Policy bills hitting the Legislature

HELENA - Things have started to pick up this week in the Legislature as committees have started taking executive action on the bills they have been hearing in committee and the Appropriations Subcommittees are in full swing.

There are around 450 bills now moving their way through the legislature, dealing with everything from public defender fees and medical marijuana reform to the amount of plastic straws a business should be allowed to hand out. Most of these bills that move through the various committees will end up dying in committee, but those that make it through the committee process should start appearing on the House Floor this coming week and next. We use several timelines for different types of legislation to help move the process forward.

The first deadline is for policy bills or “General Bills” that deal with a specific change in law rather than focusing on appropriations for programs or revenue for the state. Those bills must be turned in before the first deadline in order to make it over to the opposite legislative chamber in time to make it through the process. The next deadline will be for revenue/appropriations bills and the final deadline is for resolutions. So, expect to see a deluge of policy bills hitting every committee and then the House/Senate Floor in the next couple weeks.

Most of the bills I will be carrying for this session will be appropriation/revenue bills, so they won’t start going to committees for another couple weeks. I will be carrying a property tax relief bill for Montana Seniors for instance which is being researched as we speak.

On the budget front, my subcommittee has already had hearings for three of our major infrastructure programs, passing those three bills out and sending them to the full Appropriations committee. This week we will begin to hear all of the individual projects from the Long-Range Building Program and the Treasure State Endowment Program.

Usually, infrastructure bills have come through the process later in the session. By the time they make their way to the House/Senate floor, legislators have heard and argued over most of the really contentious bills. That animosity builds up and I think infrastructure plans have suffered because of it.

This time, I have tried to schedule the committees work at an accelerated pace to see if we can’t get the infrastructure proposals through the process earlier than usual, avoiding the animosity they usually run into at the end of the session. The infrastructure bills should be viewed simply on their merits, not used by the parties as political footballs.

If you have heard of a policy bill that you are very interested in, chances are it will be coming up for a hearing this week or next. If you ever have any questions on the status of bills or thoughts on a particular piece of legislation you can call me at (406) 531-1775.