Posts
By WILL MELTON and JENNIFER KIRBY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
In all, 1,316 bills were introduced in the 2009 Legislature, but not all of them made big headlines. Here are a few odds and ends, now signed into law, that you may have missed:
• HB 90 adds llamas to the list of animals that are eligible for coverage for losses by wolves. Previously, the list included cattle, swine, horses, mules, sheep, goats and livestock guard animals. Any llamas killed by wolves will net the owner the fair market value.
• HB 288 bans reproductive cloning in Montana, making any attempt to clone a person a felony offense. Any fines collected as a result will go into the state general fund.
• HB 308 allows a sentencing court to make an offender donate food to a food bank to fulfill all or part of a sentence.
• HB 372 allows an exemption for jury duty for nursing mothers or various primary caregivers who couldn’t find suitable substitute care. Previously, jury exemptions were allowed only if they caused undue hardship to the potential juror him or herself.
• HB 534 requires an audio, visual, or audiovisual recording of any felony-level interrogations. The bill will hopefully prevent disputes about the treatment of a suspect, keep suspects from changing their stories and enhance public confidence in the criminal process.
• HB 37 changes the wording in Montana Code Annotated to achieve gender neutrality by acknowledging that a governor is not necessarily a he, and replacing all other strictly male references with gender neutral alternatives. “Shall” changed to “must,” along with a variety of other adjustments, to make the language of the codes more comprehensive.
• HB 203 requires the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to notify the public before transplanting wolves, bears, or mountain lions to either public or private property by posting the information on the FWP Web site. The bill also requires FWP to notify the landowner before releasing any of these animals on private property.
• HB 546 protects an individual’s right to free political speech via the campaign sign. The bill says property owners’ associations may not forbid the placement of candidates yard signs, though they may still regulate size and placement.
• HB 362 limits the liability for health care professional providing care during a disaster, be it natural or human caused.
• SB 447 requires law enforcement agencies to preserve DNA obtained in connection with a felony for which a conviction is obtained for a minimum of three years.
• SB 424 makes it illegal to sell or install a mercury-added thermostat in Montana after January 1, 2010. Manufacturers must also establish a program to collect and recycle mercury-added thermostats.
• SB 388 establishes a training program for incumbent workers, called a “BEAR program” (business expansion and retention program) to train current employees of businesses employing 20 or fewer workers but no more than 50 statewide. The program also includes grants for employers to assist in the training of employees at state universities, community colleges or apprenticeship programs.
• SB 325 clarifies the Medical Marijuana Act, specifically prohibiting a person who is a designated caregiver of an authorized medical marijuana user from using marijuana or using drug paraphernalia other than in limited circumstances. The law also specifies that patients may not operate a motor vehicle, aircraft or motorboat under the influence of marijuana or use marijuana on a school bus or other public transportation, on school grounds, in correctional facilities or at any public park, beach, recreation center or youth center.
• SB 68 makes it illegal to place all or part of a dead animal in “a lake, river, creek, pond, reservoir, road, street, alley, lot or field” and to place part or all of a dead animal within one mile of a residence unless the dead animal is burned or buried at least two feet underground or put in a licensed animal composting facility.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Llamas and the Law: Here are some products of the session that may have flown under the radar
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Legislature adjourns after passing key money bills
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA – With snow falling outside, the final gavel fell on Montana’s 61st Legislature Tuesday, as lawmakers gave final approval to the state budget, the federal stimulus plan and a bill that seeks to lessen the financial blow to taxpayers from the state’s recent property appraisal.
Republicans and Democrats fought this session over funding for children’s health care and K-12 schools, but legislative leadership said the level of civility this session allowed for more compromise than the last session.
“We did have a good working relationship between the Senate and the House and between the Republican and Democrat caucuses,” said Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City.
Both parties said they stuck to their priorities throughout the session, with Republicans pushing for less state spending and Democrats promoting more state funding of children’s health insurance and education.
“I think overall we have done the people’s business,” said Sen. Carol Williams, D-Missoula.
House Bill 2, the state budget, will fully fund the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, a voter-approved expansion of children’s health insurance funded by the state. The budget will also give K-12 education a 3 percent increase in funding with help next year from federal dollars.
Democrats demanded the full expansion for children’s health care and more school funding for most of the session, but Republicans argued the state did not have enough money to pay for a new program and still maintain state agencies.
In another effort to reduce state spending, Senate Republicans cut 2 percent from all state agency budgets, a move that left a bad taste in some Democratic mouths.
“This specifically targets jobs in state agencies,” said Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena.
The Senate voted 27-23 to approve the latest version of the budget, but several senators expressed reservations about overspending.
“I’m flabbergasted that this is what we call an austere budget,” said Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, after describing over $10 billion of spending, including federal stimulus dollars.
Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor, said revenues will probably not bounce back as quickly as the budget suggests, and Montana will be in a hole. “This (budget) is a compromise, but it won’t work,” he said.
The Senate’s budget chairman, Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, stood behind the budget he and his committee crafted, but also expressed doubts about avoiding a special session.
“I don’t know that we could’ve crafted a budget in these uncertain times (in which) everybody could’ve gotten what they wanted,” Bales said.
Some Senate Democrats voted against the budget because it temporarily reroutes funding earmarked by voters for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan into the general fund. They also disagreed with removing an amendment that would allow the Children’s Health Insurance Program to pay for contraceptives.
“In 2009, to be standing here trying to beg and plead about having contraception being taken care of so children will have a healthy opportunities ahead of them instead of unplanned pregnancy is just beyond my recognition of where we are as a people,” said Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula.
Sen. John Brueggeman also favored CHIP-funded contraceptives as a means of avoiding future abortions.
“I wish that everyone was living biblically moral lives,” Brueggeman said. “I wish that was the case but it is not.” He told Republicans that more abortions would happen because women could not access birth control.
“We all have to be clear with that,” Brueggeman said. “We all have to sleep with that.”
The House voted 56-44 to pass the budget with little discussion. House Appropriations Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said he worked with Republicans to craft an austere and prudent budget that also pays for children’s health care and education.
“I’m proud of the package that we present to you today,” Sesso said. “It’s a budget (that) we can say without a doubt is fiscally responsible.”
But the House would not stay quiet for long. The bill that seeks to lessen the sting of higher property taxes after reappraisal, House Bill 658, was hotly debated as several Democrats split with their leadership to denounce the bill.
Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, said the bill does not provide enough money to ease tax increases, saying some homeowners could be faced with 15 percent tax increases with little help for elderly or low-income residents. Rep. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, agreeing with Jopek, said the bill forces the poor to pay more of their wages toward property taxes than the wealthy.
But House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, said the bill needed to pass before the end of the day or a special session would have to be called.
“Right now, this is the best we can hammer out,” Bergren said. He said that if there were problems, the next session could adjust tax rates.
The bill passed with a 57-43 vote.
The 2007 session was plagued with bipartisan acrimony over spending a $1 billion surplus, which led to the Legislature’s failure to complete its one constitutional duty in a regular session: constructing a state budget.
Current lawmakers said they entered the 2009 session with that lesson learned. They said they were proud of the civility and openness between both houses and parties.
Before any of the work can officially be deemed complete, the bills have to be signed into law by Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The governor said he has yet to look over the details in the budget and stimulus bills but hopes to avoid a special session to deal with any discrepancies.
“I’m pleased with the work of the Legislature,” he said. “This wasn’t an easy session for anyone. Let us hope that there isn’t something that we left behind.”
But Schweitzer also said he was not pleased with the work done on property-tax reappraisal mitigation because it gave too many breaks to subdivision owners and businesses.
The governor also said universities should be able to mitigate tuition increases despite cuts made to their budgets in HB 2.
“I would encourage the Board of Regents to cap tuition for another two years,” Schweitzer said.
Since fewer than 100 legislators voted in favor of the budget, Schweitzer retains the power to veto individual aspects of the bill. The governor would not say if this was a choreographed effort by Democrats, but did say there is always communication between his staff and Democratic legislators.
Bergren said there was talk about ensuring Schweitzer’s line-item veto power, but nothing official.
“There were some discussions in the hall, but there was no coordinated effort,” Bergren said.
Barring special session, the next Legislature will meet in 2011.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Legislature to tackle spending, tax bills Tuesday
By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA - Lawmakers trying to beat the clock this session are expected to pass the biggest bills of the session tomorrow: the state budget, a plan to spend federal stimulus money, and legislation to head off big tax increases due to last summer's statewide property reappraisal.
House Bill 2, the state budget bill, passed out of its conference committee unanimously Monday afternoon after lawmakers tacked on more than 60 amendments. Republicans and Democrats say the budget is a compromise and no one got everything they asked for.
“We have achieved the goals that both sides have set out for ourselves,” said Rep. Jon Sesso, D-Butte. Sesso said he and Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, worked hard to align their differing priorities, but in the end everyone had to bend to pass the bills out in time.
Bales said he wished the budget could have included less spending, but was confident it was the best solution.“I’m happy that hopefully we do a have a bill that is structurally sound and with a substantial ending fund balance,” Bales said.
The amendments included fully funding the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, the voter-approved expansion of state-funded health insurance for children. The program has been controversial, with Republicans saying the state could not afford to fully expand it to cover some 30,000 Montana children. Democrats said the Legislature could not buck the voters' will.
To get full expansion, Democrats compromised with Republicans and allowed half of the funding earmarked for the program to be rerouted to the state general fund. This move is not permanent, with a four-year expiration date.
Throughout the session, Republicans have pushed for "structural balance" in the budget, meaning the state should not spend more state tax dollars than it earns each year. To achieve this balance, the money that would have gone to children's health insurance will be spent to shore up state agencies that were trimmed earlier in the session.
Another major change was the removal of an amendment that would have allowed Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds to be used for contraceptives. Republicans and Democrats also agreed to gives school districts 3 percent increases in aid for each of the next two years. Federal stimulus dollars would be used to support that increase in the first year of the biennium.
The stimulus bill, House Bill 645, also passed out of committee unanimously. The bill was crafted to plug holes in the state budget and fund infrastructure projects throughout the state. It passed initial muster in the Senate Monday evening with a 37-13 vote.
The other major bill of the session, House Bill 658, seeks to lessen the blow of the recent property reappraisal in Montana. Though it passed out of its conference committee Monday, House Democrats did not immediately endorse the bill because they thought it did little to help low-income, disabled and elderly residents.
All the bills - HB 2, HB 645 and HB 658 - will be debated and voted on tomorrow, the 90th and last day of the regular session.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Legislative leaders announce deal on K-12, CHIP
By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA – After a long night of deliberation, the Legislature's Democratic and Republican leaders announced Saturday morning that they had reached a budget compromise that would increase spending on K-12 schools and fully fund the voter-approved Healthy Montana Kids Plan.
Both parties said they compromised their priorities to get a workable budget for the next two years.
“It’s not as much as I would have hoped, but apparently it’s more than what other people would have wanted,” said House Appropriations Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte.
His Senate counterpart, Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, said the compromise would keep the budget relatively stable, but less so than he would have liked.
“I don’t think anybody got exactly what they wanted, but it’s a budget we can all live with and I hope it’s a budget we can get through the biennium (with) without having to come back,” Bales said.
Throughout the session, Democrats demanded a full expansion of the voter-approved children’s health care program. But Senate Republicans reduced the eligibility threshold because they said the program was too expensive during a recession. But Democrats accused Republicans of bucking the voters' will.
Now, both Democrats and Republicans have agreed to begin implementing the full expansion by October. However, Republicans did get something out of the deal.
When voters approved the program in the November elections, a special bank account was set up to fund the expansion. Part of the initiative said that money could not be used for anything except health insurance for children of low- and moderate-income families. Republicans worked during the session to change that law, allowing some of money to be transferred to the state checkbook for general programs.
The latest budget compromise allows half of the money in the special revenue account to be switched to the general fund. On Friday, Sesso said the expansion could still happen with less money because the program won't be at full capacity for two years anyway. Leadership said the transfer will not be permanent, and the money will be returned in four years.
Sesso said the money that would have gone into the account to help pay for budget cuts in the Department of Health and Human Services and help build a $250 million cushion for the next two years in case the economy continues to tank.
The money would also ensure another Republican priority: ensuring that state will not spend more money than it earns in the next two years.
“We trust when we’re done (we would) leave our ending fund balance at the end of 2011 to be in excess of $250 (million), and to have structural balance near zero for the second year of the biennium,” Sesso said.
But Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, expressed her disappointment at the compromise on Healthy Montana Kids. Though she was “very happy” the committee decided to give health insurance coverage to 30,000 children, she said she was troubled by the change in the funding mechanism.
“It’s kind of bizarre,” Williams said. “It’s a weird way to end the weekend.”
Education funding, another contentious issue, would also received an increase from state funds. Sesso said the state would fund a 1 percent increase in K-12 base funding and a 1 percent increase in the payment per child, with 2 percent increases the next year funded by with federal stimulus money. The following year, the state would fund 3 percent increases in both categories.
Despite the announced compromise, the governor’s budget director, David Ewer, said the executive branch could not sign off on the deal because it had yet to be included in the discussion.
“The governor’s office has not digested the proposal,” Ewer said. “I hope that’s a helpful comment – it’s reality.”
Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, a member of the budget conference committee that worked out the deal, commended Sesso and Bales on their ability to compromise in the final days of the session.
“You have both adequately displayed that you’re willing to make each other bleed for your philosophies,” Jones said. “I thank you for making each other bleed but nobody bled to death.”
The exact details of the compromise were still being hammered out Saturday and were not expected to be written up and vetted until Monday morning when the committee reconvenes to take final action on the changes.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Lawmakers inch closer to session-ending deal
By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA – Shadowy negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on children’s health insurance and school funding came to light on Friday, hinting at a possible break in the state budget stalemate as the 61st Montana Legislature winds down.
Both parties said it was time to compromise, saying they completed more work in three or four hours than they had since Monday. Leaders said they were optimistic about the negotiations, despite a petition for special session requested by Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City.
“At least everybody is talking,” said Senate Majority Leader Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo. “That’s a good sign.”
At a meeting before noon Friday, both Republican and Democratic budget chairmen explained the deals they had been attempting to make with the other side over the highly contentious Healthy Montana Kids Plan and K-12 education.
Senate Finance and Claims Chairman Keith Bales, R-Otter, said the Senate had proposed raising state funding for education and allowing a gradual implementation of the voter-approved expansion of programs that offer health insurance for children from low- and moderate-income families.
Earlier this session, the House agreed to 3 percent increases in state funding for K-12 schools. Senate Republicans cut the state funding to 1 percent, backfilling the difference with one-time-only federal stimulus dollars.
Bales said the Senate GOP sent a proposal to House leaders Thursday night that would fund K-12 education at a 2 percent increase, using stimulus money to make up the final 1 percent. The proposal also contained a gradual implementation of the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, which would cover an estimated 30,000 uninsured children by July 1, 2010.
Bales said as state revenue estimates keep falling, expensive programs should be taken in stride. “If we’re going to err we need to err on the side of fiscal caution,” he said.
But House Democrats countered with a proposal of their own Friday morning, asking for a 2 percent raise for schools but demanding an immediate, full expansion of health coverage for uninsured children.
House Appropriations Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said a 2 percent increase for K-12 schools is a fiscal reality during a recession, backing off of previous statements that a 3 percent increase should be the minimum.
“(Schools have to be willing to also cut a little bit and prepare to cut in the future,” Sesso said.
Sesso also said the Healthy Montana Kids expansion would not require all the funds currently reserved in its bank account because it would just be starting up. So, Sesso said, there could be $10 million per year transferred to the state checkbook to balance out the 2 percent across the board cut Senate Republicans gave to all state agencies earlier in the session and bolster health programs for the poor.
But Bales said going full bore with the health insurance expansion could lead to fiscal potholes down the road.
“I don’t think anybody knows how fast it will ramp up or what the cost actually may be,” Bales said.
Republicans eventually responded with another proposal, which Democratic leaders said was headed in a positive direction but did not elaborate on details.
The House and Senate budgeting committees agreed to work through the weekend to hammer out the details on education and children’s health care in hopes of passing a budget before the final legislative day on Tuesday.
New laws include price break for student hunters
By WILL MELTON
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
Some hunters at Montana’s public universities will soon find it’s cheaper to bag an elk or deer than it used to be.
Senate Bill 185, sponsored by Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, will save hundreds of dollars for nonresident full-time students who want to hunt deer and elk.
Last year, it cost these students $643 to buy a combination license, which allows hunters to hunt deer, elk and upland game birds, and also includes a fishing license. SB 185, however, will reduce the cost to $70 for the same rights.
According to Ron Aasheim of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, FWP didn’t officially endorse the bill, but they’re happy it exists as a “good way to get kids in the field.”
He said the bill could cost FWP some money but it may increase revenues too, because not many college students could afford the previous price. The fiscal note attached to the bill actually projects an increase of as much as $42,000 in revenues due to the changes.
To qualify for the lower prices, students must be enrolled for 12 credits of classes. The bill also applies to anyone with a diploma from a Montana high school who is currently a full-time student at an out-of-state college, so long as a parent remains a Montana resident.
Here are some of the other hunting and fishing bills signed into law this year:
• House Bill 74 allows Fish, Wildlife and Parks to include mountain lion, bear and wolf among species with designated archery-only seasons. Previously, the species list included deer, antelope, elk, moose, sheep and goat.
• House Bill 317 guarantees that a member of the Armed Forces who forfeits a special hunting license due to an overseas deployment will receive the same license, without additional fee, the year the member returns.
• House Bill 366 allows Montana’s anglers to fish in bordering states within 10 miles of the border on any body of water that crosses that border - if the bordering state reciprocates
• House Bill 383 offers free big-game licenses to youths under 18 with life-threatening illnesses. This expands the old law, which gave licenses to youths under 17 with terminal illnesses.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Legislature remains deadlocked over budget bills
By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA – Simmering frustration and parliamentary jousting marked yet another day in which Montana lawmakers failed to find a compromise over a budget to guide the state through the next two years.
As the 90-day session draws to a close, the House today voted to dissolve a special committee attempting to patch together a bill that specifies funding for children’s health insurance and education, key points of contention between Democrats and Republicans.
House Bill 676 is the partner bill to the state budget bill, House Bill 2. It provides implementation language needed for appropriating state funds. This bill also contains the amendments from the GOP-controlled Senate cutting House proposals to fully fund the voter-approved Healthy Montana Kids Plan and to finance K-12 schools.
“All the bad things that the Senate did to us are in there,” said House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre.
Bergren said his decision to dissolve the conference committee on HB 676 does not kill the bill itself, because another committee could be appointed. But it was meant as a warning to Senate Republicans, he said.
“Let’s negotiate and go home,” Bergren said. “They’ve wasted four days on me.”
But Senate Republicans said the House’s actions did nothing to quicken the pace of budget negotiations, which have been at a stalemate for days.
“I think that does pose some very serious problems with being able to go on ahead and complete the process,” said Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter and chairman of the Senate's budget committee.
“I think that progress was being made, but I think that the sheer fact that the House has, in essence, taken away one of the tools that we need to solve this problem is unfortunate at this time.”
Funding for children’s health care and K-12 schools have been the major points of contention this session. Republicans say the state does not have enough money to fully implement a voter-approved expansion of a program providing health coverage to some 30,000 uninsured Montana children. Nor does it have enough state money to fund schools at the level Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Democrats want, they say.
Democrats disagree, saying Republicans are ignoring the will of the voters on children's health care and will also lead K-12 schools over a fiscal cliff if it lowers state funding.
At a Thursday morning budget meeting, House Appropriations Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, did not elaborate on the House’s actions, but instead pushed for full funding in both schools and children’s health insurance. He said there is money available, even if it means not meeting the governor’s goal of keeping $250 million in reserve at the end of session.
“There’s no fix in it unless we come to agreement on these two major issues,” Sesso said.
However, Senate Majority Leader Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo, said he was “disappointed” in the House’s decision on HB 676, and added that it would not help lawmakers finish their task of creating a state budget by the 90th legislative day.
There will be significant funding changes if HB 676 does not pass. A 2 percent cut across all state agencies put in place by Senate Republicans earlier in the session would be removed. So would the decreases to the base funding for K-12 school districts.
When the GOP lawmakers decided to lower state K-12 funding and backfill the difference with federal stimulus money, they put language into HB 676 to make this move permanent. This would mean the reduction in state funding would be permanent when federal dollars disappear in two years. Without HB 676, the reduction would only apply to this biennium.
HB 676 also allows the state to use money from a special revenue fund to pay for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan. Bergren said this language could be put in the stimulus bill.
The bill also allows Montanans covered by Children’s Health Insurance Plan to use CHIP money for contraception.
As of Thursday afternoon, conference committees took no further action on the nearly $8 billion budget bill or companion legislation to spend nearly $800 million in federal stimulus dollars.
The 2007 Legislature was the first in Montana’s history to finish a 90-day session without fulfilling its principal constitutional duty to create a state budget.
Montana lawmakers hope to head off rustlers with mandatory fines and community service
By SHANDA BRADSHAW
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
According to the Sun River Sun, the horse traders, suspected of being horse thieves, eventually “accepted an invitation to take an active part in a neck tie sociable.” They were buried on Birch Creek, about a mile above the saloon.
They don’t hang rustlers these days, but Montana’s Legislature has passed a bill this session to jack-up the penalties for stealing livestock.
Senate Bill 214 requires that a person convicted of the theft or illegal branding of any livestock pay a minimum fine of $5,000 and not exceeding $50,000 or serve a jail sentence not exceeding 10 years or both. The current law has no mandatory minimum fine.
The bill also says that if prison terms are deferred, offenders must contribute a mandatory 416 hours of community service. In addition, any equipment used in the crime – trucks, horse-trailers, etc. – could be confiscated. An earlier version of the bill would have allowed authorities to seize a rustler's ranch.
“The reason for the bill is to put more teeth in the law so we can somehow punish these people,” said Sen. Don Steinbeisser, R-Sidney, who introduced the bill.
SB 214 passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate, though the frequency of livestock thefts is difficult to gauge.
The state Public Defender’s Office says it defended two cases of rustling last year. The state’s special Crimestoppers hot line for livestock crimes received eight calls last year, though officials say other reports are made to local law enforcement officials and county hot lines.
A recent case of large-scale rustling in northeast Montana made news because it was so unusual, but John Grainger, administrator of the Brands Enforcement Division at the Montana Department of Livestock, said small-scale thefts involving an animal or two are persistent.
That's why he supports the passage of SB 214.
“I agree with it,” Grainger said. “There needs to be a bigger penalty to deter the crime.”
The bill's opponents in the Legislature argued that rustling is already covered under state’s laws against felony theft, which give judges leeway to tailor the punishment to fit the crime. They also noted that any revenue raised by increasing fines will not go to compensate ranchers for stolen stock.
Rep. Mike Menahan, D-Helena and a prosecutor in Lewis and Clark County, also argued that no other property crime carries a mandatory minimum fine or mandatory community service. Others asked why the law should treat rustlers more harshly than someone who steals a flat-screen TV.
Supporters said Montana should make a special case of rustlers because flat-screen TV’s don’t produce other TVs.
Stealing a cow, with its potential to produce calves, "is stealing someone’s livelihood,” said Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, a rancher himself.
The bill's mandatory minimum fine of $5,000 drew support, though some supporters considered that too low. Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Havre, said she preferred the $10,000 minimum mandated in the Senate's version of the bill.
“We used to hang these people in Montana, and, unfortunately, we went from hanging them to a pittance right now," Warburton said.
The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Tony Belcourt, D-Box Elder and also a rancher, noted the recent conviction Roosevelt County in what officials described as the biggest Montana cattle rustling case in decades. The bill would serve as a deterrent, he said.
Richard D. Holen, of Wolf Point, was convicted earlier this month in Roosevelt County District County of eight counts of felony theft for allegedly stealing cattle from eight neighboring ranchers.
During the investigation, officials said they found 33 stolen cows, calves, bulls and heifers in addition to six other cows and calves that Holen had previously sold. The prosecutor told the Associated Press that he couldn't find a comparable case in Montana since the early 1900s.
Under current laws, Holen faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for each of the eight counts. He has yet to be sentenced.
The bill now heads to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for his signature.
Montana 'states' rights' resolution fails on tie vote
HELENA – A resolution that would either assert Montana’s sovereignty or sow “seeds of secession” died on a 50-50 vote in the House Wednesday after lengthy debate.
House Resolution 3, sponsored by Rep. Michael More, R-Gallatin Gateway, declares that Montana is not completely submissive to the will of the federal government and has the right to declare any federal law that impinges state-granted liberties unconstitutional.
“This is a debate that has been a long time coming,” More said. The resolution may be labeled as “right wing extremism,” but it really deals with states' rights versus federal laws, he said, adding that secession is not the goal, but neither is it out of the question.
Supporters of the resolution, which is a declarative letter to Congress and not a law, said it is merely telling the federal government to “be good” and remember Montana has state rights.
Rep. Krayton Kerns, R-Laurel, said though the resolution does not imply that Montana will secede from the union, there is always the possibility.
“(Secession) is the big stick in the room that we have to occasionally display,” Kerns said. “This resolution is a shot over the bow.”
Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, said this resolution would be a response to what he called the rapidly increasing overreaching of central government.
However, opponents said the resolution's anti-government language clearly paves a pathway for secession.
Rep. Mike Menahan, D-Helena, said the resolution echoed the complaint list of the Declaration of Independence.
“Do we not concede to federal authority by being American?” Menahan asked. “If this isn’t the groundwork for secession, I don’t know what is.”
In jest, House Speaker Bob Bergren offered an amendment to the resolution that said if Montana is no longer a part of the United States it can seek admission as a Canadian province. He withdrew the amendment before anyone could speak on it, but said that if the House passes a resolution about seceding from the federal government, they should have options elsewhere.
Lawmakers in other states have heard similar resolutions. The so-called "Tenth Amendment Movement" has supporting organizations in 26 states, including Montana.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
House OKs regulations for 'carbon sequestration'
HELENA – The Montana House today approved a heavily amended bill to regulate a fledgling industry that seeks to pump the carbon dioxide produced by coal-fired power plants into the ground. The vote was 77-23.
Senate Bill 498, sponsored by Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, would set up rules and regulations for “carbon sequestration,” the process of capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide as it is emitted from a plant and storing it underground instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
The version approved by the House came with 58 amendments from committee, changes Rep. Mike Phillips, D-Bozeman, said were necessary to get the bill out of the deadlocked Federal Relations, Energy and Telecommunications Committee.
“It represents a sufficient regulatory framework,” Phillips said.
Some of the most significant amendments give regulatory authority to the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation but also requires the board to consider comments from the Department of Environmental Quality before a CO2 injection certificate can be granted. Phillips also said the amended version of the bill left no role for the Board of Environmental Review.
The issue had been a sticking point for some Democrats and environmentalists who argued the DEQ would provide a more scientific review of permits than the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, which they say tilts toward industry’s views.
Another point of contention was how long a sequester would be liable for any environmental problems associated with the practice. Lawmakers compromised at 30 years.
The bill also defines ownership of “pore space,” or the underground space where the gas will be stored. It now says that if the ownership cannot be determined by deeds through law, it will be assumed the surface owner owns the pore space.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle supported the bill. Rep. Art Noonan, D-Butte, touted the bill as essential for future coal development because coal companies, fearing future federal carbon regulations, will not build plants in the state if they do not have access to underground places where they can store CO2.
“There is no future in coal if we don’t get our hands around this,” Noonan said. “You don’t like coal? Vote against this.”
Noonan, who heads the House committee that forged the much-changed bill, predicted that the issue will need more work in future sessions. If the measure passes, Montana would be one of only a few states with such legislation.
“This is a scary proposition,” Noonan said. “This is a big deal.”
Many Republicans agreed with Noonan. Rep. Duane Ankney, R-Sidney, urged lawmakers to vote for the measure even if they do not believe in global warming.
“This bill is essential to any development going forward in coal,” Ankney said.
But opponents said the science of carbon sequestration has yet to be developed or tested. They argued that the Legislature would be acting prematurely if it passed such regulations.
“There is no such industry and there is no such technology,” Rep. Brady Wiseman, D-Bozeman, said. “None of this (legislation) advances the cause of carbon sequestration.”
Wiseman added that since the industry does not exist, SB 498 has become a political talking point to show support for coal development in general.
“If you want to pledge your allegiance to coal, let’s not do it with 30 pages of legislation,” he said.
Rep. Gordon Hendrick, R-Superior, also expressed concern about the lack of scientific study on carbon sequestration. He said the effects on Montanans and the environment should be carefully considered before passing any laws.
But Phillips disagreed, saying Montana could be a front-runner in the development of carbon sequestration, bringing in more business and responsible natural resource development.
“This is a most timely issue,” Phillips said.
The Senate will need to approve the House amendments before the bill can be sent to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who must decide whether to sign it. Only four legislative days remain.
-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy
Bills, bills, bills: Who carried the most? The least?
From left: Brueggeman, Cohenour, Hollandsworth and Regier
ALISON SMITH and MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
Getting a bill from concept to the governor’s desk isn't easy.
That’s why most legislators avoid sponsoring too many each legislative session. More than 1,300 bills were introduced this session, but the average lawmaker carried only nine.
But then there are the champions. This session two lawmakers led the pack, each sponsoring 31 bills, most of which died somewhere along the way.
Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, and Rep. Jill Cohenour, D-Helena, were easily the session’s most prolific lawmakers. Both agreed it was hard work, but as experienced lawmakers, said they felt that it was important to touch on the issues they care about.
"It's a lot of plates to keep spinning at once, to say the least," said Brueggeman, who has one Senate session to serve under the state's term limits law. It takes so much work that Brueggeman employed an intern to help him keep everything in line.
Cohenour, who is in her final House term, said she's hoping to accomplish as much as she can. Experience with the process helps, she added.
"After you've been here for a long period of time you get pretty good at tracking what goes where,” she said.
On the other end of spectrum are Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady, and Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, both House freshman. Neither sponsored a single bill this session.
Hollandsworth said he wasn’t asked to sponsor any bills because most requests for sponsors often go to more experienced legislators. He does hopes to carry his own bills in future sessions.
“Part of me feels like I missed out on something,” he said.
Regier attributed his record - or lack of one - to ideology and the fact that other legislators were already carrying the bills he cares about.
"There's enough laws on the book," he said. "If we need any more, it doesn't need to be 30 apiece for legislators."
Regier said his first legislative session taught him that most bills deserve to die.
"It should be a long, onerous process to get a bill passed,” he said.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Lawmakers ponder shorter, annual sessions
HELENA – Annual sessions, anyone?
Some 38 state senators endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment today that would ask voters to split the current 90-day, every-other-year billfest into two annual sessions. The bill now needs 62 votes in the House.
Senate Bill 348, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, would split the current biennial session into annual 45-day sessions. One session would deal solely with budget and revenue issues; the other would consider general bills.
“This will make us more effective,” said Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula.
Supporters of the measure said it would make the Legislature more accessible for Montanans and would increase lawmakers' accuracy in predicting fiscal matters as well. Essmann also said it would allow for greater oversight of the executive branch during even numbered years.
Essmann said if an annual session uses fewer than 45 days, those extra days could be added to the next session.
Since SB 348 seeks to amend the state constitution, it needs the approval of two-thirds of the Legislature before it can go to voters for approval. The House still needs to vote on the bill.
The last time the Montana Legislature held annual sessions was in 1973 and 1974, but Montanans voted to go back to biennial sessions in 1974. Two later attempts at annual sessions were rejected by voters.
-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy
Monday, April 20, 2009
Lawmakers see red over traffic-signal surveillance
HELENA – The House and Senate both gave initial approval today to a bill that would prohibit all Montana police departments from using unmanned cameras at traffic lights to help them issue tickets.House Bill 531, sponsored by Rep. Bill Nooney, R-Missoula, says traffic tickets must be administered by police officers and not automated services. Supporters of the bill said cities use traffic cameras not because they enhance safety, but because they increase revenue from traffic tickets.
“It’s a perverse incentive … to collect more revenue,” said Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson.
But opponents of the bill, mostly Bozeman lawmakers, said the cameras encourage safer drivers who stop at yellow lights instead of trying to beat them.
Bozeman already has traffic light cameras in place. The city uses a private vendor to supply the cameras and services, but there is an escape clause the contract allowing Bozeman stop using the vendor’s services if Montana law prohibits it.
The latest vote removed an amendment that would have exempted Bozeman from the new law, allowing the city to keep its cameras. The House voted 67-33 to reject that amendment, as did the Senate, 36-14.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer must sign HB 531 before it can become law.
- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Governor blasts GOP budget and stimulus plans
By MOLLY PRIDDYCommunity News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA – As bills to spend billions of state and federal tax dollars work their way through Legislature’s final days, Gov. Brian Schweitzer is making it clear that he’s not pleased with what he sees heading his way.
“This session, if it ended today, would be less successful than the last legislative session,” Schweitzer said in an interview this week. “The major funding bills are not anywhere close to a condition where we could support them.”
The governor is especially miffed with Senate Republicans who reduced funding for a voter-approved program to expand health coverage for another 30,000 uninsured Montana children. Their plan would add cover about 15,000 additional children. Nor is he happy with the GOP plan to spend less ongoing state money on K-12 schools.
But if you really want to set him off, ask him what he thinks of GOP’s plan to dole out nearly $800 million in federal stimulus dollars provided in the Obama administration’s Recovery Act.
“The money that is contained in (that bill), violates the principal of the Recovery Act, and we would run a very high risk of being forced to send the money back to Washington, D.C.,” Schweitzer said. “There is an inadequate investment in education and health care.”
Senate Republicans fired back, saying the criticism comes from an absent governor who did not offer suggestions about how to solve problems earlier in the session. They also said their amendments to the bill fund both health care and education responsibly, given the recession.
“Education is funded at the level he funded it at in his budget,” said Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City.
That’s technically true, but the clash over of how Democrats and Republicans want to fund schools has implications for the future.
Schweitzer’s proposed budget would give school districts a 3 percent increase in ongoing state money for their base budgets and 3 percent increase for per student payments. That money would be a permanent increase, unless some future Legislature votes to cut it.
But Senate Republicans fear that if the economy doesn’t improve and state tax coffers shrink over the next two years, lawmakers could be forced to either slash school funding or raise taxes, something neither party wants to do.
The GOP solution is to give school districts the same amount as the governor proposed but with one important difference: The bulk of it would come from one-time federal stimulus money – money that won’t be there in two years.
That means that if the economy doesn’t improve, schools had better start looking for ways to cut their budgets. Senate Majority Leader Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo, said the GOP plan gives schools time to consider changes, if necessary.
“We’re not underfunding education,” Peterson said. “The only debated issue is where should the base (increases) be two years from now.”
Another simmering feud between Schweitzer and GOP leaders is over the doling out federal stimulus dollars to cities and counties for “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects, such as road and bridge work.
The governor wants legislation that spells out each single project. Senate Republican want to give local governments block grants so they can decide how to best spend the money.
Story said the change was made to protect the money so Schweitzer could not pick and choose which project to veto when it’s time to sign the stimulus bill.
That’s “ridiculous,” Schweitzer said during Wednesday’s interview. To make his point, he produced a 60-plus page copy of the main budget bill, tossed it on the table and began pointing out various line items and their costs. That system allows for transparency, Schweitzer said.
“This is the way we appropriate money in Montana,” Schweitzer said. “The Recovery Act is not going to allow states to just shovel money out of a window in the dark of night and I, as the governor who signed the letter accepting responsible for these recovery dollars, will not sign such a bill.”
As one of the few states in the country not facing billions in deficits, Schweitzer said mistreatment of federal dollars could put Montana’s relatively sound economy at risk.
“I’m not going to allow a few members of the Legislature to put Montana in a difficult situation,” he said.
But Peterson and Story said the governor is wrong in his concern about transparency. Any city or county applying for the money would have to go through the Department of Commerce, Peterson said, a function of the governor’s office.
“This is a better way,” Peterson said. “You can see that it’s even more transparent.”
Budget matters aren’t the governor’s only concerns as the Legislature heads down the homestretch. He’s also frustrated with Republicans who blocked his bill to set govern “carbon sequestration,” a fledgling technology to capture and store underground the carbon dioxide emitted by coal-fired power plants.
Republican Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, drew Schweitzer’s anger after Bales sponsored the GOP version of a carbon sequestration bill. Both bills were tabled amid partisan differences centering on who would authorize permits and the state’s ultimate liability for any environmental damage the process might cause.
“He couldn’t answer questions about his own bill,” Schweitzer said of Bales.
The governor accused Republicans of purposefully bringing forward a bad sequestration bill, knowing full well it would die but earning credit for proposing it.
“These are the same cats that voted against the ‘clean and green’ tax policy that we had in the last legislative session that’s already brought about $1 billion worth of investment to Montana,” Schweitzer said.
Peterson disagreed with Schweitzer’s assessment of the sequestration bill.
“There’s nothing wrong with that bill,” Peterson said. “Sen. Bales worked hard on that bill.”
Peterson said the governor’s criticism stems from partisan differences, not content.
“In my mind, it’s all politics,” Peterson said. “The governor needs to govern with a window, not just with a mirror.”
Schweitzer did have some plaudits for Republicans who insisted, as he does, that the budget include a $250 million contingency or “rain day” fund, in case state revenues continue to tumble. Members of the governor’s own party want to spend some of that money now for a variety of projects and causes.
“I’m glad I’ve got ‘em broke in,” Schweitzer said of the Republicans. “I had to veto 19 bills to get my ending fund balance at the end of the last legislative session.”
Peterson and Story said a keeping a reserve at the end of the session makes sense because the economy is still struggling.
“That’s just good business,” Peterson said. “That’s calling a spade a spade.”
Budget and stimulus bills are bound for House-Senate conference committees, whose members are charged with seeking compromises. Story and Peterson predicted reasonable outcomes.
“I think in the end the governor hopefully will be pleased with it,” Peterson said.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Sponsor decries Senate’s failure to increase help for Montana's neediest property-tax payers
Nearly one in three Montana homeowners qualifies for help in paying property taxes. But few apply for it.
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
As legislation to help Montanans with their property taxes sailed through Senate this week, its sponsor conceded defeat in his mission to add millions in property-tax relief for Montana’s neediest homeowners: disabled veterans, the poor and elderly retirees on fixed incomes.
Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, is sponsoring the only surviving bill to lessen the sting of the latest statewide residential property reappraisal, which rose by an average of 55 percent statewide from January 2002 through July 2009.
It’s one of the session’s most important bills because it has the potential to affect every Montanan homeowner. The impacts would vary widely, but the idea is that by gradually raising deductions and cutting tax rates, most Montanan won’t see big increases due solely to rising property values.
But Jopek worries that the Senate version of his bill won’t provide enough help to those who need it most. He had said previously that he would try to kill the measure if the Senate didn’t better fund assistance programs for such homeowners.
He later dropped that threat, but didn’t hide his frustration that instead of cutting taxes for more Montanans, the bill in its current form means homeowners will pay a total of $12 million more in property taxes over five years, due to the reappraisal alone.
“These economic times are extremely difficult right now, with record high unemployment, the real estate market has slumped drastically, and this is the highest appreciation in Montana’s history,” Jopek said. “(The years) 2002-2008 were good years, but homeowners have it tough right now, especially the elderly, the working homeowner and disabled American vets.”
Jopek fought to increase funding for special programs to help the needy pay their property taxes, but those increase were stripped from the bill Wednesday. He also objected to the Senate’s decision to exempt park land and roads in subdivisions from property taxes.
“We had a good bill, the version that came out of the House,” Jopek said. “We added about $60 million over six years to those programs. But now we’ve given exemptions to people in gated communities instead of elderly people or low-income people.”
Currently, the state offers several programs to help Montana’s needy caught between a bad economy and spiraling property values. Montana's law allows a hefty deduction for single people with incomes under $20,000, and married couples or heads of households that make less than $26,600.
Another program offers property-tax exemptions to homeowners who are honorably discharged disabled veterans and make less than $35,266 a year if single or $42,319 annually if married or filing as heads of household. Spouses of deceased disabled vets are also eligible for exemption if their income is less than $29,388 or reductions based upon income over this amount but less than $39,968.
Meanwhile, homeowners age 62 or older may qualify for an income-tax credit, depending on their incomes and the amount of property taxes they pay.
Another program, the Extended Property Tax Assistance program, passed by the 2003 Legislature, offers a reduction to those whose taxable value increases by more than 24 percent and whose tax liability increases by $250 or more the first year after a reappraisal cycle.
Ed Caplis, of the Montana Department of Revenue, said that of the 240,000 owner-occupied homes in Montana, about 70,000, or 30 percent, are eligible for one of these assistance programs.
Yet only about 8,000 homeowners, or 11 percent of those eligible, participate.
No one knows why so few apply for the help. Perhaps they don’t know it’s available. Perhaps it’s the stigma of asking for help. Perhaps it’s the red tape.
“To qualify, you have to verify your income with the local Department of Revenue, go through a bit of paperwork, which might be part of the reason someone doesn’t want to come in,” Caplis said. “Maybe (the exemption) is only a couple dollars worth so it’s not worth the hassle. There are numerous reasons why people wouldn’t be participating.”
Even so, Caplis predicts that the recession and jobs losses may inspire more Montanans to seek help.
According to the Montana Department of Labor’s Web site, the state’s jobless rate stands at 6 percent, well below the national average of 8.1 percent, but climbing nonetheless.
Jopek predicts the recession will hurt elderly homeowners his Whitefish district who have seen their property values spike because of the city’s rapid growth but now struggle to pay their property taxes.
Mike O’Neal, director of the Montana Home Choice Coalition, an organization that provides housing for people with disabilities, said low-income people pay a disproportionate amount of their income on property taxes, regardless of their ability to pay. Even so, he supports Jopek's desire to expand these special tax breaks.
“If they receive less benefit, the worry is that they’re not going to have enough money for food and medicine,” O’Neal said.
Jopek said that he is still willing to consider compromise amendments. He still wants to readdress the exemption that is being given to subdivision roads and park land.
“I think it’s pretty egregious that there are exemptions being given to developers instead of older taxpayers,” Jopek said. “We’re going to see if we can get a compromise. If we can’t, I’m willing to walk away from the bill.”
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Senate scraps governor's changes to slaughter bill
The governor’s amendments to House Bill 418, sponsored by Rep. Edward Butcher, R-Winifred, stripped away special legal protections for the slaughter plant owners.
Butcher and other supporters have argued that Americans needing to dispose of horses have to go to Mexico or Canada because legal challenges have effectively shut down the American horse slaughter industry.
Horse slaughterhouses are not currently banned in Montana, but they would almost certainly draw protests from animal lovers who oppose them.
In his veto message, Schweitzer said horse owners need “access to a legal method to put their horses down as necessary and appropriate – due to age, infirmity, or other legitimate circumstances.”
However, such facilities should not receive the “unnecessary and potentially harmful special treatment that would be granted to one particular industry under this bill.”
Since Schweitzer’s amendments have now been rejected by both the House and Senate, the original bill will go to the governor’s desk to be signed into law or vetoed.
Sarah Elliot, the governor’s communication director, said in an e-mail that Schweitzer has yet to decided what he will do with the bill.
“While the Governor supports a horse slaughter facility being built in Montana, he is still concerned for the public’s health and safety as a result of provisions in the bill,” Elliot said.
House, Senate wrestle over $8 billion budget bill
House Bill 2, the state budget bill, was heavily amended by the GOP-controlled Senate after it was approved by the House. Some of the most controversial changes included reducing the expansion for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan and decreasing the amount of state money spent on education.
Since the houses could not come to agreement on the budget, it will be sent to a free conference committee, which is a joint panel of senators and representatives charged with ironing out differences. The committee has the power to change any part of HB2.
House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, along with House Minority Leader Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, appointed four representatives to the committee: Reps. Jon Sesso, D-Butte; Cynthia Hiner, D-Deer Lodge; Llew Jones, R-Conrad; Ray Hawk, R-Florence.
The Senate members of the committee have yet to be chosen by Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City.
Senate OKs changes to House reappraisal bill
HELENA – The Senate voted 30-20 today for a bill seeking to lessen the potential blow to Montanans’ wallets from the most recent statewide property reappraisal.The Senate Taxation Committee’s amendments to House Bill 658, carried in the Senate by Sen. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings (pictured), changed the bill from the House version sent over earlier this month.
“This bill is a product of a long journey,” Essmann said on the Senate floor.
Property values in Montana are reappraised every six years to ensure equity in property taxes. To help stave off a sudden hike in property taxes due to big jumps in property values, the Legislature in recent years has increased exemptions and lowered tax rates.
Essmann said the Senate amendments allow increases in property values to be phased in while tax rates are gradually reduced. He also said one of the most important amendments was adding a provision that requires the Department of Revenue to study whether statewide property values have dropped significantly since last summer's reappraisal.
“If a slump in the value of homes occurs in the next two years, they will be able to assess that,” Essmann said.
According to supporters, the bill is very similar to what was done in the past two appraisals. Property owners will still see an exemption on a percentage of their home'a value, called a “homestead exemption.” However, Essmann’s bill increases the percentage from 34 percent to 47 percent in six years. Likewise, tax rates for residential propertyh would see a phased-in decrease from 3 percent to 2.47 percent.
HB 658 also included provisions to keep four programs that help needy residents pay their taxes, including elderly homeowners, low-income owners and disabled veterans. Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, offered an amendment that would aggregate those groups into one property-tax assistance program based on how much such people pay in income taxes.
Kaufmann said the state could pay for the new program if it removed the homestead exemption from vacant lands.
“A home is a home,” Kaufmann said. “It doesn’t seem proper to me that we provide a homestead exemption for property that doesn’t have a home on it.”
Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, said the idea is a good one but its implications need to be studied before changing the programs. He said there is already a provision in HB 658 to study this change.
The amendment failed, 23-27.
Kaufmann said the amendment would have helped low-income taxpayers because they pay the higher percentage of their salaries toward property taxes than any other group.
“I’m disappointed we seem to have ended up with very little change with what we’ve done in previous years,” Kaufmann said.
Since the Senate amended the bill, it needs to be sent back to the House for approval before it can be signed into law by the governor. It will most likely head to a conference committee, which is a joint committee of senators and representatives charged with hashing out differences between the houses.
When Life Gives You Lemons ...
Children sold lemonade today in the capitol during a Democratic rally urging the Legislature to fully fund the Healthy Montana Kids Plan. Approved last fall by 70 percent of Montana voters, the program was to have provided health coverage for some 30,000 additional uninsured children from low- or moderate-income families. However, the GOP-controlled Senate, citing costs, voted reduce the number of additional children served to about 15,000. (Photo by Molly Priddy)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Senate passes plan to spend stimulus money
Republicans hold fast as Democrats
try to get more money for CHIP, K-12
By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA – The Senate managed to pass a bill to spend nearly $880 million of federal stimulus money despite clashes over money for education and children’s health care coverage. The vote was 27-23.
The GOP-controlled Senate made few amendments to House Bill 645, the stimulus bill. Democrats attempted to increase levels of education spending and to fully expand the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, but each amendment died on party lines.
“I feel that this money that we’re talking about now has been misused,” said Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula.
Williams said Republicans used their majority power to change the intent of the stimulus funds by diverting them away from education and health insurance for the poor.
Democrats wanted to give schools a 3 percent increases in their base and per student budgets, money that schools could count on being a permanent part of their future spending. Instead, Republicans voted for a 1 percent increases, but made up the difference with one-time federal stimulus funds that could disappear two years from now.
The fear, angry Democrats said, is that when the federal dollars are gone, schools will have to lay off employees.
“I’m certain during every one of your campaigns everyone said education comes first,” said Sen. David Wanzenried, D-Missoula. “My question is, does it really?”
But Republicans said schools face the same risks as every other state agency during a recession.
“If things get better, the governor can certainly propose to expand the budget next time,” said Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber. “If things don’t get better, then schools will be on notice as Sen. Wanzenried said.”
The amendment failed 22-28.
Other failed amendments included a full expansion for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan and $7 million more for higher education.
Wanzenried said the bill was not ready to leave the Senate and go back to the House for approval because details were still emerging about funding errors and the availability of money.
“This is not a common sense approach to this, and to spend $1.3 billion without more deliberation is irresponsible,” Wanzenried said, taking into account the additional $575 million Montanans will receive in federal tax cuts under the bill.
But Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City, said the bill is passable, though it would have been nice to have more time to work on it.
“I know not everyone is happy with the way that it came out,” Story said.
Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, said he would vote against the stimulus bill, not because of the contents but he considers it bad national policy.
“There’s nothing but a hole in the ground,” Balyeat said. “We’re going to pass our children the greatest national debt ever imaginable.
Since the Senate amended the stimulus bill, it will need to go back to the House for approval.
It is highly likely the House will vote down the amendments, sending the stimulus bill into a conference committee of senators and representatives who will be asked to hash out a compromise.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
GOP rejects pleas to restore money for CHIP, K-12
By MOLLY PRIDDYCommunity News Service
UM School of Journalism
HELENA – State senators debated a proposed state budget of nearly $8 billion Thursday, with Democrats trying and failing to insert more money for schools and for children’s health insurance.
Democrats brought amendments to change state funding in the two largest sections of House Bill 2 – health and human services and education.
Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, brought the first attempt to fully fund the Healthy Montana Kids Plan. The voter-approved children’s health insurance program expansion was reduced by Republicans who insisted on reaching “structural balance,” meaning the state should not spend more money than it earns in revenue during the next two years.
“I would like to just submit that the kids of Montana are getting sacrificed on the altar of structural balance,” Williams said. “We’re about to say on partisan vote, we don’t care what the voters said.”
Williams also said fully funding the program would provide coverage for 30,000 uninsured children. The GOP plan would cut that number in half.
But Republicans defended their position, saying they are expanding health care coverage for uninsured children from low- and moderate-income families, though not to the threshold the voters approved.
“We are not turning our back on the needy in our state,” said Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena. “We’re adding 15,000 children.”
The amendment failed mostly on party lines, 24-26. Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, was the only Republican to vote for the full expansion.
In education, Sen. Bob Hawks, D-Bozeman, proposed raising K-12 funding to offer a 3 percent increase in schools' base budgets and 3 percent increase in per-student support. The Senate's budget committee voted earlier to limit state funding to 1 percent and 1 percent, and to use federal stimulus funds to make up the difference.
Democrats argued that the reduction would be permanent in the next biennium because stimulus dollars are one-time-only funds. Republicans said the school system needs to tighten its belt along with all other state agencies. The amendment failed, 23-27.
Democrats also failed to pass an amendment to exempt the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind from the previously agreed upon 2 percent cut across all state agencies. Sen. Mitch Tropila, D-Great Falls, asked lawmakers to consider the unique challenges these children face.
“I implore you today, please vote with your heart,” Tropila said. “Think of these kids.”
But Republicans said it would be unfair to allow one program to escape the cut.
“I realized that this is a very good school and everything. However, I think that there’s lots of other places that have good arguments too,” said Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter. “I don’t think we can make any exceptions.”
The amendment died on party lines, 23-27. Tropila later tried similar amendments, but all failed.
Since the budget was amended and passed by the Senate, the House must agree on the amendments before it can go to the governor. However, the budget will most likely be sent to a conference committee consisting of representatives and senators charged with hashing out differences.
House rejects governor's advice on slaughter bill
Schweitzer used his amendatory veto power to strip special legal protections from House Bill 418, sponsored by Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred.
Butcher and other supporters have argued in long, emotional hearings that Americans needing to dispose of horses have to go to Mexico or Canada because legal challenges have effectively shut down the horse slaughter industry in the U.S.
Horse slaughterhouses are not currently banned in Montana, but they would almost certainly draw protests from animal lovers who have testified against the bill so far.
In his veto message, Schweitzer said horse owners need “access to a legal method to put their horses down as necessary and appropriate – due to age, infirmity, or other legitimate circumstances.”
However, such facilities should not receive the “unnecessary and potentially harmful special treatment that would be granted to one particular industry under this bill.”
During the House floor session on Wednesday, Butcher said the bill is “really of no value” without the stripped provisions, and they are necessary because they “provide protection for investors.”
Rep. Anders Blewett, D-Great Falls, said though he thinks Montana could use some horse slaughter plants, this bill is the wrong way to promote them.
“This bill is not about slaughtering horses,” Blewett said. “(It’s about) disemboweling the environmental laws in Montana.”
The bill now goes to the Senate. If senators reject Schweitzer's amendments as well, it goes back to the governor who may veto or sign it.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Changes to gun "brandishing" bill win approval
HELENA – The state House and Senate gave final approval today to a compromise bill that seeks to expand Montanans’ gun rights.House Bill 228, sponsored by Rep. Krayton Kerns, R-Laurel, asserts that Montanans have the right to defend themselves if threatened instead of retreating or calling the police. They would also have the right to brandish a weapon to ward off a potential assault.
The bill also says landlords or hotel owners cannot curb tenants' gun rights and it puts the burden of proof in self-defense shootings on the state instead of the shooter.
House and Senate members in a conference committee worked out their differences on the bill after the House rejected the Senate’s amendments last week.
The original bill gave all Montanans, with the exception of felons or those guilty of violent crimes, the right to carry a concealed weapon in town without a permit. The Senate removed that section of the bill, but compromised to allow concealed weapons in medical facilities.
The bill also says concealed weapons can not be worn in state or local government buildings, banks or their drive-up windows, or anywhere alcohol is served.
The House voted 80-20 for the amendments, and the Senate voted 40-10.
Kerns said there has never been a law against bringing a licensed gun into a hospital and this bill should not create one.
“We’ve existed all this time without prohibiting that,” Kerns said, adding that he was happy that 90 percent of his original bill still remained in tact.
In the Senate, bill supporters said it is necessary to guarantee gun rights in Montana now.
“The reason the bill is here in the first place is the Second Amendment’s under threat nationally,” said Sen. Gary Perry, R-Manhattan.
Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, said Montanans need the chance to protect themselves and their families from threats.
“There are bad people in the world and they do bad things,” McGee said. “The police are not at your side.”
House endorses bill to require autism coverage
HELENA – The state House gave its initial approval today to a bill that would require insurance companies to cover a variety of childhood autism treatments. The vote was 77-23.Senate Bill 234, carried by Rep. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, would compel insurance providers to fund treatments that have been shown to improve the quality of life for autistic children.
“I stand here, as sure as I ever was, that we’re going to do the right thing by Montana families,” Van Dyk said.
The House Appropriations Committee originally placed a two-year sunset provision on the bill, meaning the mandated insurance coverage would end in 2011 if the next Legislature decides not to renew it. Rep. Walter McNutt, R-Sidney, said the sunset was not meant punitively, but as a safety valve in case insurance rates rise too high as a result of the mandated coverage.
“We don’t really know what this is going to do to insurance premiums,” McNutt said. “We just wanted to say we better take another look.”
But supporters of the bill said the sunset would prevent many families from getting benefits from their insurance companies because the bill would not take affect until 2010. In the end, the House voted 58-42 to strike the sunset provision.
Minority Leader Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, said though the bill has merit, the state cannot afford $1.4 million price it will cost to provide such coverage for state workers.
“At some point we’re going to break the bank,” Sales said. “That day is coming sooner than later.”
But supporters asserted the benefits of treating autistic children early on outweighed the future problems that could come with untreated children.
“We can’t afford not to do this,” said Rep. Jon Sonju, R-Kalispell.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Animal hoarding bill stalls in House committee
Sen. Mitch Tropila, D-Great Falls, sponsored Senate Bill 221, which was tabled last week in the House Judiciary Committee. “I was pretty disappointed because I worked hard on the bill,” he said.
The bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 33-17, would have considered companion animal hoarding as possessing 20 or more pets and failing to provide necessary care for those animals in a severely crowded environment.
But it also would have required anyone convicted of the crime to undergo psychological examination and treatment, at the person’s expense. It was that controversial provision, more than any other concern, that led to the bill's death, Tropila said.
“The mental health community was worried that the bill would be making criminals out of people with mental disabilities,” Tropila said.