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.