” Sesso said.

Lawmakers had no say over nearly $600 million of the stimulus money because it was allotted for specific programs by the federal government.

The $75 million reallocation included removing $43 million from the Teacher’s Retirement System, $3.5 million from the Southwest Montana Veteran’s Home, $3 million for new license plates, $2 million from the Ruby Dam restoration and $4 million for updating the secretary of state’s computer system.

The money was given to programs on a committee priority list, Sesso said.

One of the top priorities was a $20 million boost for city and county public works projects and $3 million for tribal governments. Legislators also set aside $3 million for historical restoration projects, including Traveler’s Rest near Missoula and the Daly Mansion in Hamilton.

In education, lawmakers decided to move $15 million to K-12 education and $13 million for tuition mitigation in the University System and community colleges. Community colleges will also get over $1 million for infrastructure projects.

Human services received $2 million for food banks, rescue and homeless shelters, as well as $3 million for aging services.

Rep. Walt McNutt, R-Sidney, said the committee kept the next legislative session in mind and tried to avoid creating fiscal sinkholes in the budget. He also said the committee was not contentious in the process.

“I didn’t get elected to come argue,” McNutt said.

But Rep. Dave Kasten, R-Brockway, said he voted against the stimulus bill because it creates a more bloated government.

“We are just spending way, way, way too much money,” Kasten said. “I’ve got six grandkids and we’re spending their money right here.”

Much of Schweitzer’s original proposal for the stimulus money remained intact, including the $60 million to cushion increases in the Medicaid caseload and $43 million for school facilities and infrastructure. Sesso said $35 million of that money is expected to be “on the street” upon passage of the bill.

Lawmakers expect a full House for HB 645 vote on Thursday. The bill works in coordination with the state budget bill, which is currently being considered in the Senate.

Bill would restrict relocation of Yellowstone bison

Bison hunker down in a spring snowstorm in Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley. Plans to relocate some of park's bison have proved controversial this session. (By Stefanie Kilts, Copyright 2008)

By LAUREN RUSSELL
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – An eastern Montana senator is trying to prevent the Fort Peck Reservation – and anywhere in the state besides the National Bison Range – from getting bison from Yellowstone National Park, even if they’re certified brucellosis free.

Senate Bill 337, sponsored by Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, would prevent state wildlife officials from moving quarantined Yellowstone bison to other parts of the state, including the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations, which have applied to receive them.

Brenden said the bill, which passed the Senate 31-19, is intended to protect ranchers and landowners who worry the animals may still carry the disease, which can cause cattle to abort their calves.

“In my neck of the woods, in northeastern Montana and other areas, I’ve heard from property owners, ranchers, farmers and what have you who are very much against it,” Brenden told the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee Thursday. “It’s costing our ranchers and farmers a lot of money to not be brucellosis-free, and I don’t know why we would want to be experimented on. There’s still a lot we don’t know about brucellosis.”

The bison at issue are part of a study started by state and federal wildlife agencies in 2005 to decide if, after years of quarantine and monitoring, some Yellowstone bison can be reintroduced to the range. Chris Smith, deputy director of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said that a group of 41 bison has already been approved for relocation to the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming.

Supporters of the bill included representatives from the Montana Stockgrowers Association, the Montana Cattlewomen’s Association, the Montana Farm Bureau Association and county commissioners from Valley and Phillips counties.

They questioned the validity of claims that the bison would be brucellosis free, and they fear the bison could escape to mingle with cattle, exposing them to the disease that has cost the beef industry millions in recent years.

“We spent $33 million to gain (class free status) in 1985, so the livestock industry’s pretty sensitive to this issue right now, and the possibility of these animals getting shipped around to different parts of the state – and how other states will view this – is a huge concern to us,” said Jay Bodner of the Stockgrowers Association.

When Montana lost its brucellosis-free status after two separate cases of brucellosis were discovered in the Paradise Valley in 2007 and 2008, the state was downgraded to Class A status, meaning livestock producers have to test all sexually intact cattle over 18 months of age within 30 days of export. The testing is costly.

“Our members are on high alert when it comes to brucellosis,” said Ariel Overstreet of the Montana Cattlewomen’s Association. “That has been a multi-million dollar hit to our industry.”

But officials from FWP and the Department of Livestock testified that the feds have given the relocation of the animals a green light, based on the same rigorous brucellosis testing standards that the cattle industry uses for its beef.

“The bison quarantine feasibility study uses sound science – science based on the code of federal regulations and state law, and the protocols that are being used far exceed those accepted for livestock or movement of bovines around the nation,” said Marty Zaluski, a veterinarian for Livestock Department. “And it’s the same science that in fact cattle producers in Montana use to argue that our cattle are safe.”

Smith said the bison would only be moved to areas that demonstrate the ability to meet strict management standards.

“It’s very well thought out, very carefully conducted, and it would only be implemented in whatever areas we chose to bring the bison,” Smith said. “You can bet that wherever we translocation these animals, we are going to make sure the facility is secure.”

Representatives from the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations said they had doubts about the true intentions of the bill, saying opposition to the tribe’s management of the bison – not the threat of disease – is the real reason for the ranchers’ fears.

“They’re using the threat of disease as an excuse,” said Robert Magnun, director of the Fort Peck Tribes Fish and Game Department. “If I thought the bison had the brucellosis, I wouldn’t bring them here.”

Tracy King, a councilman and former tribal president of Fort Belknap, said that the tribe has successfully managed a small herd of bison for 40 years, and brucellosis isn’t a problem. The tribe would use the Yellowstone bison in ritual practices and as a healthy food source in their attempt to combat diabetes.

“Our record is far better than that of Yellowstone National Park,” he said.

Jonathon Proctor, representing Defenders of Wildlife, agreed. “This bill is really about tribal wildlife agencies and a lack of trust in their ability to manage the bison,” he said. “Let’s work with them to help them manage them.”

Brenden said his bill wasn’t intended to discriminate against the tribes but to prevent situations in which poor management could lead to bison getting out onto private land.

“There isn’t anybody that could guarantee that buffalo, any livestock of any kind, will never get out of a fence or enclosure,” Brenden said. “People think this is a bill that’s anti-tribe. I’m no anti-Indian or anti-tribal person … it comes from a management situation, and it’s not just the tribes I’m picking on. Anybody could have gotten these bison. It’s just that we’ve had so much trouble with the tribe at Fort Peck with their buffalo getting out … I don’t call that responsibility.”

The Fort Peck tribe’s Magnun said later that though some people have spoken out about not wanting the reservation to acquire the bison, most who have participated in local public meetings have been supportive, not “overwhelmingly against it,” as Brenden said last week’s hearing.

Magnun also said that though the bison occasionally escape their enclosure, fish and game officials are quickly on hand to round them up.

“Sometimes those bulls do get out, they push right through the fence. But when they get out, we push them right back in,” Magnun said.

Other opponents of the bill included the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, the governor’s office, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation and the National Parks Conservation Association.

Horse-slaughter bill clears first Senate hurdle

HELENA – The Senate voted 27-23 to give initial approval to a bill that would give future horse slaughterhouses and processing plants in Montana protection from court injunctions seeking to stop them.

House Bill 418, carried by Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, would allow privately owned horse slaughterhouses in Montana and protect them from legal challenges to the plant’s license. This means a court could not order an injunction against a facility once construction has begun.

The bill also requires that anyone challenging a slaughterhouse post a bond worth 20 percent of the construction costs or the value of the existing facility.

After passing the House 66-33, HB 418 was quickly voted through the Senate Agriculture Committee and onto the Senate floor.

The bill’s hearings have been long, emotional debates between farmers, ranchers and horse lovers. Senators said they have received hundreds of letters and phone calls from constituents on the issue.

Zinke said the bill is based on the traditional Montana viewpoint that horses are livestock and should have as much purpose in death as they did in life. Opponents view horses as treasured pets and pieces of Montana’s heritage.

“We have to decide as Montanans which viewpoint will go forth,” Zinke said.

He said horses that are old, too broken to ride, and too expensive to feed would be sent to the plants.

“I don’t say ‘equine processing plant,’” Zinke said. “I’m saying exactly what it is – it’s a slaughterhouse for horses.”

Supporters said not all horses will meet their end in a slaughterhouse because owners will have the choice.

“Give people that want to do it the opportunity,” Sen. Don Steinbeisser, R-Sidney, said.

Other supporters said the slaughterhouses would create job opportunities in Montana’s struggling economy.

But opponents asked why the state should give horse slaughterhouses protection from court injunctions when no other business receives such treatment.

“Doing business with risk is part of the game,” said Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula.

Zinke said the businesses need special treatment to persuade them to build such plants, which can cost as much as $3 million.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Cities plead for local-option sales tax on services

HELENA – Lawmakers heard more than two and a half hours of testimony today from city officials, residents and businesses on a bill that would let voters decide whether to enact local sales taxes in their cities and towns.

Senate Bill 506, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings (pictured), would allow local voters to choose whether to apply a 4 percent sales tax on tourist-centered services, such as prepared food, alcohol served by the drink, lodging, rental cars or recreational machines, and recreational services like sightseeing tours and outfitted trips.

Essmann said the tax would help relieve the property-tax burden on Montanans, especially the elderly living on fixed incomes.

“Everybody likes to talk about (property) tax relief and nobody does anything about it,” Essmann said. “My senate district today looks like Montana will look 20 years from now. Over 65 percent of my district is over the age of 65.”

To ease property taxes, the bill requires that 20 percent of the income from such a sales tax must be shared with counties and that 35 percent must go to property-tax relief. Voters could determine if they wanted to enhance those percentages, and they would also decide what to do with the remaining money.

Supporters said it would greatly improve city finances and would make the estimated 12 million tourists who visit Montana annually help foot the bill for the services they use.

Ed Meece, Livingston’s city manager, said the city has run out of options for raising money to buy a needed police car and hire two firefighters.

“This bill offers us a way to do that and shift the burden of doing that to those folks that currently aren’t doing it,” Meece said.

Alec Hansen of the Montana League of Cities and Towns said nearly half of the income from the sales tax would come from tourists.

“We estimate that 48 percent of the money would come from nonresidents,” Hansen said. “Tourists and travelers, finally, coming to Montana will pay a fair share of the services they use.”

Supporters included mayors from Missoula, Bozeman and Glendive and city managers from Billings, Helena, Bozeman and Great Falls.

But opponents worried such a tax could hurt some businesses, especially in the current economic downturn.

Representatives from rental car companies said they worried the bill would unfairly favor rental business at locations outside a sales-tax city’s limits, such as airports.

“For some reason everyone thinks car rentals is only tourism,” said Robert Ward of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. “The vast majority of our business comes from Montanans.”

Mark Staples of the Montana Tavern Association said the tavern industry would be hit doubly hard because its members serve prepared meals and drinks. He said calling the bill a voter-approved tourism tax was dubious.

“If you oppose it you’re anti-democratic,” Staples said.

Nancy Schlepp of the Montana Farm Bureau Association opposed the bill, saying said it would penalize people living in rural communities who travel to cities to follow local sports teams.

“We are the people using these centers,” Schlepp said. “We go to these cities.”

Other opponents included State Farm Insurance, the Montana Restaurant Association, the Gaming Industry Association, the Montana Taxpayers Association, and the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Senate Republicans look to trim House budget

HELENA –The House had barely approved its $8.1 billion version of the state budget yesterday when key Senate Republican leaders began talking about ways to cut it.

“(The budget) is not structurally balanced,” said Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter and chairman of the powerful Senate Finance and Claims Committee. “It was my hope it would’ve come out of there more balanced.”

Bales, whose committee is scheduled to hold hearings on the budget next week, said the House budget doesn’t account for about $41 million in project revenue shortfalls. The money will have to be cut from somewhere, he added.

“It will come from multiple places,” Bales said. “There is not one place that we can easily reach out and grab that money.”

Bales said Senate Republicans don’t have specific plans for budget cuts but he has a few ideas of his own. He said the committee will consider trimming the base funding for education, human services, corrections and general government. That would help the next Legislature build a balanced budget if revenues don’t improve.

“I certainly do not want to build government in the face of a recession,” he said.

Bales said he expects cuts across the board, but that it is premature to talk about specific cuts when he hasn’t vetted his ideas yet.

However, his vice chairman, Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, said he wants to consider cutting $35 million in funding for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, a voter-approved plan to offer health insurance to some 30,000 uninsured children.

Republicans tried but failed to cut that money earlier in the House. Lewis said he would like to remove it again because implementing any large new program right now is a bad decision.

“I’m not done looking at it,” Lewis said. “I’ll be bringing it up again.”

Lewis also said he would like to spread some of the stimulus money for infrastructure projects to rural areas. “I think there’s a concentration in the highly populated areas,” Lewis said.

Both Lewis and Bales said the Legislature needs to get the stimulus money out to Montanans quickly to create jobs and help right the economy.

However, Lewis also conceded that any budget decisions the GOP-controlled Senate makes will have to be made without alienating the Democratic administration.

“We’ve always got to be thinking of how we can package this so the governor will sign it,” Lewis said.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Gun-rights legislation provokes a heated debate

HELENA – A Laurel Republican wants to remove the need to register concealed weapons in Montana cities or towns, a move opponents say creates a “shoot first” mentality.

“With respect to our freedom I do think this is the most critical bill of this session,” Rep. Krayton Kerns told a crowded hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

His House Bill 228 would allow concealed weapons in city limits without registration and would allow gun owners to brandish their weapons in harmless self-defense. This means owners could exhibit their guns or point them at something other than a person as a means of defense.

The bill also says Second Amendment rights apply to hotels, motels and apartments. Currently, landlords and hotels have the right to decide if guns are allowed on their premises.

Kerns said current concealed weapon qualifications would still apply, meaning felons could not carry a gun and concealed weapons would not be allowed in banks and government buildings.

“Wherever you can legally be, you can defend yourself,” Kerns said.

Supporters included gun organizations and individual citizens concerned about their safety.

Rep. Deborah Kottel, D-Great Falls, said the bill gives those accused of gun crimes due process because the state would have to disprove a suspect’s claims of self defense. Currently, the suspect has to prove that claim.

“It is time that Montana protects the right of the innocent,” Kottel said.

Kottel also supported the right of citizens to use force to detain someone after a citizen’s arrest has been made and to protect their neighbors.

“What strikes more terror in your heart: to know there’s a bad person on the loose or that your neighbor sat on the porch and watched while somebody hit you, raped you, injured your child?” Kottel asked. “That is what strikes fear into my heart.”

Brian Judy of the National Rifle Association said the bill enforces a citizen’s fundamental right to bear arms and to be considered innocent until proven guilty.

“This bill puts individual safety ahead of public safety,” Judy said.

He also said police usually aren’t available when citizens are attacked.

“When seconds count, police will be just minutes away,” Judy said. “If you’re in a lawful place that you have a right to be, you should be able to defend yourself.”

Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Havre, said as a woman, she would like to be able to brandish a weapon to ward off potential attackers.

“If I’m walking down the street of Billings and car load of thugs pulls over, I want the right to be able to show them that I have a gun,” Warburton said.

But the opposition – mainly county attorneys, policies and sheriff’s deputies – warned HB 228 will only help criminals commit more crimes.

Gallatin County Sheriff Jim Cashell said the current concealed weapon laws works well enough and that Krayton’s bill endangers law enforcement.

“The reality is everybody’s a law abiding citizen until they’re not,” Cashell said. “It would apply to everyone, there are no exceptions. It applies to the gang-banger in Billings who may have a misdemeanor record, but he’s still entitled to carry a concealed weapon.”

Brian Black, an officer and firearms instructor for the Great Falls Police Department, said the bill is offensive to law enforcement.

“In the real world, this bill will not help the 99 percent of law abiding citizens in Montana,” Black said. “This heavily edited bill echoes of the ramblings of a radical extremist group, not the caring and contemplated thought of a sensible Legislature.”

Representative from the University System also opposed the bill, saying it would create a loophole to allow guns in dormitories and would hamper the safety of student communities.

Other opponents included the attorney general; sheriffs from Cascade and Madison counties; county attorneys from Missoula, Glacier and Gallatin counties; and the Montana Police Protective Association.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

House rejects GOP cuts, endorses budget bill

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – After only a day’s debate, Montana’s House of Representatives passed a budget today, rejecting every Republican effort to whittle it down.

The House voted 65-34 to give its initial approval to House Bill 2, which would fund state government over the next biennium. The budget totals $8.1 billion in spending, a $474 million increase from the current budget.

Democrats praised the day’s work as a model of bipartisanship, while disappointed Republican leaders predicted the GOP-controlled Senate would have a better chance of making cuts.

House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, called the budgeting debate, which began on the floor at 9:30 a.m. and ended at 5:45 p.m., an unprecedented success.

“All 100 people in this chamber want what’s best for Montana,” Bergren said. “We just have a little bit different philosophies.”

A handful of Republicans joined all 50 House Democrats in beating back every proposed cut, despite forecasts late last week of another $41 million drop in projected revenues. In all, analyists have predicted revenue shortages of $290 million since just before this session begain.

The biggest sections of the budget - human services, corrections and public education - all received increases. Human services, accounting for $3.2 billion of the budget, saw a 9.4 percent increase from the last biennium. Public education, at $1.6 billion of the budget, will increase by over 3 percent. The prison system would see a 3 percent increase of $11 million.

The only budget area that saw an reduction was higher education, which will decrease by $5 million.

House Minority Leader Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, offered 21 of the 22 unsuccessful amendments to cut what he considered to be a too-fat budget. He also warned that the state can expect plenty of revenue drops in the future.

“Our nation and our state face serious times ahead,” Sales said. “You cannot spend your way into prosperity.”

Sales’ amendments included removing salary increases for attorneys in the Department of Justice, cutting $175,000 from the Montana Board of Crime Control, and cutting $250,000 from the Office of Public Instruction.

He also proposed cutting $1,300 over the next two years from the Board of Public Education budget for the per diem payments for board members.

“This would just prevent them from having a ham sandwich while they’re on the road,” Sales said. “They can pack a lunch.”

When that amendment failed 36-63, Sales expressed his disappointment. “We couldn’t find the resolve as a group of individuals to remove $1,300,” he said.

But House Appropriations Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said his committee put together a sound budget that prepares the state for lean times ahead.

“Montana is in the black, we’re not in the red,” Sesso said. “We’re not mortgaging our future to anyone.”

House Democrats held steady in opposing any cuts, while a handful of Republicans joined them for a variety of reasons.

Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, said he didn’t support floor amendments out of respect for the Appropriations Committee, and because it can be dangerous to change a large budget bill without first researching repercussions.

Rep. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, said he voted to pass HB 2 and send it to the Senate, where Republicans have the votes to make cuts.

“This bill will go to the Senate where all your concerns will be addressed,” Ankney told fellow Republicans. “This is not the place to do that.”

But Rep. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, compared state spending to that of General Motors, the auto maker now seeking a government bailout.

“You can’t continue to spend money you don’t have forever,” McGillvray said. “We’re running ourselves into a hole.”

The most heavily debated section of the budget concerned the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, with issues ranging from children’s health care to state-funded contraception.

McGillvray tried but failed to cut funding for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, the program approved by voters last fall to provide heath insurance to nearly 30,000 uninsured children from low- and moderate-income families.

The coverage would be paid for through the CHIP and Medicaid programs, in which the federal government matches state funding.

“Certainly, most voters out there that I talked to had no idea what was really happening there,” McGillvray said. “This is not poverty at all. We’ve gone way beyond poverty and those who ran that initiative knew it wasn’t about kids in poverty, it was about socializing medicine.”

The amendment failed 33-65.

Rep. Ken Peterson, R-Helena, said the federal government uses matching dollars in these programs to suck states into the same debt it faces.

“Many of the things that come into the health services I’d class as charity,” Peterson said. “Pure charity.”

But Rep. Sue Dickenson, D-Great Falls, said health-care spending reflected humanity in hard times.

“We’re not talking about charity,” she said. “We’re talking about justice, we’re talking about investments.”

The next step for HB 2 is the Senate Finance and Claims Committee, where it will be considered and amended before going to the Senate floor for debate.

Lawmakers weigh fate of autism treatment bill

By JENNIFER KIRBY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

Parents of children with autism are awaiting a key decision this week on legislation that would require insurance companies to cover a range of treatments for autism that have been shown to improve a child’s quality of life.

Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Sen. Kim Gillan, D-Billings, awaits action by the Senate Finance and Claims Committee. Given the economy and falling state revenues, any bill with costs attached faces long odds, the bill’s sponsor said last week.

“It’s is going to be very tough to get it out of the committee,” Gillan said.

But in a hearing last week, Gillan stressed that working parents with insurance face high out-of -pocket costs to provide their autistic children with the treatment they need because insurance companies have been denying coverage of these recommended treatments.

Supporters of the bill delivered emotional testimony, emphasizing the cost of not treating a child with autism. They testified that the treatments addressed by this bill will save the state money in the long run, because children that receive early, intensive therapy are less likely to need special education services in school and state mental health services as adults.

But insurers warned that mandates for additional coverage mean higher costs that may cause more people to go without insurance. Frank Cote of Blue Cross and Blue Shield said that every time a mandate is passed, .25 percent of those insured drop their coverage because the increase in premiums is too much of a financial burden.

Estimates of what those costs would be ranged widely. Money to cover increased costs to state and university systems insurance plans could come either from additional appropriations or higher premiums passed on to state employees.

The budget office calculated that $1,375,466 in additional funding would be necessary to cover the cost of health coverage for state workers. State employees could see an increase $12.56 per month, if the costs are passed on to them.

But Gillan said those numbers are too high. Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting, Inc., an independent actuarial firm, calculated the cost of the increased benefits to be $12.70 per year, not per month.

Amendments to the bill have cut costs significantly by limiting coverage to children 18 years or younger and reducing the maximum benefit for older children because the treatments available focus on early intervention and are not as effective in children over eight years.

Coverage for services to maintain functioning of children with an autism spectrum disorder was eliminated, as was coverage for dietitian services.

U-system officials warn against freezing tuition

HELENA – Higher education officials said Thursday that the governor’s spending plan for federal stimulus dollars falls at least $8 million short, and his demands for no tuition increases are out of line.

“We don’t have to be told that doing everything we can do to mitigate tuition (increases) is job number one,” said Steve Barrett, chairman for the Board of Regents. “We know it’s our priority.”

Officials voiced their frustration at House Bill 645, which says the state will give the university system $10 million in federal stimulus funds but only if it agrees not to increase tuition over the next two years.

The governor’s budget director, David Ewer, said Wednesday that the university system will just have to cut costs, because the governor will not raise taxes.

Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns said the U-System needs at least another $8.2 million on top of the $10 million already in the bill. She said this request is “almost unforgivably conservative.”

Initially, the university system asked for over $30 million for price and wage adjustments in the next two years. That request has dwindled with the economy, but Stearns warned that capping tuition may hurt the university system rather than help it.

She said another two years without tuition increases could mean double-digit percentage increases in the following biennium as campuses try to catch up.

The $10 million in HB 645 would be used to dampen tuition increases, but tuition could go up regardless. “If it means that it’s 4 percent instead of 8 percent (increase), that’s great,” Stearns said.

Stearns warned that cutting funds at schools means cutting staff and courses students need. “You might save (students) $100 this year, but you might cost them another year (in school),” Stearns said.

University of Montana President George Dennison said college needs to be affordable but funding problems could arise if tuition is capped as it was in 2007. “We need to be careful about making no tuition increases,” he said.

Dennison said the University of Montana has already had to make reductions in some departments to ensure that other departments can survive. Currently, the campus is facing a $4 million shortage, Dennison said. This equals about 30 faculty members, he said.

If UM doesn’t get enough funding, Dennison said class sizes will increase, and students will have limited access to education. “Not by money, but by not being able to provide the courses students need,” Dennison said.

Representatives from other campuses across Montana offered similar concerns about funding, especially the two-year colleges. They said enrollment has skyrocketed and double-digit tuition increases would deter people from getting workforce training.

But Rep. Dan Villa, D-Anaconda and chairman of the subcommittee that oversees higher education budgets, said even though the university system is worried, effects of the economic downturn still apply.

“This is a recession time, it is tough,” Villa said. “We need to understand that from a governmental perspective as well as a personal perspective.”

Villa said his goal is to work closely with the Board of Regents for a tuition freeze. “We’re going to freeze tuition, but not on the backs of students and the programs that support them.”

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Lawmakers hear plans to spend stimulus money

By MOLLY PRIDDY

Community News Service

UM School of Journalism

HELENA – Legislators got a look today at the bill to spend $800 million in federal stimulus dollars and learned what the state can and can't do with the cash. They also heard the governor’s ideas for spending the money.

The House Appropriations Committee heard two presentations on House Bill 645; one from Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s budget director, David Ewer, and one from the Legislature's own fiscal analysts.

Legislative Fiscal Division staffers said most of the money is headed to programs already determined by the federal government, but lawmakers will still have some say in the spending.

“You essentially have $275 million for your particular priorities with the stabilization funds,” said Taryn Purdy of the Legislative Fiscal Division. She said that money could be used however legislators choose.

There will also be $575 million in tax cuts for Montanans, but these cuts will have almost zero impact on the general fund, according to state financial forecasters.

David Ewer, the governor’s budget director, gave the committee the governor’s recommendations on how to spend the $275 million in discretionary funds.

Many of the projects involved various infrastructure projects that are “ready to go,” Ewer said. The list also contains $43 million for school infrastructure projects, $1 million for anti-meth programs and over $3 million for license plate reissues.

Ewer said the governor’s top priorities are a $250 million ending-fund balance, $43 million for teacher retirement accounts and $60 million for an expected increase in the state's Medicaid caseloads.

The Medicaid money is especially important, Ewer said.

“We need to use at least part of it for that service,” Ewer said. “It is an entitlement, right? We as a state can’t say, currently, no to people. If they enroll, we have to pay.”

Ewer also recommended giving $10 million to the state's colleges in return for their agreement not to raise tuition. Higher education officials may argue that the sum isn't big enough for that, but they will have to figure out how to make it work, he added.

“There are consequences of having that kind of reduction, and we’re not going to raise taxes,” Ewer said. “We believe that it’s reasonable to expect that higher education with these funds could hold a line of tuition.”

Universities and colleges will have to strike a balance between services offered with no tuition increases, Ewer said.

Committee members questioned Ewer about the money set aside for the teacher retirement fund. Rep. Penny Morgan, R-Billings, asked why the governor chose to fund teacher retirement accounts and not the public employee account.

Ewer said the governor chose to fund the teacher account because much of the package focuses on education. He also said it is a good time to invest in the stock market when prices are so low.

When questioned about the governor’s assertion that HB 645 needed to be on his desk by April 3, Ewer said it would depend on the bill’s process. He said the governor wants to be certain about what he’s signing for, so process should be speedy.

Legislators will hear public comment about how to allocate federal dollars on Thursday. Subcommittees on health and human services, corrections, education, transportation and general government joint subcommittees will meet separately to hear about the effect on their sections of the budget.

Senators consider expanded funding for CHIP

HELENA – Senators got their first look this week at a bill that would provide start-up money for the voter-approved expansion of children’s health care coverage.

House Bill 157, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena (pictured), would appropriate $2.6 million in special revenue funds to get the Healthy Montana Kids Plan started. The plan would expand coverage under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

More than 70 percent of Montana voters supported the idea in November when they voted for I-155.

“It was clear Montanans wanted children to have health insurance,” Hunter told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee Monday.

Hunter said the $2.6 million would come from funds that were set aside when I-155 passed: $900,000 from the special revenue account and a $1.7 million federal match for the money. The HB157 money would only fund the expansion through 2009.

Right now, the state has $17 million in a special revenue fund that was set aside for the expansion after I-155 passed. Hunter said the money cannot be used for anything else and will just sit there if Healthy Montana Kids doesn’t get started.

Hunter also said the governor realized that money was being set aside when he created his budget.

“The initiative set aside this money as a particular, dedicated source of special revenue,” Hunter said.

Healthy Montana Kids has been an issue of particular partisan contention this session. Some Republicans have said the expansion is too expensive to fund during the economic downturn and should be put off for two years.

But a deadlock over whether to fully fund the program may have been broken over the weekend when Democrats and Republicans on the powerful House Appropriations Committee decided to include $35 million for CHIP in its proposed budget

The hearing for HB 157 came just before that vote. Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, said both bills are necessary to get the money flowing to an estimated 30,000 uninsured Montana children.

“You really can’t spend any money without the statute,” said.

Williams said previous legislative attempts to expand the program failed, so the voters took action.

“I’m not a big fan for initiatives that make decisions for the Legislature on how we spend our money,” Williams said. “Because of the lack of ability of the Legislature to make this happen, I support it.”

“We all know in our heart that his program is a good one,” Williams said. “It’s supported by the people and the money’s there to do it.”

Representatives from the Governor’s Office and the Department of Public Health and Human Services supported the bill, as well as the Human Rights Network, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, the Billings Clinic and the Office of Public Instruction.

There were no opponents.

At full expansion, the program is expected to cover 29,100 uninsured children in Montana. Representatives from DPHHS said if HB157 passes, children will be enrolled by October 1.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Tribal leaders seek stable economy, cooperation

HELENA – Montana tribal leaders stressed the importance of economic stability and progress on the American Indian reservations as they addressed lawmakers during the State of the Tribal Nations Address this afternoon at the capitol.

James Steele Jr. (pictured), chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, gave the address, representing the eight tribes in the state.

“I believe that Indian reservations are good for Montana and can, in fact, significantly aid Montana in the area of economic development,” Steele said.

He gave examples of each tribe’s economic successes, including the future purchase of the Kerr Dam by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Many Stars Coal-to-Liquids Project on the Crow reservation.

“Even with high rates of unemployment, the seven Indian reservations of Montana and the state-recognized Little Shell Band of Chippewa contribute a combined total of $1 billion annually to the Montana economy,” Steele said.

Steele reminded legislators of the sovereignty the American Indian nations but said state and tribal governments must work together to survive the economic crisis.

“It’s important to remind ourselves and our surrounding communities that together we are greater than the sum of our parts,” Steele said.

Steele asserted the importance of developing water compacts and treaties between the tribes and the state, and exempting tribally owned lands from state taxes.

Representatives from the Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree, Northern Cheyenne and Little Shell Band of Chippewa were present, as were representatives from the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck reservations.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Bill would decriminalize possession of marijuana

HELENA – In what supporters say is an attempt to refocus law enforcement on more serious crimes, lawmakers heard a bill today that would reduce penalties for possessing 30 grams or less of marijuana.

House Bill 541, sponsored by Rep. Brady Wiseman, D-Bozeman, would make possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana a civil infraction instead of a misdemeanor crime. The fine would be up to $100. Currently, any marijuana possession can garner a $500 fine and six months in jail.

Wiseman said if the bill passes, it will allow law enforcement to focus time and resources on more dangerous crimes, such as assault and rape.

“Our purpose here today is not to condone or to advocate for the use of marijuana,” Wiseman said. “The policy we have today employs a large number law enforcement resources to work on a problem whose actual harm is quite small and leaves far more serious crimes against person and property going unsolved.”

Wiseman brought a 31 gram jar of spices to as a prop to give lawmakers an idea about the proposed amount, saying that most arrests are made for two grams or less. He said removing the misdemeanor charge would lighten the load for overburdened prosecutors.

Supporters for the bill said current marijuana laws are outdated and cause more damage than good.

“We are not talking about drug kingpins here,” said John Masterson, an advocate from Missoula. “These arrests happening everyday in Missoula County alone are almost always a young person with a very small amount of marijuana.”

These people are arrested and labeled as users, giving the federal government cause to take away their gun rights, student loans and veteran disability benefits, Masterson said.

Angela Goodhope of the Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy said “reefer madness” has caused a social stigma on marijuana. She also said if marijuana laws had been enforced 100 percent, Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton would have been branded criminals.

But opponents to the bill said any lax measures on marijuana would undo the anti-drug work law enforcement has done.

“The decriminalization of marijuana in possession of any amount sends a message statewide that marijuana is not considered to be a harmful drug,” said Jeff Jergens of the Montana Narcotics Officers Association. “Is that the message we want to send?”

Jesse Slaughter of the Montana Police Protective Association said records of marijuana arrests can be helpful to law enforcement further down the road when those same offenders are charged with more serious crimes.

Slaughter also said law enforcement is not prepared for the potential consequences if the bill passes.

Several lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee voiced concern over the bill’s lack of language concerning how teenagers should be charged. Wiseman said he intended the bill to only apply to legal adults and would be open to amending it.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Lawmakers hammer out spending 'compromise'

HELENA – Democrats and Republicans reached an initial agreement on a state budget late Monday as the House Appropriations Committee voted to chop nearly $60 million from agency requests yet still fund a voter-approved initiative to provide health coverage for almost 30,000 uninsured children.

“The state and all of our citizens are struggling, the economy is faltering and we all have to chip in in order to make ends meet,” said Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte (pictured).

Sesso said the committee met over the weekend to cobble together the details of House Bill 2, the session's big budget bill. He also said each state department will get less money than it asked for.

One of the biggest bipartisan developments was the agreement to put the $35 million, voter-approved Healthy Montana Kids Plan back into the budget. The plan, which expands health care eligibility for CHIP and Medicaid, has been a matter of partisan contention this session.

Last month, Republicans voted to block funding the CHIP expansion, saying it was too expensive and unfair to Montana taxpayers. Democrats disagreed, saying lawmakers should listen to the 70 percent of Montanans voted for the expansion in November.

Sesso said the $60 million in reductions had to be made to meet the constitution's requirment of a balanced, but lawmakers predicted that some of those reductions, including $20 million for education, will be covered by the federal stimulus package.

Though no money was removed from the Health and Human Services Department, lawmakers redefined $30 million as one-time-only funding. That means HHS will have to make budget reductions in the 2012-2013 biennium or hope for a better economy, Sesso said.

“The concept there is asking the experienced and capable workforce in Human Services to make those changes in the ’12 –’13 biennium,” Sesso said.

The Department of Transportation will go without a request for $6.4 million from the general fund, and general government was reduced by about $8 million.

Rep. Ray Hawk, R-Florence, was one of two committee members who voted agianst the budget bill. He said the budget was still unbalanced and he couldn’t vote to approve it. Rep. Dave Kasten, R-Brockway, also voted against the bill.

But a bipartisan group of 18 committee members OK'd the budget deal, saying it represented the best example of bipartisan cooperation so far this session. Even so, bill still has major hurdles to clear.

It goes next to the House floor, where all representatives will get the chance to debate it and recommend changes before it passes over the Senate.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

The Legislature Online

Photo by Molly Priddy

Internet helps lawmakers blend politics
and the personal under the capitol dome

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – They’re wired up here at the capitol, and not just from the gallons of coffee consumed during long hearings.

With technology advancing faster than you can say Facebook, it was inevitable that the Legislature would evolve with it. Lawmakers are now in constant contact with constituents, and constituents can keep constant tabs on them.

Almost everyone here, journalists included, has a laptop opened to write e-mails or to update their status on Twitter or to blog about what so-and-so from across the aisle just said.

“My blog totally rocks,” said Rep. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman. “It has really kind of taken off this session.”

Pomnichowski, 42, has been blogging since her first campaign in 2006 and tries to update her site every couple of days. The entries offer constituents an insider’s view of the Legislature, she said.

“I just like to give the perspective of a representative from the House floor, from the committees,” Pomnichowski said.

But her blog also highlights personal interests, including her fascination with shoes. Pictures of her favorite pairs can be found alongside her voting information.

Sen. Jon Brueggeman’s blog mixes the personal and political too. Visitors to the site can read entries explaining legislation or click their way to one of his favorite motorcycle sites.

A self-described moderate Republican, Brueggeman said he prefers to speak for himself online instead of through the official party filter.

“I’ve got a little bit of a different take on politics than other Republicans,” said the 29-year-old from Polson. “There’s a huge void in politics where the reasoned middle doesn’t have a clear voice.”

He also said he uses the blog to connect to young people, a demographic glaringly absent from the Republican Party.

“I think the party has failed at getting its message out to the young people,” Brueggeman said.

The Internet also helps Montana’s citizen lawmakers maintain their domestic lives and livelihoods away from home.

“We can’t stop our lives,” Brueggeman said. “There are quite a few of us who have the ability to multi-task.”

Two years ago Brueggeman and other lawmakers pushed for and won a $1,500 computer stipend, which is now afforded to legislators every four years. He also helped develop the online legislative agendas available on the Legislature’s own Web site.

“Montana is one of the more progressive states in the way it delivers information to the citizens,” Brueggeman said.

The Democratic and Republican parties now have their own blogs. The GOP launched its effort this session to communicate directly with constituents. Likewise, the Democrats’ blog collects articles and posts notices about party events or issues.

However, the online revolution does have its downside. Even a casual observer can spot lawmakers occasionally playing online card games or watching YouTube videos during floor debates.

“That really drives me crazy,” Pomnichowski said. “It’s important for me to respect the legislative workday.”

House Speaker Bob Bergren said there are no rules outlining specific computer use, but lawmakers should remember the public can see them playing around. “It doesn’t look good,” he said.

Brueggeman agreed that lawmakers should pay attention to state business, but regulating online behavior won’t be easy.

“It gives people a chance to not listen to the debate,” Brueggeman said. “It’s tough to see how it’ll balance out. We’re kind of wading in new territory.”

Despite the occasional Solitaire dalliance, most legislators say they use their computers to look up bill information or to instantly communicate with the world outside the capitol.

Rep. Tom McGillvray, a Republican leader in the House, doesn’t bring a computer to the floor because he has an office at the capitol. Taped under the screen of his desktop computer is a handwritten note that simply says, “Twitter.”

Twitter is an up-and-coming online tool that lets people update their personal status for anyone interested with short, succinct messages, called “tweets,” that use only 140 characters.

“I like Twitter,” McGillvray said. “It may give more people that interpersonal touch of the Legislature.”

McGillvray, 51, said he caught the bug after seeing President Barack Obama tweet. Even former presidential candidate John McCain tweets occasionally, despite admitting during the campaign that he didn’t know how to e-mail.

It’s also a helpful way to get the GOP message across without going through the media, McGillvray added.

“We need to help people to have access from a legislator’s point of view as opposed to having our actions filtered through the media,” McGillvray said. “We want to expose ourselves to a younger generation that uses technology to communicate.”

McGillvray said he intends to get more personal in his updates – if he can remember to do them, that is.

For those Montanans who aren’t quite up to tweeting, there’s always good old fashioned online audio and TV to keep up with the action.

All floor sessions and many committee meetings are broadcast across the Internet on the Legislature’s Web site and on TV. Lawmakers are still getting used to the idea that constituents are always watching.

Brueggeman said the big-brother like surveillance puts an extra layer of pressure on legislators to faithfully represent their districts. The hard part is actually remembering people outside the capitol bubble are watching, he said.

“You kind of forget it is being broadcast out,” Brueggeman said. “It can be a double-edged sword.”

Even the legislators on the floor use the broadcasts to make life a little easier. Rep. Janna Taylor, R-Dayton, often watches the House sessions on her computer while the real action plays out around her.

Taylor, 60, said she watches online so she doesn’t have to constantly crank her head around to see who is talking.

She also advocates using computers as the “green” thing to do. Getting a hard copy of entire bill wastes paper when you can pick and choose which pages to print, she said.

“You should only be allowed to get your bills in paper if you’re totally technologically challenged,” Taylor said.

Sen. Donald Steinbeisser, who still uses paper on the Senate floor, readily confesses his technological inadequacies. “I’m a Johnny-come-lately,” the 73-year-old Sidney Republican said.

Still, he’s had a computer since 1996, and he’s no stranger what it can do.

“I use it every day,” he said, “but I don’t like ‘em.”

Governor urges fast action on stimulus spending

HELENA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer outlined his plan for the state’s share of the stimulus money today, saying lawmakers need to move quickly and appropriate the money to jump start the timber industry, freeze tuition and rebuild highways.

“The Montana Reinvestment Act will put Montana back to work,” Schweitzer said at a press conference.

Schweitzer asked lawmakers to have the stimulus bill ready to go by April 3, a deadline, he said, was put on the money by the federal government.

“They have said use it or lose it,” Schweitzer said.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said it would be tight but the Legislature will be able to get the bill out in time.

“We’ll adjust as necessary,” Sesso said. “If the federal government can get it done in 45 days, we’ll get it done in 22.”

If legislators follow through with Schweitzer’s demand, they would only have 22 legislative days to complete the task.

Schweitzer’s plan for the stimulus money includes $42 million for a two-year tuition freeze at Montana colleges, $43 million to stabilize teacher retirement funds and $10 million for the struggling timber industry.

“Unemployment rates in Montana are relatively low until you get to northwest Montana, where the timber industry is hurting,” Schweitzer said.

The money would be used to buy new equipment for sawmills to help them deal with the thousands of acres of trees that have been killed by beetles, Schweitzer said.

Sesso said the schedule for the stimulus bill has been moved up, and plans on introducing the bill on Saturday. It will still work in tandem with the state budget, Sesso said.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Bill would let state's brewers craft stronger beers

By WILL MELTON
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

Chimay Grand Reserve, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Avery’s Hog Heaven barley wine and any other beers that contain more than 8.75 percent alcohol by volume are currently considered liquor by the state of Montana.

As such, they may only be sold in state liquor stores or served by bars with beer and wine licenses. It also means that Montana’s 25 breweries can’t properly brew nearly a fifth of recognized beer styles and sell them in-state, according to Tony Herbert, the executive director of the Montana Brewers Association.

If Rep. Deb Kottel, D-Great Falls, has her way, that could change.

Kottel’s House Bill 400 would change the definition of beer to include beers up to 14 percent ABV. Due to the quality of the barley, wheat and grains grown throughout the state, “Montana is situated to be one of the best brewers of micro-brewed beer in the country,” she said.

HB 400 passed the House by a vote of 80-20, with the main opponents being members of the Legislature's Native American Caucus, who were concerned about alcoholism on the reservations.

Kottel said she supports an amendment to keep the rules for beer under 8.75 percent the same, but require that beers between 8.75 and 14 percent be composed of 75 percent fermentable ingredients. This, she said, would resolve the issue of most high-alcohol malt liquors and malted fruit beverages, such as Sparks, that are the greatest concern of the Native American Caucus.

Due to the large amounts of malts and grains used in crafting the so-called big beers, the higher alcohol brews cost much more than similarly alcoholic wine, and the amendment should weed out most of the cheaper malted beverages, Kottel said.

It is in part because of that expense and the difficulty of making these higher alcohol beers that Kottel sponsored the bill. The current law, she said, was written 50 years ago when there were only a few breweries in the state, run by the big beer brands. Now, local breweries are major consumers of Montana-grown produce, and big beers will utilize a greater percentage of those malts and grains.

Herbert stresses, however, that most Montana breweries likely won’t brew many of these big beers. Nevertheless, he feels that the current law is much too limiting to the craft brewers of Montana. As Herbert says, “it’s like telling a painter that he can only use a few colors, even though he has the skills to paint whatever he likes.”

Herbert argues that the bill will help Montana breweries make a name for themselves in competitions with more established breweries in the region that haven’t been hampered by low-alcohol restrictions.

As Kottel says, if the bill passes, with the quality of the breweries and malted barleys in the state, “Montana could become the Napa Valley of beer.”

- Photo by Alison Smith