The Session, 2009

Governor vetoes GOP plan to monitor stimulus

2009-05-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

Calling it a "waste of taxpayer money," Gov. Brian Schweitzer has vetoed a Republican bill to create a commission to keep tabs on the nearly $800 million in federal stimulus dollars lawmakers have decided to spend over the next two years.

The bill, sponsored by Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City, also would have established a Web site for the public to monitor such spending. Schweitzer said his administration has already created such a site.

Other bills recently vetoed by the governor include:

Senate Bill 249: The act would require the Department of Justice to issue a limited-use driver's licence, under certain circumstances, to a person whose license has been suspended or revoked by another state.

Senate Bill 291: The act would establish a Montana Railroad Development Authority, replacing the existing Rail Service Competition Council, ostensibly to increase rail competition.

Senate Bill 349: The act would allow public officials to keep confidential certain information submitted as part of the public bidding or public contracting process for public highway and transportation projects.

House Bill 575: Among other things, the act would allow coal-bed methane producers to obtain permits to the use groundwater produced as a result of their drilling.

House Bill 629: The act would allow the deposit of any school trust land interest and income in excess of $1 million into the school flexibility account, broadening the uses for which the money could be spent.

Llamas and the Law: Here are some products of the session that may have flown under the radar

2009-04-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

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.

And the list keeps growing ...

Legislature adjourns after passing key money bills

2009-04-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Senate President Bob Story brings the gavel down to adjourn the 2009 Legislature. (Photo by Molly Priddy)

By MOLLY PRIDDY
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.

Legislature to tackle spending, tax bills Tuesday

2009-04-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Legislative leaders announce deal on K-12, CHIP

2009-04-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Lawmakers inch closer to session-ending deal

2009-04-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Legislature remains deadlocked over budget bills

2009-04-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

By SHANDA BRADSHAW
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

In late March of 1885 two men trailing horses from Canada were surrounded in a saloon near Dupuyer by a “committee” of two-dozen armed men, most of them carrying Winchesters.

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.

- Photo by CNS photographer Alison Smith

Montana 'states' rights' resolution fails on tie vote

2009-04-23T12:16:00.001-07:00

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.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

House OKs regulations for 'carbon sequestration'

2009-04-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-04-22T13:56:00.001-07:00

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.

Lawmakers ponder shorter, annual sessions

2009-04-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

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

Lawmakers see red over traffic-signal surveillance

2009-04-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

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

Governor blasts GOP budget and stimulus plans

2009-04-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community 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.

Sponsor decries Senate’s failure to increase help for Montana's neediest property-tax payers

2009-04-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Nearly one in three Montana homeowners qualifies for help in paying property taxes. But few apply for it.

By LAUREN RUSSELL
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.”

Senate scraps governor's changes to slaughter bill

2009-04-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

HELENA – The Senate voted 44-5 today to reject the Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s amendments to a bill that would create legal protections for companies who want to build horse slaughter plants in Montana.

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.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

House, Senate wrestle over $8 billion budget bill

2009-04-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

HELENA – The House today overwhelmingly rejected Senate amendments to the state budget bill, sending the budget into a special joint committee of lawmakers from both houses.

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.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Senate OKs changes to House reappraisal bill

2009-04-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

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.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

When Life Gives You Lemons ...

2009-04-16T11:48:00.001-07:00

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)

Senate passes plan to spend stimulus money

2009-04-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

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.

GOP rejects pleas to restore money for CHIP, K-12

2009-04-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community 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

2009-04-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

HELENA – The House voted 59-41 Wednesday to reject Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s amendments to a bill that would provide legal protection for companies who want build horse slaughter plants in Montana.

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.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Changes to gun "brandishing" bill win approval

2009-04-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

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.”

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

House endorses bill to require autism coverage

2009-04-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

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.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Animal hoarding bill stalls in House committee

2009-04-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

The sponsor of a bill to ban "companion animal hoarding" under Montana's animal cruelty laws says he's disappointed that the measure has been tabled.

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.

-by CNS reporter Shanda Bradshaw

Lawmakers compromise on gun 'brandishing' bill

2009-04-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

HELENA – Lawmakers reached a compromise Tuesday on a controversial bill that seeks to broaden gun rights for Montanans.

House Bill 228, sponsored by Rep. Krayton Kerns, R-Laurel (pictured), 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 hospitals. 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 bill has been a matter of contention between gun rights groups, such as the National Rifle Association, and law enforcement. Supporters have said the bill reinforces a constitutional right and protects Montanans who can’t always count on police to respond in time to volatile situations.

Opponents have worried that the bill will lead to more shootings.

The amended version of the bill still needs House and Senate approval before it can be signed into law by the governor.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Demos protest GOP cuts in children's health plan

2009-04-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – Democratic lawmakers went on the offensive Monday, blasting Senate Republicans who recommended cuts last week in proposed funding for the voter-approved expansion of state-funded children’s health care.

“This is a travesty,” said Sen. David Wanzenried, D-Missoula. “I’m outraged about this.”

In a press conference held on the rotunda steps, 25 members of the Progressive Democratic Caucus, led by Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, lambasted the GOP decisions to cut government services during a recession.

“These are irresponsible and cowardly actions,” Kaufmann said. “Will we choose pavement over peoples’ lives?”

The decision to cut the expansion for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan came late Friday night as the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee recommended cutting $120 million out of the state budget bill, House Bill 2.

Of that savings, $50 million would come from scaling back the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, according to Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena.

Lewis said expanding any program during a recession is dangerous for state finances, even if the federal government promises to match the state’s dollars, as it does in the children’s health insurance program.

“You still have to have the match,” Lewis said during the budget hearing. “You can go broke at a clearance sale.”

The health care expansion has been a contentious issue this session. After being approved by more than 70 percent of voters in November, the Legislature needed to grant funding authority before the program could expand to cover an estimated 30,000 uninsured Montana children.

However, Republicans in both the House and Senate have said the state can’t afford to expand that program during this economic crisis. They also said voters in November didn’t know the expansion’s true costs.

Democrats disagreed.

“Republicans said we didn’t know what we were voting for,” Kaufmann said. “Yeah, right.”

Wanzenried said that because state-funded health insurance is one of benefits of being a legislator, maybe those perks should be reduced as well.

“Half of the people in the Legislature who oppose funding it should give (up their insurance), don’t you think?” Wanzenried said.

But Senate Finance and Claims Chairman Keith Bales, R-Otter, said the budget decisions were not cuts but actually reduced increases.

“We think that it is important that the state not spend more than they’re taking in during the biennium,” Bales said. “In this time when we are faced with problems on funding, we thought it would be prudent to phase (Healthy Montana Kids) in.”

Bales also said he believes the reductions do reflect the views of the voters today. He said Montanans were more optimistic about the economy in November than they are in today’s recession. He also said he was confident the reduced expansion will still help children in need.

“If a person gets laid off or has trouble, their children will automatically qualify for CHIP,” Bales said. “The people that do need health insurance for their children will get health insurance for their children.”

As approved by voters, the expansion would have offered health coverage for children whose parents earned 250 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $50,000 for a family of four. Bales said that providing state-funded health insurance for families making $50,000 is not a priority.

The Senate amendments in HB 2 still expand the Children’s Health Insurance Plan and Medicaid, but only for those who earn 200 percent of poverty level.

In addition to recommending cuts in CHIP, Bales’ committee also voted to reduce state spending by 2 percent across the board for state agencies and use more one-time stimulus money to fund education.

'Special treatment' cut from horse slaughter bill

2009-04-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

If investors want to establish a horse slaughter industry in Montana, they will have to do it without special protection from legal challenges and lawsuits, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (pictured) said late last week.

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.”

The bill passed the House by a vote of 66-33 and passed the Senate 27-23.

Bridge access bill wins approval, governor's praise

2009-04-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

HELENA – The state House gave final approval today 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.

House Bill 190, sponsored by Rep. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, 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.

The measure initially passed the House in January and was amended in the Senate last week. These amendments included allowing landowners to use wood-rail fences on their property and changing the number of access points along a stream from four to one.

The House accepted the Senate’s amendments today, with a 96-3 vote.

In a press release, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the bill provides a bipartisan solution to a 20-year dispute between anglers, hunters, environmentalists and landowners.

“This bill will protect our Montana tradition of public access to our world-class blue ribbon trout streams and lets out of state landowners know that in Montana our streams and rivers are not for sale,” Schweitzer said.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Senators struggle over plans to slash spending

2009-04-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – Senate Republican and Democrats on a key budget committee clashed Thursday over spending priorities as the GOP majority laid out ideas to reduce all state agency funding and scale back children’s health care coverage.

Republicans on the Senate Finance and Claims Committee said reductions in House Bill 2, the state budget bill, are necessary if the Legislature wants to have a $250 million rainy day fund in 2011.

“I would like to see us get to structural balance and I think we’ve had indications that if we don’t reach a $250 million ending fund balance, the governor will probably veto things to get there,” said Committee Chairman Keith Bales, R-Otter. “I would rather see the (Legislature) decide where the money is spent … than (have) the governor do it.”

Republicans said they want a structurally balanced budget, meaning the state can only spend the amount of revenue they collect in the next two years. Since revenue projects look to keep falling, lawmakers say this means cutting state spending.

In one of only two ideas discussed to reduce state spending, Bales suggested reducing every state agency by another 2 percent, which he said would save $30 million over two years.

The other idea to reduce spending, introduced by Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, would be to scale back the Healthy Montana Kids Plan. The program, approved by voters in November, would expand health care insurance for Montana children.

Lewis suggested reducing the number of children eligible for such coverage by reducing the amount of money their parents can make and still qualify. Currently, families with incomes at 250 percent of the federal poverty guideline can qualify. Reducing that to 200 percent would save the state $50 million, he added.

“It’s one of a series of bad choices, but we’re going to have to look very hard at any proposed expansion,” Lewis said.

But Democrats said getting pure structural balance could mean downsizing important services people may need as the recession continues.

Every budget decision “has a human face on it,” said Sen. Carol Williams, D-Missoula. “I don’t have the view that we have to have the structural balance that I think Sen. Bales does.”

Sen. David Wanzenried, D-Missoula, said cutting public services would hurt those who feel the recession the most. “Do you think we can do that without affecting the public we’re supposed to serve? I don’t,’ he said.

Democrats said the state’s revenue estimates may be down right now, but no one knows how the fiscal picture will look in two years. What looks like excess spending now could be equalized by higher future revenues, they said.

Decisions on HB 2 are expected on Friday, with numerous amendments from both sides of the aisle.

GOP legislators decry failure of anti-abortion bills

2009-03-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

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'

2009-03-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

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

2009-03-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

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

Debate gets testy over trimming education budget

2009-03-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

HELENA – A fight over $1 million divided the House Appropriations Committee today as it attempted to trim the state education budget.

Committee Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, told committee members that they all had different priorities for education money, but the overarching goal needs to be a balanced budget.

“It’s really not appropriate to say that we should trim it in ways 10 of us wish and 10 of us don’t,” Sesso said. “We have to trim the budget as a group of 20 people.”

The million-dollar contention began with a $1.5 million allotment for the University System agencies. The money was not in the governor’s budget, but was added in during subcommittee hearings by a Republican majority, 4-3.

Democrats proposed an amendment that would take $1 million of the $1.5 million and split it between Montana PBS and non-beneficiary students at tribal colleges.

Republican lawmakers fought against the amendment, saying the agricultural extension agencies need all of the money to survive.

“It will help the economy of the industries important to Montana,” said Rep. William Glaser, R-Huntley. “I’m not willing to give up the slight gain we’ve gotten here.”

Supporters said it would fill the gap for tribal colleges and help fund PBS. Both were given one-time-only funding last session.

“It’s not an injection in the arm,” said Rep. Cheryl Steenson, D-Kalispell. “It is required for the tribal schools.”

The amendment died on a 10-10 party-line vote.

The battle for the same million dollars continued in the next proposed amendment, which said if the money could not be reallocated to those programs, it should be removed entirely.

The amendment's sponsor, Rep. Dan Villa, D-Anaconda, reminded committee members that an earlier motion to give the Office of Public Instruction more money to investigate teacher-related sex crimes was voted down due to money concerns.

“I can’t in good conscience leave a million dollars in new money on the table when we’re unwilling to fund getting bad teachers out of the classroom,” Villa said.

Rep. Duane Ankney, R-Coltrip, said Villa’s comments were inappropriate.

“We have school boards and superintendents and principals and teachers that do a real good job keeping bad teachers out of the classroom,” Ankney said.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Ceremony celebrates new names for old places

2009-03-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, speaks to a capitol crowd gathered to celebrate the passage of a law 10 years ago that led to changing the names of dozens of Montana places. (Photo by Molly Priddy)

HELENA – A large crowd gathered in the capitol today to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a state law that removed the word “squaw” from the names of many Montana land features.

Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, was touted by every speaker at the “Old Places – New Names” ceremony as the driving force behind the legislation.

“It’s been a wonderful, wonderful effort to make Montana a better place to live for our citizens by taking this ugly word off our beautiful mountains and streams,” Juneau told listeners.

Some of the renamed formations included Ch-paa-qn (Shining Peak) near Missoula, formerly called Squaw Peak; Stands Alone Woman Peak near Glacier, formerly called The Old Squaw; and Too-nah-hin Creek in Cascade County, formerly called Squaw Creek.

After House Bill 412 passed in 1999, a committee was formed to implement the law. Its members learned that 76 features required name changes.

School children, county commissioners and tribal leaders all helped locate features that should be renamed and also suggested new names. Now, 10 years later, some of the 76 names have yet to be finalized, Juneau said.

One of the first changes was Squaw Gulch near Helena. It is now called Wakina Sky Gulch, a name suggested by the school kids at Wakina Sky Learning Center in Helena.

Juneau said the changes were necessary because of the matriarchal nature of many American-Indian cultures. She cited the importance in a Cheyenne proverb: “A nation is not conquered until the heart of its women is on the ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors or how strong their weapons.”

Today's ceremony at the capitol began with the lighting of tobacco and a Cree prayer from Henry Anderson, a Little Shell-Cree elder. Jennifer Perez Cole, the state coordinator of Indian Affairs, also welcomed visitors to the event.

In her speech, Juneau said the achievements of the 1999 HB 412 Committee were especially honorable because everyone worked on a volunteer basis.

“This bill passed without a budget,” Juneau said. “They wanted to make Montana a better place to live.”

Other members of the 1999 committee, Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, and Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, spoke about their experiences.

Williams became teary as she spoke about the committee’s efforts over the past decade. She said she hoped a landmark will be named after Juneau in the future.

Sands also became emotional at the lectern when speaking about the accomplishments of the law and the importance names carry.

“Of all the bills and issues I’ve worked on, this one means the most to me,” Sands said. “Words do have meaning and words have power.”

Sands and Williams presented Juneau with a wool Pendleton blanket as a thank-you gift. The Soldier Gulch Drum Group played several traditional songs, including a women’s honor song, as the lawmakers passed out braids made from sweetgrass to the original committee members.

Rep. Carolyn Pease-Lopez, D-Crow Agency, said she was thankful for the committee efforts as she performed the event’s closing prayer.

“Words are containers, and they can release good or bad,” Pease-Lopez said. She prayed for the release of only good things from now on.

“Today,” Pease-Lopez said, “Is a good day to be an Indian woman.”

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Lawmakers trim proposed health care spending

2009-03-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

HELENA – The House Appropriations Committee took its first bite out of the budget Wednesday as it chopped over $15 million from the Department of Public Health and Human Services's spending plan but purposefully avoided making final decisions to hold out for children’s health-care funding.

Committee Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said he was pleased with the initial steps made toward a structurally balanced budget.

“We made some progress today in trimming the section,” Sesso said. “Our goal is to move toward structural balance of House Bill 2.”

Although the cuts were initially approved by the committee, final decisions were saved for the end of the week. Sesso said they left this section open to see if other parts of the budget could be trimmed enough to implement the Healthy Montana Kids Act, which expands the Children’s Health Insurance Plan and Medicaid coverage.

The CHIP expansion was voted down by Republicans earlier this session because of overspending fears, and the Republican attempt to trim expenses was killed by Democrats.

Sesso said he hoped by trimming other sections of the state budget, Republicans would see there is enough room to fund the $30 million, voter-approved health-care expansion.

“If we can make progress in other programs relative to need in structural balance, we can address Healthy (Montana) Kids,” Sesso said.

Even so, Sesso said the committee made progress by cutting over $15 million from the budget.

The committee cut the state’s $10 million overtime and holiday pay obligation and decided to fund it through the stimulus package. They also expected a $2.4 million boost in federal money for child support enforcement.

They also decided to cut Medicaid-funded organ transplants, which cost the state $2 million, as well as five jobs in the DPHH director’s office.

An area of contention was an 11-9 vote to shut down a $900,000 autism program in Bozeman. The program offers a group home for four autistic children. Rep. Penny Morgan, R-Billings, said the budget should not fund this program, because it was created outside of the Legislature’s authority.

“If the department wants to continue with these programs, I think it’s up to the department to find money in their budget,” Morgan said. She said the department should be held accountable for circumventing the Legislature’s power.

Sesso said Morgan was right to be concerned about the department’s actions, but the program should not be punished.

“It would be unfortunate if this particular service to these four children in what is an otherwise commendable program suffers because of our collective concern about the department following legislative intent,” Sesso said.

Other representatives agreed the department needed to be penalized.

“If not this, when?” said Rep. Walter McNutt, R-Sidney. “If it isn’t here, where are you going to draw the line in the sand?”

Several amendments died on party-line votes, including one that would fund current CHIP levels if the expansion is not approved by lawmakers. Rep. Dan Villa, D-Anaconda, said the bill would be a move away from fully funding the expansion.

“We were directed by a 70 percent vote to fund the Healthy Montana Kids initiative,” Villa said. “Not pro-rate it – we were told to do it.”

Another amendment to die on party lines would have provided $10,000 to Head Start programs. The final failed amendment would have provided a $4 million-base budget for non-Medicaid funded aging services, such as Meals on Wheels.

The Appropriations Committee will discuss education on Thursday and they hope to finish trimming the state budget by the weekend.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Senate rejects ban on cell phones while driving

2009-03-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

HELENA – Montana's state Senate voted 31-18 Wednesday to kill a bill that would have made talking or texting on a cell phone while driving a punishable offense.

Senate Bill 278, sponsored by Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, would have let law enforcement officers pull drivers over if they are doing anything on a phone that takes their hands off the wheel or eyes off the road. Drivers in violation could be fined up to $100.

While opponents agreed people should not be texting while driving, they said banning all cell phone use would be excessive.

“The cell phone adds a lot of productivity to small businesses,” said Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell. He also said the $100 fine was excessive, and using a cell phone should not be a primary driving offense.

Sen. Kelly Gebhardt, R-Roundup, said the bill would actually make driving more dangerous, because drivers would pull off the road to answer their phones and may cause accidents rejoining traffic.

Kaufmann said her bill would have helped remove some of the dangerous distractions drivers deal with.

“It’s as dangerous to be talking on your cell phone as it is to be driving drunk,” Kaufmann said. She also said restricting cell phone use is only one example of how the law makes choices for drivers when it comes to safety.

“We accept certain limits on our freedom when we get behind the wheel,” Kaufmann said.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Ewer pans GOP bill to oversee stimulus spending

2009-03-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

HELENA – A Republican plan to monitor Montana's use of nearly $800 million in federal stimulus money drew fire Wednesday from Gov. Brian's Schweitzer's budget director, David Ewer, (pictured) who called it unnecessary.

Senate Bill 460, sponsored by Senate President Robert Story, R-Park City, would establish a 13-person committee to monitor and check the progress of stimulus work in Montana. Voting members would include four legislators chosen by legislative leadership and four members of the public.

Non-voting members would include three chosen by Montana’s congressional delegation and two chosen by Schweitzer.

“All I think we need is an active oversight committee,” Story told the Senate Finance and Claims Committee today.

Story said the current oversight is too passive because the governor depends on people to report on their use of government money after the fact.

Though the committee has voting power, Story said it would rarely have to vote on anything. Its purpose would be to oversee federally funded projects and give voice to any discrepancies they see.

Several senators were concerned about legislators being in the minority on the new committee, but Story said he would not be opposed to changing the numbers.

But Ewer stood as the bill’s only opponent at the hearing. He said an oversight committee is unnecessary given the legislative interim committees already in place.

“We believe that the process you have to consider the (stimulus) bill is appropriate and accurate,” Ewer said.

Ewer also said the amount of stimulus money, nearly $800 million, should easily be handled by the same committees that deal with the $8 billion state budget. Most of the money will be funneled into existing programs anyway, he said.

Ewer also expressed concern that having public members on this committee would convolute the process.

“That’s an interesting filter,” Ewer said. “Who’s to say they’re going to get it right? Who’s to say they’re going to be transparent?”

Ewer said the governor is in an active oversight position, because the administration has the duty to carry out the decisions made by the Legislature.

“We’re where the rubber meets the road,” Ewer said. “You tell us what the rubber is, and we’re responsible for getting it out there.”

The bill also provides $100,000 over three years to hire consultants to help the committee understand stimulus projects. Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula, asked if that was necessary because the citizens on the committee should be able to offer this expertise.

Story said staff members rarely evaluate projects, so other expertise would be necessary.

The oversight effort would cost nearly $160,000. Story said the federal government expects heightened transparency on stimulus money, so some of the funds could help pay the committee’s cost. Otherwise, the money would come from the general fund.

Tori Hunthausen of the Legislative Audit Division told lawmakers that the federal oversight process is still being crafted, but federal auditors will choose 15 or 16 states to audit monthly. Those states will be chosen by early next week, she said.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Officials start to unwrap federal stimulus package

2009-03-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

HELENA – State officials responsible for roads, education and health care urged lawmakers Tuesday to move quickly but carefully to approve the spending of Montana’s $800 million share of federal stimulus money.

“Recovery dollars don’t wait for projects,” said Transportation Director Jim Lynch. “If we don’t use this money in the time frames in which we are given to spend it, we will lose it.”

Lynch said half of the projects must be obligated within 120 days of receiving the money. If the state fails to obligate the money in that time, it will be redistributed to states that can, he added.

Lynch said the Department of Transportation has a $234 million list of projects that have already been approved by the Highway Commission and may just need minor tweaking. He said these projects would put 6,000 Montanans to work quickly.

“There’s quite a bit of construction activity that’s going to take place with the stimulus money,” Lynch said.

DOT expects the first project to be ready for bidding within the month.

Directors from other state agencies most affected by the federal money gave a Senate budget committee estimates about how the money will be used in their departments but could not give exact details.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau said the first half of the $149 million in federal assistance for Montana schools is expected in the next two months. Juneau said she hopes any state money freed up by federal money will stay in education.

The Office of Public Instruction expects some federal guidance on the rules, regulations and other specifics on education's share of stimulus money by the end of this week, Juneau said.

Mick Robinson of the Montana University System asked that federal money be appropriated to mitigate modernization costs and tuition increases across Montana campuses.

Anna Whiting Sorrell, director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, said she was still waiting for federal guidance but urged continued funding because her department could be needed more than ever as economic problems hit home.

Whiting Sorrell said more Montanans will be eligible for public health services but may not come forward immediately.

“This will be the first time that they have accessed our services,” Whiting Sorrell said. “It is something they will not be comfortable doing.”

On the brighter side, Department of Revenue Director Dan Bucks said Montanans can look forward to several tax cuts within months.

“These cuts are huge and the dollars are focused on the middle class,” Bucks said.

Bucks said 97 percent of individual income-tax payers will benefit from a $400 tax credit or an $800 tax credit for married couples. He also stressed the importance of home renovations for energy conservation because many projects are eligible for tax credits.

Representatives from the governor’s office asked lawmakers to be as expeditious as possible when appropriating money so projects can get going.

Other testimony at the lengthy hearing came from various counties, which asked for specific projects or concerns to be considered when the Legislature appropriates the federal money.

Lawmakers were also told there would be around $200 million available in federal discretionary funds, but it is still unclear how that might be used to replace state dollars in the budget.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Darby senator sinks his stream access bill

2009-03-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

An angler tries his luck on Mitchell Slough near the Bitterroot River. Disputes over public access to the slough fueled a series of court cases over whether Montana’s landmark stream access law applies to waterways altered by man. (Photo by Michael Howell/ Bitterroot Star)

By LAUREN RUSSELL
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

What was shaping up to be major fight over public access to Montana’s smaller waterways ended quietly last week when Sen. Rick Laible decided to kill his own bill.

The Darby Republican’s Senate Bill 314 would have effectively barred anglers and other recreators from most of the state’s smaller streams, according to state fish and wildlife officials.

Laible, whose district includes the greater part of Ravalli County, cancelled two hearings before the Senate Natural Resources Committee earlier this month for the bill, which attempted to define the terms “natural” and “natural water body” for purposes of Montana’s stream access law.

The bill officially died this week when it missed the deadline for passing from one house to another.

Laible said the bill was created to address concerns of farmers and ranchers over November’s Montana Supreme Court decision on the Bitterroot Valley’s Mitchell Slough. The court ruled that the slough was a natural waterway and therefore subject to the 1985 state law for stream access, overturning earlier court decisions stating that any water body manipulated by man was no longer a natural stream.

Laible said he had been asked to sponsor the bill by a constituent who was worried the Mitchell ruling would provide the public access to existing ditches. As the bill progress, Laible said he was unhappy with the broad implication of the measure’s language.

“I thought the original intent was to protect water rights of ranchers and farmers, but I was told the language was actually trying to overturn the Supreme Court decision,” Laible said. “I didn’t think it was the right thing to do.”

Laible would not say who wrote the bill.

“I did some more research and kept the bill going, thinking we could amend it,” Laible said. “But I talked to the attorney of (Department of) Fish, Wildlife and Parks, who said that even an amendment didn’t fix it. Turned out it reversed access for sportsmen, access which is our Montana heritage.”

Opponents of the measure included Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Montana Trout Unlimited.
Bruce Farling, executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited, said that since most streams in Montana have been modified by irrigators, many smaller streams would have been off-limits to public access.

“That bill would have radically undermined our 25-year-old access bill in the state and would have put hundreds of streams that are now accessible out of access for the public,” Farland said. “Once Rick talked to our guy in Helena and talked to legal counsel and realized he didn’t understand the implications of the language, he was a gentleman and a good guy and decided to abandon it."

Because no clear definition of what constitutes a “natural” stream will be determined in the Legislature this session, future issues of state public stream access will most likely be decided in the courts on a case-by-case basis.

Laible described the experience of sponsoring the contentious bill as one of the most challenging of his legislative tenure.

“It was not good,” Laible said. “I didn’t know it was going to be that controversial, I thought it was cleanup language. Sometimes bills don’t turn out the way you want them to, so you kill ‘em.”

Animal 'hoarding' bill wins Senate's approval

2009-02-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

Montana's Senate gave its final approval Thursday to bill a that would include "animal hoarding" under the state's current animal cruelty laws. The bill passed by a vote of 33-17.

Under Senate Bill 221, "companion animal hoarding" is defined as possessing 10 or more household pets, failing to provide the necessary care for those animals and confining those animals in a severely crowded environment.

The bill also would require those convicted to and undergo psychological examination and treatment

The measure will now move to the House for consideration.

- by CNS reporter Shanda Bradshaw

Halftime in Helena

2009-02-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

Senators Lynda Moss of Billings and Mike Cooney of Helena cast votes as the session's first half wound down. (Photo by Alison Smith)

Senate Democrats fume at failure to fund CHIP expansion;
Republicans pleased with efforts to scale back regulations

HELENA – Senator in both parties said Thursday they were pleased with the bipartisanship of the legislative session's first half, but Democrats were upset with Republican actions to block children’s health-care funding.

“This has been a session marked with highs and lows,” said Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula.

Williams said that while the session should be remembered for a positive relationship between the parties, Democrats are “very, very disappointed and angry” at Republicans' refusal to appropriate start-up funds to expand the popular Children’s Health Insurance Plan.

The expansion, approved by voter inititivative in November, would cover thousands of additional Montana children whose parents can't afford health insurace.

“After 70 percent of Montanans voted to (expand) the CHIP program, I was disappointed that the Republicans, in a partisan way on their subcommittee, decided not to fund it,” Williams said. “I think it was irresponsible.”

Republican leaders said the party-line vote to block CHIP funding was merely a rational approach to limit spending in difficult economic times.

“You have to understand we have some financial realities to deal with as well,” said Senate Majority Leader Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo.

Peterson said the money to expand CHIP would have to be taken from other health care programs and the current budget cannot support a new program right now.

“This isn’t permanent,” Peterson said. “It doesn’t mean we won’t look at it in the future.”

Both parties said balancing the budget will be the biggest issue in the next half of the session and that spending millions in one-time federal stimulus dollars should be kept separate from state's regular budget. Party leaders also agreed that the budget process should not be sped up just to accommodate stimulus funds, as Gov. Brian Schweitzer recently requested.

“Things are not just going to happen overnight,” Peterson said, adding that the budget process is especially complex this year with stimulus considerations.

Williams agreed. “Legislators always want to be governors and governors always want to be legislators,” she said. “The governor will get his budget when we’re done with it.”

GOP leaders said they were happy with the progress of natural-resource development bills that passed through the Senate. They said streamlining the permitting and appeals process for projects will create much needed jobs in Montana and help the state take quick advantage of federal money for infrastucture projects.

“To do that we have to get permitting done and we can’t have that money tied up in the extended permitting and appeals process,” said Senate President Robert Story, R-Park City. “I think that’s something everyone in Montana should be concerned about.”

Democrats said the rush to streamline regulations and the permitting process is merely an excuse to unravel the state's landmark environmental laws.

Sen. Mike Cooney, D-Helena, said existing environmental regulations would not slow down “shovel-ready” projects tagged to receive federal stimulus money.

Beyond a backlog in environmental reviews of gravel pits, which would provide materials for projects such as road and bridge building, Cooney said there isn’t a single bottleneck caused by state regulations.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

The Session at Halftime

2009-02-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

Photo by Alison Smith

GOP touts limits on environmental appeals; Demos cite state pay plan, bipartisanship

HELENA – House leaders gave the first half of the legislative session a passing grade on Wednesday, saying it was relatively mild in comparison to the 2007 session, but the tough issues are still waiting for them in the second half.

“We’re very excited about the agenda that we’re moving,” said House Assistant Minority Floor Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings.

House Minority Leader Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, said he was glad fewer bills were introduced this session compared to last session because lawmakers have “reasonable expectations” about the economic crisis.

“The less legislation the better,” Sales said.

Other Republican leaders said they were pleased with the passing of bills that would limit the permitting appeals process in natural resource development projects. They said the party was conducting itself well by being accountable to Montanans.

House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, said this session was as different as “night and day” from last session when it comes to bipartisanship levels. He said the House accomplished plenty of technical tasks, such as passing a pay plan bill.

“We’re getting along,” Bergren said. “The tone is definitely different this time.”

The biggest issue facing legislators in the second half of the session is the budget, Bergren said.

Bergren said he hopes the state budget will pass through the House like it usually does, allowing lawmakers to adjust it as they see fit. The stimulus package will also come into play, Bergren said it, but it should not affect the regular budgeting process since stimulus money is one-time-only funding.

Sales said Republicans are still worried about diminishing revenue streams and the affect they will have on producing a structurally balanced budget in only 45 legislative days.

“If we don’t really live within our means, we’ll be back,” Sales said.

Both Republican and Democrat leadership said Gov. Brian Schweitzer has appropriately abstained from influencing the session so far.

“I must applaud the governor in recognizing the Legislature is a separate branch,” Bergren said. He added that he hopes the governor weighs in during the budgeting process.

Republicans said Schweitzer has not met with them directly and they would like the opportunity to do so.

Minority Floor Leader Scott Mendenhall, R-Clancy, said Republicans hope the governor will be bipartisan and find common ground with them in the upcoming 45 days.

The Legislature will break for transmittal on Feb. 27 and start the second half of the session on March 2.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

House Republicans cry foul over unheard bills

2009-02-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

HELENA – As lawmakers head into their halftime break, House GOP leaders accused Democratic Speaker Bob Bergren (pictured) today of unfair and unequal treatment in the handling of Republican bills.

House Minority Floor Leader Scott Mendenhall, R-Clancy, said Bergren broke House rules in a “blatant and brazen way” by opting not to schedule late Republican-sponsored bills for a hearing.

“Is it just coincidence they happened to be all Republican bills?” Mendenhall asked.

Mendenhall also said Bergren, of Havre, showed his partisan bias by splitting up the previous day’s floor agendas by party, with Democrat bills in the morning and Republican bills in the afternoon.

“That’s patently unfair,” Mendenhall said. “Can we look forward to more of this in the second half?”

Mendenhall’s speech was met with some Republican applause, which Bergren quickly stifled from the speaker’s chair.

Bergren said he has been fair, equal and in control for the first half of the session. “I believe you just helped set the tone for the next 45 days,” Bergren told Mendenhall.

Bergren admitted that he decided not to schedule hearing on one late Republican bill and a few resolutions because he didn't think the House had enough time to hear them. He said he should not have "desk-drawer vetoed" the bills.

“One minor violation that upset you, I apologize,” Bergren said.

In an interview later, Bergren said Republicans were bringing up “petty” issues and should be talking instead about heavy-hitting issues like the economy and health care.

“Republican leadership is once again out of touch with Montana,” Bergren said.

But Republican leaders said their concerns were valid. "It is a big deal,” said Minority Leader Scott Sales, R-Bozeman. He said these kinds of insider moves lead to partisan discord.

Despite the tiff, both sides said they looked forward to fostering bipartisanship after the halftime break that runs from Feb. 27-March 2.

Great Falls lawmaker targets 'animal hoarding"

2009-02-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

By SHANDA BRADSHAW
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

The first clue was the sound of barking dogs.

Their curiosity piqued, U.S. Customs officials at Montana's Sweetgrass border crossing decided to check the contents of an unventilated semi-trailer being towed by an Alaskan couple bound for Arizona.

What officials found on that October day more than six years ago shocked Montanans: Two hundred dogs, most of them collies, had suffered a week in the trailer. Many were sick or injured, their fur matted with feces.

The scene still disturbs Great Falls Sen. Mitch Tropila, who is carrying a bill this session to include "companion animal hoarding" as a special offense under the state's animal cruelty laws. The bill is scheduled for debate in the Senate Wednesday.

Tropila, who eventually adopted one of the abused dogs , admitted that the bill hits close to home. "Yes I do have a dog in this fight," he said.

Senate Bill 221 would consider a "companion" animal as any domesticated cat, dog, bird, ferret, rabbit, or other animal normally maintained in the residence of an owner. Companion animal hoarding is defined as possessing 10 or more household pets and failing to provide the necessary care for those animals or confining those animals in a severely crowded environment.

Tropila said that in most cases, people who hoard animals often are unaware of their wrongdoing because they suffer from mental illness, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or bipolar disorder.

"They think they're helping, and they think they're giving these animals care," Tropila said. "But they have a problem."

If passed, the bill would require a person convicted of companion animal hoarding to undergo a psychological examination and treatment, at the person's expense, in addition to other animal cruelty penalties.

The bill would give authorities the ability to prosecute animal hoarding cases more seriously than they have been in the past, Tropila said.

"We're not trying to send these people to Warm Springs (state mental hospital) for ten years but we are trying to get them the help that they need," he said.

With the recidivism rate for untreated animal hoarders at nearly 100 percent, he said, proponents of the bill emphasize the need to provide them with sufficient treatment and monitoring to ensure that they don't mistreat animals again.

Some senators worried that the required psychological evaluation would cause hardship on the state system if offenders couldn't afford the evaluation on their own, Tropila said.

"We revised the fiscal note and decided that even if these people couldn't pay for their own evaluations, cost to the state would be minimal," Tropila said.

At a recent hearing , supporters ranged from law enforcement to the state director of the Human Society and animal shelter volunteers. There were no opponents.

Senate gives final OK to medical marijuana bill

2009-02-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

The Montana Senate gave its final approval today to a bill that would increase the amount of medical marijuana patients may possess and expand the list of diseases for which the drug can be prescribed. Senate Bill 326 passed with a vote of 28-22.

The bill would increase 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.

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.

"This bill would significantly help the 1,600 people who currently hold medical marijuana cards," Erickson said.

The bill now heads to the House.

- by CNS reporter Shanda Bradshaw

Drive to limit interest on 'payday' loans falls short

2009-02-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

HELENA – House lawmakers today refused to revive a bill that would have put a cap on the interest rates charged to consumers who take out 'payday' loans. The attempt failed by a vote of 51-49.

House Bill 396, sponsored by Rep. Bill Wilson, D-Great Falls, would limit interest rates to a 36 percent on both payday and auto loans.

The bill was tabled in committee on a party-line vote, 9-9. Wilson said it should be debated on the floor because Montanans going further into debt because of exorbitant interest rates, which he said can exceed 400 percent annually.

“These people are trapped,” Wilson said. “They are paying interest rates that in my opinion would make (TV mobster) Tony Soprano embarrassed.”

Rep. Shannon Augare, D-Browning, said payday loan businesses need more regulation because they are built on the same kind of greed that put America in the current economic crisis.

But opponents to reviving the bill said putting more regulations on this industry will only hurt its employees and the people who use the services.

“The purpose of this bill is not to cap interest rates,” Rep. Mike Milburn, R-Cascade. “It’s to put people out of business.” Milburn added that forcing these businesses to close will force the people who work there out of a job.

Rep. Edward Butcher, R-Winifred, said payday loans are often the only opportunity some low-income people have to borrow money for emergencies. He said paying $10 interest on a $50 loan is cheap compared to a $30 charge for bouncing a check at a bank.

“Until you’re going to go ahead and require banks to loan money to people that have no assets, you better not take away this one avenue,” Butcher said. “What do you want them to do, go sell their body on the street to get the money?”

HB 396 was originally tabled in the House Business and Labor Committee by a 9-9 party-line vote. It would need 60 votes from House representatives to force it out of committee deadlock and onto the House floor.

Similar efforts to revive payday loan interest bills in the Senate failed as well.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

House approves 3% increase for K-12 schools

2009-02-24T13:38:00.000-08:00

HELENA – The state House gave preliminary approval to a bill that would increase K-12 education funding by 3 percent each year until 2011.

House Bill 15, sponsored by Rep. Dan Villa, D-Anaconda, passed second reading by a vote of 82-18. It is Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s plan to increase the basic entitlement and the total per-student payment by 3 percent in every district across the state.

Villa said the state has increased education funds since last session, and should keep doing so.

“It’s a simple 3 percent,” Villa said. “Here’s an opportunity to keep the momentum going.”

The bill passed with little fuss in the House.

Rep. William Glaser, R-Huntley, said the bill would not fully fund education needs, but he would vote for it because it could work in conjunction with the incoming federal stimulus money.

Rep. Wanda Grinde, D-Billings, said the bill was not perfect and would not give education programs all the money it needs, but it is a good start.

The bill was originally locked up in an 8-8 tie in the education subcommittee, with Republicans opposed. It went to the floor on a second vote from the subcommittee, 11-5.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Senate passes bill to provide coverage for autism

2009-02-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

By JENNIFER KIRBY
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

Montana's Senate endorsed legislation Monday that would require insurers to provide coverage for critical early intervention therapies for autistic children

Senators voted 35-14 for Senate Bill 234, also known as “Brandon’s Bill,” which would require coverage for the treatments recommended for improving an autistic child’s quality of life, including applied behavioral analysis – an intensive intervention that can require eight hours of therapy a day.

According to The Center for Disease Control, one in 150 American 8-year-olds has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Before studies done in 2004, it was generally believed that about 1 in 2,000 children had autism.

The Obama administration has given special attention to autism in its disabilities agenda , calling for universal screening and increased funding for care and research.

In Montana, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Kim Gillan, D-Billings (pictured), said treatment, specifically applied behavior analysis, is routinely denied coverage by insurance companies, placing huge financial burdens on hard working families in Montana.

In Monday's debate, the bill drew bipartisan support. Sen. Bob Hawks, D-Bozeman and the grandfather of two autistic grandsons, said the potential cost of the mandate was small compared to the cost of no treatment. He implored lawmakers to give these families some assistance, now.

Sen. Roy Brown, R-Billings, said that he hated mandates, but this one deserved their support.

“Brandon’s Bill,” named after Brandon Simonsen, a Montana boy who was diagnosed with autism at age 3, drew supporters from across the state in an emotional hearing earlier this session. Parents relayed story after story of not being able to get coverage for the treatments recommended by their care providers.

In some cases, limits on coverage for speech and physical therapy left parents paying out-of-pocket for most of the treatment. Some plans denied coverage of applied behavior analysis, dismissing it as experimental or unproven.

The intensive nature and high cost of that treatment put it out of reach for most parents if their insurance did not cover it. For some parents, qualifying for Medicaid was the only way to secure treatment.

Insurance lobbyists argued that the bill was unnecessary because they are already required to cover autism as a severe mental illness. An additional mandate for coverage, with an annual maximum benefit of $50,000 required by “Brandon’s Bill,” could increase premiums for everyone, they argued. Small business and labor representatives echoed that concern.

To address concerns of cost and medical necessity of treatment, the bill was amended. Of particular concern was the estimated cost of providing coverage for government workers.

Gillan disputed an analyist's estimated $12 per month increase in premiums, citing an actuarial study that estimated an increase of only $18.50 annually, plus a 15 percent administration fee.

She said in Minnesota, where Blue Cross Blue Shield has been providing coverage for applied behavior analysis and other recommended treatments without a coverage cap, premiums increased by 83 cents per month. In Indiana there has been no measurable increase in premiums after a similar bill was enacted, she added.

Amendments to the bill maintain the $50,000 coverage limit for children 8 years old and younger, while reducing that benefit to $20,000 for children 9 to 18 years old.

Researchers believe early intervention is essential to helping autistic children develop to their full potential, especially if children are treated before they enter school. Treatment plans for children over age 8 are generally less costly.

Other changes in the bill address treatment plan specifications and certification for treatment providers. Coverage for nutritional therapy and dieticians services was eliminated. The effectiveness of the dietary intervention was challenged by a doctor representing an insurance group during the committee hearing.

“The changes made don’t detract from the bill but helped tightened some of the language, making it a better bill,” Gillan said later.

The bill faces one more vote in the Senate before it makes its way to the House for consideration.

House blocks bill to keep Rx info from marketers

2009-02-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

HELENA - A bill that would prevent pharmaceutical companies from using Montanans's personal medical information for marketing died on a party-line vote in the House, 50-50.

House Bill 394, sponsored by Rep. Dave McAlpin, D-Missoula (pictured), would penalize companies that use clients' medical information for marketing. Many companies already have access to these files for research purposes.

"The bill absolutely only affects the marketing of this data," McAlpin said.

The bill's supporters said Montanans should retain the rights to their information and get to choose how it is used."This bill is about protecting our privacy and anonymity from big business," Rep. Brady Wiseman, D-Bozeman, said.

But the opponents said the bill could cost consumers. "This will increase the cost of marketing," said Rep. Ron Stoker, R-Darby, adding that the companies will pay for it by raising drug prices.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Medical marijuana bill faces crucial vote Tuesday

2009-02-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

By SHANDA BRADSHAW

Community News Service

UM School of Journalism

The Montana Senate voted 25-24 Saturday to increase the amount of medical marijuana a patient can legally possess and expand the list of debilitating conditions that marijuana could be prescribled to treat.

Senate Bill 326, sponsored by Sen. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula (pictured), is scheduled to face a final Senate vote Tuesday.

"There are a great many people out there in pain, and medical marijuana would definitely help them," Erickson said Saturday.

The bill would amend current law to include illnesses such as diabetes, Alzheimer's and post-traumatic stress disorder on the list of illnesses for which medical marijuana could be prescribed.

Erickson said that change is one of the bill's two main goals.

"Number one is to increase access and supply for those people with prescriptions," Erickson said. "Number two is to expand the law to include new diseases and help the people that need it."

Erickson said the bill's opponents were most apprehensive about a section in the bill that aims to protect patients or caregivers that legally possesses medical marijuana from losing their job or being evicted from a rental home solely because of their marijuana possession.

"I told opponents at the hearing that I'm willing to amend this section of the bill when it gets to the House ," Erickson said. "So I think this is no longer a concern, and I expect the bill to pass."

SB 326 would also allow patients to get marijuana from more than one licensed caregiver, which could help patients find the supplies they need.

In addition to increasing the amount a patient can legally possess, the bill would also allow licensed growers to have six mature, budding plants and eight immature plants.

Capitol rally promotes marijuana as medicine

2009-02-20T20:17:00.000-08:00

HELENA - Advocates for medical marijuana gathered in the capitol rotunda today to tout the plant's promise as a pain reliever.

Exhibits include live marijuana plants, each belonging to a registered medical marijuana user. Another exhibit showed the many uses of hemp. A crowd filled the rotunda as speakers discussed prescribing and using medical marijuana. Complimentary brownies were served at "high noon."

The rally was in support of Senate Bill 326, which would allow Montanans with prescriptions for the drug to possess up to 3 ounces. It would also expand the lists of illness for which marijuana could be prescribed.

Not everyone was pleased with the show. Rep. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, questioned the legality of the display and said it should not be allowed.

But House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, said the marijuana display is covered by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Bergren also said Republican opposition to the rally was another example of how Republicans are out of touch with Montanans, because Montanans voted to legalize medical marijuana.

-Story and photo by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Juneau: OPI is studying stimulus aid to schools

2009-02-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

HELENA -Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau asked state lawmakers today for continued education funding and said the Office of Public Instruction would give recommendations on the federal stimulus package soon.

"Public education is the only specific institution that the legislative body has a constitutional duty to fund," Juneau said.

The superintendent acknowledged the constant struggle to adequately fund education and finding solutions that do not involve court decisions.

"We must develop a solution that will outlast all of our political lives and agendas," Juneau said.

Juneau said OPI is still working on understanding specific requirements laid out by the federal government in the stimulus package, and said appropriation recommendations would be available soon.

Juneau also stressed the importance of graduating from high school, especially in today's competitive workforce. She endorsed bills that would increase the compulsory school age from 16 to 17 and efforts to increase distance learning opportunities.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Bill to control riverside development draws fire

2009-02-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

HELENA – A crowd of riverside landowners asked state lawmakers today to scuttle a bill that would require builders to keep their distance from from the banks of Montana's rivers and streams.

House Bill 455, sponsored by Rep. Michele Reinhart, D-Missoula, (pictured) specifies 10 major rivers in Montana as “Big Sky” rivers. Also known as the “Big Sky Rivers Act,” the bill would establish streamside setbacks at either 150 feet or 250 feet from the high-water mark, depending on the slope of the land. The bill also requires up to 150 feet of vegetation.

Existing buildings and development would be grandfathered in.

“It is a reasonable, responsible choice to protect people and natural resources,” Reinhart said.

Supporters said it would keep Montana’s rivers and streams clean by preventing unnatural erosion. They also said houses and developments located near a river detract from its natural beauty.

“You’re losing tourist dollars if you don’t do something like this,” said Rich Morrisey, who chose to retire in Montana. “This bill is so needed by the citizens of this state.”

Other supporters said statewide setbacks would keep people healthy as well as animals.

“People in Great Falls drink the water from the Missouri and we believe the setbacks protect water quality,” said Linda Stoll of the Montana Association of Planners.

The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Department of Environmental Quality and several environmental groups also supported the bill.

But opponents said the bill was an attempt to take private property without compensation.

“This is a bad bill. It’s wrong and it’s evil,” said landowner Tom Greil. “What they’re going to do through zoning is steal our land for open space.”

Gene Williams, a landowner in Ravalli County, said he was concerned about government involvement on private land.

“Zoning enables regulatory authority, and when you talk about giving regulatory authority to government, what you’re talking about is an encroachment on private property,” Williams said.

Others said several counties already have setback regulations and no blanket set of rules will work on all rivers.

“The further you get zoning regulations from the counties, the more problems you have,” said Hertha Lund, an attorney representing landowners from Ravalli County.

Several county commissioners opposed the bill, saying the exemptions for cities and other types of landowners makes the bill confusing and biased.

Reinhart said she was frustrated with the hearing because the opponents had twice the time to speak as the bill's supporters. Public testimony lasted more than two hours.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Senators line up behind anti-abortion measure

2009-02-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

HELENA - A bill aiming to deny Montana's right to privacy as a legal defense for abortions passed its first vote on the Senate floor, 29-19.

Senate Bill 46, sponsored by Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, would would ask voters to amend Montana's constitutional provision for the right to privacy, which currently says the right "shall not be infringed without a showing of compelling state interest.” McGee's bill would add one sentence, saying, "The protection of unborn human life is a compelling state interest."

Senators debating the bill spoke for over an hour this afternoon. Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, was one of several Democrats to vote for the bill. He said humans should respect all life, with no exceptions.

"Life is life, it's black and white," Windy Boy said. "Life is precious - we don't even own our own life."

One of the few Republicans to oppose the bill, Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, said he does not support abortion, but without including contraceptives in sex education, this bill will only create larger problems in the future.

"We have to change behavior," Brueggeman said. "We can treat addiction but you can't unmake a person."

As a constitutional amendment, the bill needs the votes at least 100 of the 150 legislators . If that happens, the initiative would be on the ballot in 2010.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Baucus plugs stimulus plan, children's health care

2009-02-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

HELENA – U.S. Sen. Max Baucus reassured state lawmakers today that the federal stimulus package would boost Montana’s economy through shovel-ready projects that will employ 11,000 people.

“One thing is clear,” Baucus said. “The economic recovery and jobs bill provide the jolt our economy needs.”

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus (pictured) said he worked to make the money in the American Recovery and Relief Act available as quickly as possible to Americans.

“Not everyone agreed on the final package,” Baucus said. “Negotiations were tense at times.”

Montana will receive $626 million of the nearly $800 billion bill for education, healthcare and infrastructure projects across the state.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s necessary,” Baucus said.

Baucus also stressed the importance of the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Earlier that day, Republican members of a key budget committee voted against a bill to fund a voter-approved expansion of the popular CHIP program.

“Children’s health insurance is not a partisan issue,” Baucus told legislators.

A CHIP expansion was approved by Montana voters this fall.

- Story by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Photo by Alison Smith

GOP bills would set rules for carbon sequestration

2009-02-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

HELENA – Two Republican lawmakers said today they have bills to lay out the legal framework for carbon sequestration, the process of capturing the carbon dioxide produced by large fossil-fuel power plants and storing it underground.

Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, unveiled the details of his carbon sequestration bill today which would put the sequestration program under the state Board of Oil and Gas.

“They have the expertise to go on and monitor this program,” Bales said.

By assigning the program to the board now, the state could request primary policy authority for sequestration from the federal government, Bales said. The bill would require underground carbon dioxide reservoirs to be monitored to ensure against leaks and would establish a fee for each ton of the gas stored in those reservoirs. The money would be put in a special fund to cover unexpected costs.

The bill would also authorize the state to assume ownership and liability over the reservoirs after carbon-dioxide injection has stopped for 10 years. Bales said he expects the federal government will take over the reservoirs in the future and it will be easier for the state to transfer liability to them.

A similar bill, Senate Bill 66, sponsored by Sen. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula, was tabled in committee earlier this session by Republicans in a party-line vote. Bales said he is confident his bill will pass through committee with bipartisan support.

“I think my bill will make it through because it solves the problems that were in the other bills,” Bales said.

Erickson's bill would have put the program under the authority of Department of Environmental Quality and the Board of Environmental Review.

Meanwhile, Rep. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, also outlined his bill, House Bill 338, which would allow pipelines to carry carbon dioxide as a common carrier, meaning they have the same rules and regulations as oil and gas pipelines. HB 338 passed its first vote on the House floor on Tuesday, 93-7.

Ankney said it was time for Montana to get moving on carbon sequestration, to create jobs and so power plants can sell their carbon dioxide.

“I think we’re way beyond the argument, ‘Is there global warming, is there not global warming,’” Ankney said. “Let’s get on with it.”

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Bill would exempt projects from state air-quality review

2009-02-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

HELENA – A state lawmaker wants to exempt air-quality permits from review under state's environmental law in an effort to make it easier for energy plants and other large projects to get up and running.

Senate Bill 440, sponsored by Sen. Kelly Gebhardt, R-Roundup, states the federal Clean Air Act provides an adequate environmental impact analysis of potential building projects, making reviews under the Montana Environmental Policy Act unnecessary.

Gebhardt said today that the bill would help attract businesses to Montana and remove a redundancy in the permitting system. He also said the public will still have a voice in potential projects.

“I think we can still protect the opportunity of the public to be notified,” Gebhardt told the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

Supporters for the bill said it would help create desperately needed jobs in Montana.

“This bill doesn't take away the public’s right to be heard,” said Don Allen of the Western Environmental Trade Association, a natural-resource industry group. “It simply is geared to go forward in terms of trying to make things work better without being encumbered by things that shouldn't be there to start with.”

Candace Payne, a lobbyist for Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative, Inc. said the bill would help her organization pursue its power-plant projects by removing undue state regulations.

The co-op recently blamed the regulatory process and lawsuits for its decision to shelve plans to build a controversial coal-fired power plant near Great Falls. The co-op hopes to build a smaller, cleaner natural-gas plant instead.

Payne said federal law is sufficient to protect public health and safety and that removing MEPA provisions would protect Montanans' right to use and enjoy private property.

But many SB 440 opponents said they spoke against the bill in response to the SME's proposed coal-fired electrical generating plant near Great Falls. They said they only fully understood the implications of the then-proposed coal-fired plant because of MEPA environmental impact analysis.

Jaybe Floyd, who lives outside of Great Falls, said MEPA helped her understand the implications the project might have had on her asthmatic son.

“Projects like this are beyond huge,” Floyd said. “They are outside the scope of understanding of most of us.” She said the current permitting process may be lengthy, but it ensures the public has an understanding and a voice about power plants built near their land.

Other opponents said the federal Clean Air Act does not account for home devaluation, dust, noise, heavy equipment on rural roads, seismic activity or emergency services.

Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center said the MEPA environmental impact surveys are good for the companies as well as the public, because companies are often unaware of some neighbor concerns and are willing to address them.

Sarah Cobler of Montana Conservation Voters said removing MEPA provisions could cause a general public rejection of big projects in the state.

“I worry that, without the MEPA process which allows citizens to participate, there might be a push back from the citizenry,” Cobler said.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Bill to ban death penalty passes first Senate vote

2009-02-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

HELENA - A bill to abolish Montana's death penalty survived its first test in the state Senate today, passing by a vote of 27-23.

Senate Bill 236, sponsored by Sen. David Wanzenried, D-Missoula, would replace capital punishment with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lawmakers debated the bill for an hour, with supporters' agruments ranging from costs to morality. Some said that, because of required appeals, administering the death penalty is more expensive than life without parole. Others worried about wrongful convictions, while still others equated the death penalty with murder.

"It is not our position, it is not our duty to pass that judgment onto one another,” said Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder. "That's the law of the universe, that's the law of the Creator."

Sen. Gary Perry, R-Manhattan, said he began supporting death penalty abolition last session. He said life in prison without parole is essentially a death sentence in which the offender dies "according to God’s timetable."

However, senators who opposed the bill said the death penalty is needed as a deterrent and a tool to help prosecutors obtain guilty pleas.

“Having the death penalty gives prosecutors a bargaining chip to get plea bargains from murderers,” said Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman. “If we remove this bargaining chip from prosecutors, I would argue that a lot more cases are going to go to trial.”

Some senators said they would vote against the bill because some criminals deserve to die for their terrible crimes. Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, used the case of convicted child killer Joseph E. Duncan III as an example.

“If somebody did that to one of my own, I would be enraged like Jesus was in the Bible,” Brenden said. “Jesus could get mad.”

The bill will have to pass a final vote in the Senate Tuesday before it could head to the House.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Students march to support anti-meth project

2009-02-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

HELENA - Hundreds of Montana students rallied on the capitol steps today for the Montana Meth Project's "March Against Meth." Sporting signs and chanting "Just say yes," the students walked from Helena High School to the capitol to urge lawmakers to allocate $2 million to the Montana Meth Project.

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus walked with the students and spoke at the rally. Other speakers included former meth users and Montana Meth Project officials. The governor, state legislators and other officials attended as well.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Legislator aims to take politics out of redistricting

2009-02-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

HELENA – It happens every decade, after every census: A five-member committee redraws the boundaries for legislative districts to ensure that each district has roughly the same number of voters.

Inevitably, the party out of power complains that the lines were drawn to give its rivals an edge in the next election.

Now a Republican from Victor is hoping to amend Montana's Constitution to change the way voting districts are created.

House Bill 500, sponsored by Rep. Gary MacLaren (pictured), would reduce the state districting and apportionment committee to four members. Currently, the constitution calls for four members chosen by the Legislature who vote on a fifth member to become the chairman. If they can’t agree, the decision goes to the Supreme Court.

MacLaren said this process is flawed because it gives the party in power a three-to-two vote to create districts they hope will benefit their party in the next statewide election.

“They’re gerrymandering,” MacLaren told the House State Administration Committee. “Some of those districts just don’t make sense.”

MacLaren said an even number of commission members could make fair decisions.

“Why does anybody have to be disadvantaged?” MacLaren said.

Rep. Sue Dickenson, D-Great Falls and the committee's vice chairman, said she was unsure a four-person commission could work together on such a divisive issue.

“Can you truly say with a straight face given what’s happened here so far this session that you can have an even number of people that can agree on redistricting and apportionment decisions?” Dickenson asked MacLaren.

MacLaren said he thought it was possible. In any case, he added, Montana voters should have the opportunity to decide the question.

Since the measure would require a constitutional amendment, it would need 100 votes from the 150-member to qualify for a future ballot.

No supporters or opponents testified at the hearing.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Legislature's revenue projections slip yet again

2009-02-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

HELENA – The Legislature's principal financial forecaster is predicting another $30 million drop in Montana's future revenues.

Analyst Terry Johnson's report blamed continued erosion in future revenues on declining insurance-tax payments, a smaller-than-expected increase in individual income-tax collections, declines in oil and natural gas production taxes, and low crude oil prices.

State cigarette tax revenues are expected to decline by $11.3 million over the next three years due to a federal tax increase from 39 cents per pack to $1 per pack in April.

Vehicle registration fees and taxes are expected to fall over $11 million in the next three years because fewer Montanans are buying new cars and are choosing instead to re-register older models.

This report is the third prediction of falling estimates since just before the current legislaive session began. Johnson predicted a $135 million revenue decrease in December and another $85 million decrease in January. The total predicted revenue decline is now $250.9 million.

Legislative leaders said Friday they had been expecting another decline in future revenues, considering the current national economic crisis.

"I'm disappointed it's continually going down," said House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre.

The Legislature’s best guess on future revenues is important because it guides lawmakers’ spending for the next two years. Lawmakers are required by the state’s constitution to submit a balanced budget.

Bergren said the House will probably adopt the latest revenue prediction this week.

Senate President Robert Story, R-Park City, said lawmakers will have to start making big decisions about the budget even though they expected falling revenue numbers.

"It's probably right where we were expecting to be," Story said.

So far, the falling projections have lawmakers considering cuts to scheduled increases in spending and not actual deficits that are forcing other states to lay off workers.

Still to be considered are the effects the new federal stimulus law will have on Montana’s budget.

Gov. Schweitzer said last week the state should receive at least $600 million in federal money, with much it earmarked for health care, transportation projects and education.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Montana grads seek help in paying college debts

2009-02-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

By LAUREN RUSSELL
Community News Service
UM School of Journalism

HELENA – When Molly Morgan graduated from Montana State University-Billings last spring, she though she had left the barista business behind. But seven months and several part-time jobs later, Morgan is once working and the same Billings coffee shop she did when she was in high school.

After trying to find more permanent employment, Morgan couldn’t afford to keep looking for a job that would make use of her psychology degree; she had bills to pay. Morgan owes $22,125 in student loan debt.

“Luckily my mom lets me live at her house for $100 a month,” Morgan said. “I’ve been able to get a lot of my loans deferred because I can’t afford to pay them, but I’m considering going back to school to defer my payments even longer.”

Morgan’s situation isn’t unfamiliar to many graduates of Montana’s two-year and four-year colleges. According to the Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program, about 70 percent of graduates of the Montana University System have loans when they graduate. Montana’s wages—among the lowest in the country—force some grads to leave the state to find work that will help them pay off their loans.

On Friday, the Senate Taxation Committee heared testimony on a bill that could give graduates an incentive to stay in Montana by giving employers a tax credit for helping their employees pay off student loans.

Senate Bill 304, the “Keep our kids here tax credit,” is sponsored by Sen. Roy Brown, R-Billings, and would give an employer a tax cut equal to the amount he or she contributes to a qualifying employee’s student loan debt, as much as $5,000 a year for up to three years per employee.

With this bill, Brown, who ran against Gov. Brian Schweitzer last November, would fulfill his campaign promise to use state resources to help Montana students in their pursuit of higher education.

To qualify, an employee would need to have earned a degree from a two-or four-year Montana college in 2009 or later and be employed at his or her job an average of 32 hours per week for at least 9 months during the tax year.

“So many of these kids leave college with high student loan debt, and they just don’t have many choices because they have to go somewhere where they can make enough money to repay their loan debt,” Brown said. “The way I see it, this bill would be a win-win situation for all: It helps the tax liability for small businesses, helps students pay off loans and keeps students in Montana.”

Proponents of the bill include the Associated Students for the University of Montana lobbyist Lucas Hamilton.

“What we hope to do with this bill is to provide an incentive to businesses to hire graduates from Montana’s four-year and two-year institutions—to start using resources the state has invested in,” Hamilton said earlier last week.

He said that though about 70 percent of graduates from Montana schools remain in the state after graduation, many are not necessarily working in their degree field.

“This bill is tailored to provide a direct stimulus into the economy so students can get directly into the economy in their chosen field and start building a life in Montana,” Hamilton said.

The problem, though, is that any new legislation that isn’t in the governor’s budget faces an uphill battle in what the governor calls a “belt-tightening legislative session.”

Depending on how many employers would claim the credit, the bill could cost the state anywhere from $4 million to $38 million in income tax revenue over a three-year period.

Brown has said that, because Montana is expected to receive federal stimulus money, the state can afford to finance a few tax cuts from its general fund, though most of the stimulus money is likely to be earmarked for specific projects. Brown said that, by giving graduates an incentive to work in Montana, the state’s economy will benefit.

“When you put more money in pockets of small businesses, more money in the pockets of employees and more money into the state of Montana, it’s a good situation for everybody,” he said earlier last week.

The bill has appeal for students like Morgan and Amanda Kelly, who graduated from the University of Montana last May and works at the University Center’s Shipping Express. They only wish it had come along sooner.

Kelly, who was born and raised in Montana, began paying her loans off in December and will be paying about $200 a month on her total debt of $16,000 until 2016. Though she wouldn’t qualify for the bill, she supports it as an incentive for other students who want to stay in Montana.

“This bill would have paid my entire debt,” Kelly said. “If you’re staying in Montana, you can’t expect to be making thousands of dollars anyway, and if this bill meant taking a lower paying job but not having to pay that $200 a month, which could go toward something else, then it’s totally worth it.”

State flapjack bill flops in committee

2009-02-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

HELENA - Lawmakers in the Senate Agricultural Committee voted 6-3 to table a bill that would make the whole-wheat huckleberry pancake a Montana state symbol.

Sen. Carolyn Squires, D-Missoula, sponsored Senate Bill 232 on behalf of third- and fourth-grade students in her district who thought that whole wheat and huckleberries represented the whole state.

Opposition to the bill said it was an unnecessary use of Montana's time and finances.

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy