We the People: current legislative session
We’re at the midway point of the session with transmittal break February 25-28. We had some long days and short nights in Helena hearing an increased number of general bills both in committee and on the floor.
This past week, we heard a number of key bills that will be critical to our state’s future. On Saturday, we passed a nullification of the Endangered Species Act. This is one of several States Rights bills in response to the federal government meddling in our state’s management. This not only applies to wolf packs, but all wildlife in the state. Even our Democrat Governor has also encouraged state Fish, Wildlife, and Parks officials to shoot wolves that threaten elk herds. HB 321 puts the federal government on notice that we know best how to manage Montana wildlife, not D.C. bureaucrats.
We held a joint House and Senate press conference to discuss some of our legislation designed to spur the growth of our economy. By reforming the Montana Environmental Policy Act (more commonly known as MEPA), we can bring regulatory certainty to environmental permitting and regulation. All too often, natural resource developers do not come into Montana or halt their plans due to lawsuits from environmental obstructionists. Just look at what happened to the transportation of equipment along HWY 12. SB 317 encourages responsible resource development and brings predictability to the process for natural resource companies looking to bring more jobs to our state.
This session of the Montana legislature has already produced dozens of bills designed to help Montana businesses create more jobs. More jobs legislation is moved forward in the Legislative process every single day. Following is a list of just some of those bills that have already passed the House and Senate.
House Bill 334--This bill is guaranteed by the non-partisan National Council on Compensation Insurance to reduce the cost of doing business in Montana. Montana businesses have told us directly, “I could hire another person today if my work comp costs went down.” This bill achieves that.
House Bill 405—This bill reforms malpractice lawsuits. That leads to lower costs for Montana’s health care industry, which leads to lower costs for us and more ability for health care businesses to add workers.
House Bill 100--Protect Montana’s job creators by allowing future legislators to estimate a bill’s impact on small businesses.
House Bill 559--Help Montana’s tourism industry to grow the economy by creating voluntary guidelines for health and sanitation.
House Bill 593--Creates jobs by protecting Montanans job creators against extreme environmental regulations.
House Bill 402--Reducing barriers so gravel businesses can create more jobs.
House Bill 359--Help Montana’s businesses create jobs by clarifying workers’ compensation law.
House Bill 541--Help farmers and ranchers grow the economy by protecting them from regulations on their domestic livestock trailing.
House Bill 412--Helps Montana’s natural resource industry create jobs by requiring that someone who files for an injunction against an industrial operation disclose who’s paying for the lawsuit.
House Bill 550--Helps Montana’s natural resource industries by establishing state authority over federal authority in the regulation of greenhouse gasses.
House Bill 542--This bill helps Montana’s housing development industry create more homes, and more jobs building those homes, by protecting them from unscientific, politicized interference from bureaucrats.
House Bill 71--This bill reduces costs for Montana job creators by preventing illegal aliens from claiming some workers comp benefits.
House Bill 292--Allows the people to vote on amending Montana’s constitution to make clear that our inalienable right to a clean and healthful environment includes the right to an economically productive environment.
House Bill 187--Would create Montana jobs by requiring Montana made wood products in road construction projects.
House Bill 479--This bill creates jobs by helping Montana’s natural resource companies. It will help a new industry get started with methane gas production.
Senate Bill 201--would require that agencies identify small businesses probably affected by the rule, include a statement of the likely impacts of the rule on those businesses, and describe alternatives to the rule that might have less impact on small businesses.
Senate Bill 286--This bill would make it easier to prospect for coal, creating new economic opportunity for all Montanans
Senate Bill 242--Revise workers compensation laws to reduce the barriers preventing farmers and ranchers from hiring temporary labor.
Senate Bill 109--Help the hydroelectric power industry create more jobs by classifying them as an eligible renewable resource under the Montana Renewable Power Production and Rural Economic Development Act.
Senate Bill 159--Revises energy efficiency building codes. Creates jobs by reducing costs to the homebuilding industry.
Senate Bill 117--Require the federal government to consult with local governments, including when regulations restrict development of natural resources.
Senate Bill 297--This bill helps Montana’s natural resource industry create jobs by allowing new coal processing plants to take water out of coal, increasing its market value and providing jobs for Montanans.
Senate Bill 341--This bill creates jobs by making it easier for businesses to hire temporary workers without having to worry that they’ll be charged for unemployment insurance even though the job was always supposed to be temporary.
Senate Bill 292--Helps natural resource industries to create jobs by clarifying rules for underground coal gassification, thus reducing uncertainty in investments.
Senate Bill 290--Helps businesses create jobs by clarifying that an independent contractor is not an employee under the Montana Human Rights Act, thus reducing uncertainty in making contracts.
Senate Bill 330--This bill creates jobs by helping Montana’s power companies provide the cheapest possible electric power to small businesses and workers. By reducing their costs, it leaves them more money free to hire more people.
Senate Joint Resolution 6--This resolution would encourage the federal government to expedite land use decisions on responsible natural resource development.
The following bills are scheduled for a public hearing:
Senate Bill 372--Creates jobs by reducing the tax on business equipment owned by Montana job creators, leaving them more money to hire workers.
House Bill 533--This bill helps Montana’s natural resource industries by clarifying that coal deposits should be leased at fair market value, and allowing that project leases can be extended.
Our Legislative Fiscal Division announced late last week that state revenue collections are better than expected. However, we are still looking at a deficit situation where our anticipated expenditures exceed our anticipated revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars. We are currently spending $150 million more than we are taking in, according to legislative fiscal staff. So contrary to some of the rhetoric you hear from the other side, our state’s fiscal house is not yet in order. This is not surprising, given that state government has grown by 46% since 2005. It falls to this Legislature to make the tough choices to get our state government back to sustainable levels.
Montana government needs to get back to budgeting like you and I must do. If you spend everything you have, there is nothing left
when unexpected emergencies occur. That is exactly what happened earlier this week when the Governor’s office announced an unexpected $80 million Medicaid shortfall. The Legislature now has to make up the difference. This is exactly what Charles S. Johnson, reporting in the Gazette State Bureau on Nov. 20, 2010, feared when he stated “It’s like a Rubik’s Cube and works only if every tiny cube making up the whole cube is lined up exactly in the right place as he proposed. If they’re out of alignment, even by a tiny cube or two, his budget won’t hold together.” It’s now the Legislature’s responsibility to balance the budget.
As your representative, casting these tough votes is not a responsibility I take lightly. Legislators get hundreds of calls and emails each day from people all across the state and the country who want to influence what happens in Montana but your calls, emails and letters are what matter most to me.
Rep. Gordon Hendrick, HD 14