Legislative update

The legislature ended Easter week on Thursday afternoon, so we scurried home for a quick and appreciated couple of days at home. I got to enjoy a little wheat and pea planting, Easter Sunday services and catch a few fish at the lake before being Helena bound on Monday. My thanks to Son Brett and Haley for keeping the lights on while we’re in Helena. I can’t say enough about the support structure of family and friends, across the state, that pitch in and help to support our citizen legislature to make what we do possible. Thank you too, to my wife Carol, who has been very involved in Helena with other spouses providing many helpful services to make our time here more productive. Grandson Keny even joined us to help Grandpa work for the next couple of weeks.

I’ll try to catch up on Easter week before moving on to the immediate past week. HB 163 expands the Fish Wildlife and Parks commission from five to seven. The seven districts will correspond to the FWP management zones to better represent the public. Another bill passed this week will ensure that the members of the district will also live in or within 10 miles of the district and that at least two members are ag producers. Fortunately, the Senate amended HB 176 to close voter registration on the Friday before election, rather than just Monday before as it left the House. This will ease the burden on local election officials and help ensure election integrity.

Pre-Easter also saw the passage of HB 632, which is the proposed framework for administering the AARPA funds ($3,000,000,000) the Fed is sending in supposed Covid relief. There are many facets of this of course, including water& sewer, broadband, education, food security and healthcare. The Senate will no doubt add some of their ideas to the bill, then we’ll settle our differences and hopefully begin the process of getting projects moving forward. There will be a lot of information to try to disseminate as quickly as possible to try and take advantage of the coming construction season. It is anticipated that this funding includes a four-year window to be utilized.

Moving SB 215 to the Governor's desk, will help protect Montanan’s religious freedom and help us to avoid some of the political persecutions that we have seen across the country. No individual should be forced to violate their religious beliefs in order to accommodate another individual’s agenda.

There have been several good tax relief bills come forward. It looks like the business equipment tax exemption will increase from $200,000 to $300,000, this may also index upwards with a growing economy. There are several real property tax relief proposals still in the works, that in the end should bring total relief to about $120,000,000. This is a good start in what we believe will be an increasing amount as Republican efforts to make State Government leaner picks up steam.

Returning to work on Tuesday, after Easter, we had a full day on The Floor, interrupted only by breaks for us to meet in committee on appropriations. The main focus of the day was hearing three competing bills to implement recreational marijuana, which is set to become law with the passage by voters in November of I 190. We are trying to create a framework for this measure to move forward while minimizing negative impacts that will accompany increasing availability of this drug. We passed all three bills to The Senate for them to sort through, so we can come together to pass one into law.

After years of trying and failing, we passed the Montana Local Food Choice Act. This law will make it easier for ag producers to sell their products directly to consumers without fearing government intervention. Farmers Markets will enjoy greater marketing freedom. One obstacle in this effort has been raw milk. When the Governor signs this bill, it will no longer be illegal for Montanans to source milk from a local producer if they so choose. That seems like a pretty basic freedom to me, and, fortunately, a majority of the Legislature.

Also sent to the Governor is a bill to make sheriff department wages more competitive, to try and stem the turnover, especially in more urban areas. Hopefully in the future, this is something that can be turned back to local control.

An important bill for municipalities especially, is SB 167. This bill will charge the DEQ to revise the permissible nitrate level discharged by sewer systems to no greater than the federal levels. Citizens have been forced to pay for exorbitant sewer upgrades that still can’t meet the unattainable State standards set years ago. This is an important win for citizens pushing back against a radical environmental agenda.

This is at least a glimpse of some of the important agenda items that we have been trying to move forward for the citizens of Montana. We are down to 22 legislative days left if we go the full 90. There is a lot of important work to be done yet and thankfully the momentum of progress is picking up. I appreciate everyone’s support and input and I encourage you to contact me with your concerns and ideas.

For Freedom,

Representative Jerry Schillinger