Legislative update

Monday, March 22nd House Bill 2, the main budget bill for the coming biennium, was presented out of Appropriations on the Floor for the body as-a-whole to consider. The chairs of the five appropriations subcommittees took turns presenting their portion of the budget. Representative Ken Holmlund did a fine job presenting for Section C, Natural Resources and Transportation. This is the subcommittee that I had the opportunity to serve on. This process took most of the day Monday before the budget was voted on and approved by a 67-33 party-line vote. This was the first time in anyone's memory that the entire caucus approved the budget. I think it was generally accepted as not a perfect product, but an improvement on the direction and rate of growth of State government. It also reflects optimism that Governor Gianforte and his administration will make continued progress at streamlining our State government.

Senate Bill 178 passed the House and will expand the ability of county governments to participate in cooperative purchasing agreements. This should help in driving down operating costs and should have been done long ago.

We also passed and sent to the Senate a constitutional amendment that would enshrine the rights to hunt, fish, and trap in our Constitution. The strategy of activists in other parts of the country, has been to pick off one at a time, some of these rights. With 2/3 approval in the Senate, this measure will be on the 2022 general election ballot for voter approval.

Addressing an issue not yet in Eastern Montana, we voted to allow individuals trapping wolves to be compensated for costs they incur. This would make it possible for ranchers, for instance, to compensate someone to come and help alleviate a predation problem. These loveable little critters are becoming a serious issue in some of our western areas.

Perhaps one positive development as a result of the Virus has been increased reliance on telemedicine. Recognizing this, we passed HB 43 to allow more flexibility on locations of use and coverages by insurance.

Friday, we passed several capital projects bills for things like maintenance of State and university buildings, water and sewer projects, environmental cleanup sites and historical site preservation. The historical site funding was put into code last session, funded by an increase in the accommodations tax. The idea was to encourage updating and preservation of "historical" sites around the State to promote tourism. Looks to me like a pretty big challenge deciding on worthy projects.

Another major focus of our Appropriations Committee this week has been the boatload of cash coming from the Federal government. Last week I mentioned that $2.7 billion is coming to local and State governments. Details, including the amount, continue to change. As it stands now, Montana is likely to receive $3.2 billion and the Tribes about $750 million.

Roughly 2/3 of the Fed money is tightly constrained within the Office of Public Instruction, Department of Health and Human Services and a few others. It is important for our schools and healthcare providers to try and be aware of what can be done on the local level to utilize the $ that are available. Here in Helena, the Republican caucus and Governor's office are diligently trying to target as much of this money as possible to critical infrastructure projects and not start new programs that will not have funding in the future. As mentioned in prior reports, schools especially, have funds available for heating and cooling upgrades. Details continue to be hammered out and hopefully will be widely available as they develop.

Water and sewer projects will be a high priority. Cities and counties have received or will be receiving Fed $ directly from the Federal government as well. Likely some percentage of these $ will be required to use as a match for additional funds to be made available through the State. We are working to develop greatly simplified applications for this funding as compared to typical TSEP applications. Projects that are ready to go will have an advantage in securing, at least some, of the funding.

I would like to emphasize the importance of funding critical infrastructure. projects with these $. Agree or not with the wisdom of this funding, it's coming. If we choose to turn it back, it won't reduce the Federal debt, it will be distributed to other states. The Biden administration is determined to spend $, it's up to us to maximize the benefit we receive.

There is also going to be a pretty significant amount of $ available for economic development projects too, it appears. Broadband communications improvements are slated for a big push that will hopefully help position us for future economic development.

Until next time, any questions or suggestions, please contact me. Best wishes for a Blessed Easter!

For Freedom,

Representative Jerry Schillinger