Last week I said the atmosphere felt like two boxers circling each other… this week the blows started landing. Committee hearings, sometimes contentious, hallways filled with passionate folks ready to plead their views. Legislators looking somewhat ‘stunned’ and committee chairs trying to give everyone a few moments to testify. At 9:45pm the House Education committee chair gaveled adjournment ending a hearing that began at 3:00. Most of us had been in various other meetings since 7:00am. Uff Da…. Four common core bills heard together. Two were tabled in committee and two were brought out and passed on the House floor Saturday. HB-377, passed 55 – 45, prohibits testing and assessments using common core criteria, and HB-501, passed 57-43, deals with ownership of student data, requiring the school to have parental consent.
As a first time committee chair, House Local Government, I am learning … sometimes shaking my head and other times grinning, at the odd social behavior of people as a group. When the room is full of folks to testify, some have come a long way, and others are local, maybe even department and agency folks. The chair needs to estimate how much time to allot for testifying, so a show of hands is asked for and a time frame announced, usually giving equal time to both the opponent and proponents, for example 30 minutes to each side. Testimony begins with each side knowing about how many are in line. Sure enough the first three up are the locals and they each take their sweet time. Now there is only 10 minutes remaining and there are still 12 people in line. Telling those folks they can only take 1 minute each is totally unfair and we hear some complaints. I decided, and most other chairs also, the solution is to put the same time limit in place for everyone before they start. “Ok folks, I see about 12 hands up so you each have 3 minutes, I will announce the time which then gives you 30 seconds to wrap up.” This too brings some grumbles, but it solves the fairness issue.
On the House floor this week… the bill calling for a constitutional convention to require the US congress to balance the federal budget failed to pass. The news from the senate side is that they passed out of committee the CKST water compact. It will go the senate floor soon, where it is expected to pass, which then brings it to the house side, starting the process again, first at the house committee and then to the house floor. The boxing gloves likely come off on our side. Already the battle lines are drawn, words are getting stronger and the efforts on both sides are ramping up. This one seems to be drawing a line in the dirt…”Yur either fer us or agin us.” The data is showing this being an equal regional difference of opinion, about 70% of the Flathead region irrigators are opponents to the compact, and about 70% of the Bitterroot irrigators are proponents of the compact. Pick your side and get ready to vote.
Rep. Ed Greef
Florence