by Rep. David Bedey, HD 86, Hamilton
The first three weeks of the legislative session have gone by. As of January 24th, one hundred and fifty three bills have passed through the House and 51 have made it through the Senate. Most passed with broad bipartisan support. Before turning to a brief report on a few of the more controversial policy issues, I’ll give you an overview of how the legislative process is supposed to work.Getting legislation to the Governor’s desk for his signature is by design an arduous task. Each session the Legislature adopts rules that provide for the deliberate and orderly consideration of each bill. Here is how the process typically works in the House. (The process in the Senate is the same.)
After a bill has been introduced in the House and has had “1st reading,” it undergoes a committee hearing where its proponents and opponents provide public input. A few days later, the committee meets to take “executive action,” voting either to advance the bill to the full House for consideration or to table it, which effectively kills the bill (unless it is later removed from the table). If the bill advances to the full House, it is scheduled for “2nd reading” at which time it is debated on the House floor followed by a vote on the bill. If the bill passes on 2nd reading, a day later it is voted on again without further debate during “3rd reading,” which gives legislators a chance to rethink their initial votes. If the bill fails on 3rd reading, it is dead; otherwise, it is sent to the Senate where the process starts over again. The entire process usually takes at least 16 legislative days, unless the Senate amends the bill, in which case it must be returned to the House for its concurrence on the amendments. As I said before, this is an arduous process.
Now let’s turn to some specific policy issues.
Property Tax Reform: The House Taxation Committee has heard competing bills (HB 155 and HB 231), both of which provide relief to residential property taxpayers. HB 231 focuses on relief for Montana residents without the large tax increases that HB 155 would impose on small business and agricultural properties. I support HB 231.
Medicaid Expansion: The House Human Services Committee has heard HB 230, which reauthorizes Montana’s current program. It has also heard HB 245, which does the same but eliminates work requirements found in current law. I oppose HB 245 but am inclined to support HB 230 for reasons I’ll detail at a future date.
Judicial Reform: A slew of bills are in the works to address an ongoing dispute between the legislative branch and the judicial branch regarding their respective constitutional roles. Great pressure is being put on legislators on both sides of the aisle to “vote the party line” on these bills. But this is too important an issue for petty politics to reign. For my part, I’ll evaluate each bill on its merits with the objective of finding solutions that strike the proper balance and preserve our constitutional order. If this approach disappoints hardliners in my party, so be it.
Before concluding this report, I’ll share my perspective on the controversy surrounding Senator Jason Ellsworth’s alleged abuse of the state procurement system. First, although the Senator may have exercised poor judgment, it is not clear that laws were violated. Second, the investigation into this matter is proceeding at an unusually rapid pace without allowing for the Senator to participate in a meaningful way. Third, public statements made by some members of the Senate leadership team have been highly prejudicial, which gives at least the appearance that retribution is being meted out for Ellsworth’s refusal to go along with leadership’s failed committee plan. None of this looks good for my party, but I urge everyone to reserve judgment until all the facts have been brought to light.
