Current Montana law allows law enforcement to ticket drivers for not wearing seat belts but only after they have been pulled over for another offense.

Senate Bill 237, sponsored by Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, would have made the failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense. The bill failed on a 25-25 tie vote . Lewis said he won’t try to revive the measure.

During a lengthy debate last Wednesday, supporters said the bill would save lives because more people would wear their seat belts. “I know that if we pass this bill fewer people will be killed,” Lewis said.

But opponents said the bill would impinge on Montanans’ liberties by giving police an excuse to pull drivers over whenever they feel like it. “This opens the door to be pulled over for any reason, any time,” said Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel.

Others feared the bill would promote racial profiling by giving police an easy reason to pull over Native Americans. Sens. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and Sharon Stewart-Peregoy, D-Crow Agency, opposed the bill for that reason.

Senate kills bill to include tips in minimum wage

The state Senate voted Tuesday to sideline a bill that would have allowed employers to include tips in any future minimum wage the pay their workers.

The bill would have allowed employers to count tips toward the minimum wage but only after that wage tops $6.90 an hour. The minimum wage, which is tied to the national inflation index, is scheduled to increase to $7.25 an hour in July.

Senate Bill 253’s sponsor, Sen. Donald Steinbeisser, R-Sidney, said the measure would help Montana's struggling restaurant industry get back on its feet.

Supporters of the bill included the owners and managers of many Montana restaurants and other small businesses.

Opponents of the bill said it would penalize the poor in Montana for doing their job well.

Bill would support for climate initiative

Montana lawmakers were urged last week to support a regional effort to control carbon emissions in the West.

“Montana has a choice being the leader or a follower,” said Steve Running, a Nobel Prize winner and University of Montana professor. “Leaders make the most money.”

House Bill 375 seeks Montana’s participation in theWestern Climate Initiative, a regional group created by seven U.S. governors and four Canadian premiers to reduce greenhouse gases in the West.

The initiative looks to develop a so-called “cap and trade” system, wherein carbon-emitting industries are given incentives to reduce emissions or pay a cost.

The bill calls for an emissions report by a bipartisan climate-change committee of four legislators, chosen by Senate President Robert Story, R-Park City, and House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre.

Opponents said Montana should avoid regional climate-change initiatives because Montana businesses might flee to states unregulated by the initiative, taking jobs with them. They also expressed concerns about the legitimacy of global warming.

Opponents included the Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative and Rio Tinto Energy America Services Company, which operates the Spring Creek mine.

Teachers union opposes bonuses for new recruits

Although educators are pushing for millions of dollars in school money this session, several turned out Friday to oppose a bill that would provide $3 million in signing bonuses for beginning teachers in rural Montana.

Senate Bill 279, sponsored by Sen. Roy Brown, R-Billings, would give $10,000 individual signing bonuses to graduates of Montana university education programs who commit to working in rural areas for three years. For 300 qualifying teachers, the bonus would be paid out in increments over a three-year period: $4,000 the first year and $3,000 the subsequent two years.

Brown said the bill, which would sunset in 2012, would help recruit and retain teachers who take better-paying out-of-state jobs for positions in rural communities.

On Friday, opponents of Brown’s bill, including the Montana Educators Association/Montana Federation of Teachers, the Office of Public Instruction and the superintendent of Helena Public schools, said that, while recruiting teachers to work in rural towns is a serious problem, his measure fails to address a root source of the state’s educational woes: below-average wages for all Montana teachers.

Eric Feaver, president of the MEA/MFT, said that the bill would discriminate against currently employed teachers.

Dave Puyear, executive director of the Montana Rural Education Association and the lone educator in support of the bill, said it is a good start to fixing to a decades-old problem.

Other supporters of the bill were the Montana Taxpayers Association, the Associated Students of the University of Montana and the Associated Students of Montana State University.

Republicans worry about costs of CHIP expansion

Republican fears about costs and "socialized medicine" colored last week’s debate over a bill to extend health-care insurance to thousands of additional uninsured Montana children.

House Bill 157, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena, would provide startup funding for the Healthy Montana Kids Program, a voter-approved initiative that expands eligibility for the Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid coverage to children of low- and moderate-income families.

The bill won initial approval by a 57-41 vote, but some Republicans argued that it was a poor fiscal decision.

Rep. Bob Lake, R-Hamilton, said he wasn’t sure Montanans would have voted for it if they knew it would cost $2.6 million to start up.

HB 157 would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to use money set aside in a special revenue fund to implement I-155. The initiative aims to cover 29,000 of Montana's estimated 30,000 to 34,000 uninsured children.

Donors to private-school scholarships seek tax break

Private-school students packed the Old Supreme Court gallery Thursday to hear a bill that would give tax credits to individuals or businesses that give money to private-school scholarship funds.

Senate Bill 342, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Essman, R-Billings, would give donors an 80 percent tax credit on their gifts. The total amount of tax credits allowed would be capped at $10.3 million

Opponents, including the MEA/MFT, OPI, the Montana School Board Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, said the tax credit will hurt the state by taking away $10.3 million in revenue that might otherwise go to public education. They also described the bill as an unconstitutional attempt to make the state subsidize sectarian schools.

But Essman said the bill would give 2,600 Montana children the ability to be placed in a private school they would otherwise be unable to attend. He insisted it was not an appropriation or a grant of state money.

Parents of students in private schools told lawmakers the bill would help them pay tuition. Private-school administrators from around the state said the scholarship organizations would help them attract more students.

Committee shelves bison management bill

A House committee voted last week to table a bill that would have stripped the state Department of Livestock of its responsibility to manage wild bison wandering into Montana from Yellowstone National Park.

House Bill 253, sponsored by Rep. Mike Phillips, D-Bozeman, would have given the job to the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. As wildlife, bison should be managed by wildlife professionals, Phillips told members of the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee late last month.

Phillips said FWP would do a better job of working with of private landowners near the park. The switch also would allow the Department of Livestock to concentrate on the fight against brucellosis, a disease that causes cows to abort their offspring.

But ranchers and their representatives told legislators they feared what would happen if the Livestock Department stopped managing the animals.

“The question is disease, not bison,” said John Bloomquist, lobbyist for the Montana Stockgrowers Association. He said other states would surely question Montana’s ability to manage brucellosis if FWP, an agency without a disease control department, took over.

Bill calling for elected regents faces long odds

Legislation calling for the election of the state's Board of Regents and Board of Public Education staggered last week from the Senate to the House last, where it would need at least 80 votes to earn a spot on a future statewide ballot.

Senate Bills 80 and 81, sponsored by Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, received 20 and 21 Senate votes, respectively. Because both measures aim to change the state's constitution, they require two-thirds approval from the 150-member Legislature.

McGee said he sponsored the bills because the education boards need to be held accountable to the public. Under the constitution, members of both boards are now appointed by the governor.

Opponents argued that opening the boards to political campaigns would bring only partisanship and culture clashes.

– CNS reporter Lauren Russell also contributed to this report.

Bitter Root CowBelles bow out - By Gretchen L. Langton

The Bitter Root CowBelles chapter has made the difficult decision to disband, according to Vonnie Miller, one of the founding members.

Miller reminisces about the origins of the CowBelles organization. The annual convention of the Montana Stockgrowers Association was taking place in Butte in 1952 when the wives decided they would form their own organization to promote beef. By 1962, the Montana CowBelles were incorporated and had 1600 members and 49 local groups. Their goal was "beef promotion through education and advertising."

Bitter Root CowBelles took shape in 1979 and for thirty years they were an active valley organization. In the beginning there were sixty-eight members, by 2002 the numbers had dropped to fifty; there were fourteen left at last count, according to Vonnie Miller, nine-time president of the local CowBelles. She points to the shrinking number of agricultural families and the aging population of the members as reasons for their recent decision to disband. But she doesn't want this group to pass into obscurity without a little well-deserved publicity.

"Have you ever read anything about us," she asks knowingly. I had to admit that I hadn't.

But this doesn't mean I didn't know who they were. Like many residents of this valley I have always wanted to win the quilt and have bought countless tickets to this effect. The CowBelles Quilt, an annual fundraiser, has been an institution in the valley for nearly twenty years. Sometimes the quilt had valley brands on it, sometimes there was a CMR-style cow skull, sometimes it was flowers, others featured wagon wheels. The dedicated Belles not only took the time to fashion these works of provincial art, they then displayed them and sold raffle tickets all over the valley: at Western Days, the Old-Timers Rodeo, Creamery Picnic, Daly Days, Senior Centers, Chief Victor Days, and the Ravalli County Fair, to name some of the locations.

The money from the sale of these raffle tickets was used in a variety of ways. Darlene Hughes, a CowBelle for twenty years, recalls proudly that they "gave out ten dollars apiece to the 4-H kids who had beef projects that did not place at the Fair." They also foot the bill for the porta-potty at the annual Fourth Grade Farm Fair. Miller cracks up as she recalls all the heartfelt letters from fourth graders saying they just don't know what they would have done if the CowBelles hadn't sponsored the potty.

"I've kept all those letters," she tells me. "Those letters sure meant a lot to us."

The CowBelles served the community in other ways as well. They sponsored Beef Cook-offs in conjunction with the Ravalli County Extension Service and local home economics classes teaching youth how to prepare nutritional meals featuring beef. They worked with the Food Stamp Nutritional Education program to teach people how to use crockpots and they gave away crockpots to anyone who attended FSNE's class on crockpot cooking. They offered educational material and recipes at their Fair booth. The Montana Cattle Women's brochure states that the CowBelles are responsible for distributing over "one million recipes through in-store promotions, cookbooks, packets, and pamphlets."

Although the Bitter Root CowBelles will be no more, there are still chapters throughout the state. When I ask Vonnie if she has a favorite beef recipe to share, she doesn't hesitate.

"This one was a favorite at our family gatherings in the summertime," she assures me. The recipe is on a well-worn promotional brochure that says on one side, "Somehow, nothing satisfies like beef." On the other side, amidst Vonnie's hand scratched notes to adjust the size of the recipe and years of accidental splatter, is a recipe for "Western Lite Broil" (serving 12):

Mix in a sealable container:

1 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, ? cup lemon juice, 2 tbsp. minced onion, 2 cloves minced garlic

Add to this mix:

2-3 lbs. beef top round, flank steaks, or sirloin steaks (1-1/2" thick)

Marinate for 24 to 48 hours, then grill.

Resources for families available

Where do you go to learn about health and well-being issues such as autism, obesity, pregnancy, stress, nutrition and more? The South Valley Child and Family Resource Center, located at 515 Madison in Hamilton, is open from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Come and do homework, create projects, get answers, research, look on the internet, read, and discover wonderful and important things about you and your family’s health and well-being. Teachers, call to bring your health or science classes over, 363-3450.

Clothes Closet wants donations at set times only

It has been open only a little over a month and already the Clothes Closet free store on the south edge of Stevensville has a problem that threatens to void its lease with the local school district – deliveries of donations when no one is there to receive them and also items the shop cannot accept.

The lease agreement with the school specifically requires that the grounds around the former Alternative Learning Center be kept clean and trash-free and that donations will not be left outside. Unfortunately, donations left outside the store become trash.

The board of directors has issued a plea to all would-be donors: please bring your donations only when volunteers are there to receive them – between the hours of 1 and 4 on Mondays and Wednesdays – and be sure that your donations are things the shop can accept - clothing, kitchen equipment and household linens.

Ineligible items must be hauled off and disposed of, requiring unnecessary volunteer hours and disposal costs. For such items, the shop is maintaining a bulletin board and will list things like furniture and appliances. The notice will remain on the board for 30 days.

The store had a good first month with 760 client visits and 772 hours of volunteer labor. There are no paid personnel involved. New volunteers are always welcome, whether they can give a few or many hours of service. Anyone wishing to become part of the Clothes Closet team may call Gail at 777-5694 or Sharon at 777-0835.

Grant writer/fund raiser Hazel Smith expressed thanks from the Clothes Closet for the great community support it has received. The charity expenses include utilities and maintenance of the road to the site. One notable boost was received from The Clothes Closet blues concert and auction last fall which brought in about $4,700.

This month, Smith reported, a special donation was received.

“A couple brought in $300 worth of new, warm baby clothes,” said Smith. “They said they didn’t want to have any Bitterroot baby being cold this winter.”

Chamber announces community grant program

The Board of Directors of the Bitterroot Chamber of Commerce has announced the availability of grant funds to Bitterroot Valley communities.

A portion of the membership dues, separated from the general account, has been dedicated to a Community Enrichment Grant (CEG) fund. This fund will assist with projects and/or events occurring within the designated areas of coverage of the Chamber, which includes the six Bitterroot communities, according to Rick O’Brien, Chamber Executive Director. O’Brien declined to say how much money is available to each community, or what the maximum grant amount is that will be considered for funding.

Written requests for grant funds can be sent to: Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce, 105 E. Main, Hamilton MT 59840, Attn. Executive Committee (CEG Fund). Requests should specify the intended use of funds, which must be used for the betterment of the town and/or area. Upon the Chamber’s acceptance, the grant funds will be awarded.

In the event a grant request is not received from a town and/or area, those allocated funds shall be returned to the segregated “CEG” reserve account of the Chamber.

Upon disbursement of the pre-determined amount of grant funds for a town and/or area, no further allocations will be considered for that area until the following year.

For more information contact O’Brien at 363-2400.

Relay For Life participants to 'Step Up To the Plate' to find a cure for cancer

While major league pitchers and catchers are still packing their bags to head down to spring training, volunteers, sponsors and local teams are already making plans for this summer's American Cancer Society Ravalli County Relay For Life, set for June 27-28, at Haynes Field in Hamilton.

The Relay's planning committee hopes to hit another home run this year with its "Step Up To the Plate" theme. This year's rally is set for Friday, February 20, 5 to 7 p.m., at Washington School in Hamilton.

"Baseball has all sorts of records: most home runs, no-hitters, highest batting average," says Bonnie Wickham, chair of the Ravalli County Relay For Life. "Our Ravalli Relay is hoping to make the record books this summer by recruiting more teams and raising more money than ever before."

This summer's goal is to recruit 25 teams and raise $40,000. "Raising more money than the previous year is always the very serious goal of every Relay," says Wickham. "It takes a great deal of money to staff and outfit a cancer research lab, and that's the only way we're ever going to find a cure. However, we always want our teams and volunteers to have a little fun along the way. That's why we've chosen the baseball theme for the coming year."

The kick-off rally will give past and present teams, sponsors, cancer survivors and volunteers the opportunity to learn about the improvements and innovations planned for this summer's Relay, and will give those new to Relay the chance to get a flavor for the event before they decide to get involved.

As an added incentive to attend the rally, the planning committee is offering all teams an "early bird" registration fee of only $50 if they register their teams at the rally. After Feb. 20, the fee will go back up to $100. To add to the festive atmosphere of the rally, door prizes, food and refreshments will be offered.

For more information about the American Cancer Society Ravalli County Relay For Life Kick-off Rally or to learn more about this summer's event, contact Bonnie Wickham at 360-4373 or Jessica Murphy at 381-0247.

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