One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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Another key civil justice reform bill was signed today by Governor Greg Gianforte (R), rounding out a successful year of legislation aimed at rebalancing the state’s courts. Senate Bill 251, sponsored by Senator Cary Smith (R-Billings) and signed into law today, addresses artificially inflated damage amounts in civil trials, called phantom damages. These phantom damages occur any time lawsuit recoveries are calculated using the dollar amount a patient was billed for a medical service instead of the amount the patient, their insurer, M...
Freedom was at the forefront this week in Helena. This week at the legislature, we made significant progress in ensuring freedom and protecting liberty for Montanans all across the state. House Bill 702 prohibits discrimination against all Montanans based on their vaccination status. That means employers may not punish or fire employees for personal medical decisions, nor can they require employees to get a Covid vaccination. However, employees must understand. The policy manual of the employer. This bill is not an attack on vaccines. The...
April is always a fast-paced month at the legislature, and this year is no different. The Senate has been busy voting on a lot of bills that covered a wide variety of topics. I am confident that the bills we passed will improve the lives of Montanans in many ways, however, nothing is perfect. This past week the Senate passed two critical appropriations bills that will help our state move past the pandemic and sustain prosperity for decades to come. As we decided what to do with the federal stimulus money, Republican leaders in Helena, unlike Wa...
This past Friday was the 68th Legislative Day in Helena. We have 90 days per session to accomplish all we set out to do at the legislature, so that means we are quickly approaching the end of the session. But I am proud of what we have accomplished so far. This past week, the Senate passed House Bill 2, which is the bill that decides the state budget. The budget is split into separate sections, A through E. I presided over the debate and passage of Section A. Section A funds the legislative branch and all the essential parts of the state...
We really had an outbreak of Covid at the Capitol this week!!! Now, no mind games. Read the whole story. The US government, via the American Rescue Plan (ARP) is planning on sending lots of money to Montana. Stop the printing presses. However, since the Montana legislature is in session for this round of relief, as opposed to previous stimulus measures, everything that is not earmarked will need to be allocated -- amounts ranging from $900 million to $1.2 billion. The 67th legislature has two bills (HB 632 and SB 297) moving through the system...
The final 45 days of the 67th Montana legislature have begun. Congratulations to the athletes and communities of North Eastern Montana with your representation in district, divisional and state tournaments. Special praise to the State Champion Scobey Spartans, Championship contenders, North Country Mavericks and the consolation contenders Malta M-ettes. This week, Senate Finance and Claims will be meeting jointly with House Appropriations to look at bills and start our finalization of a balanced state budget. A big part of that will be the extr...
This week marks the mid-way point of the legislative session, 45th day. It corresponds with a deadline requiring bills that do not have money associated with them to be sent to the opposite chamber of the legislature. Many great bills survived the “transmittal” deadline, but others did not. One that did pass the Senate is SB 100, it adds fraud prevention measures to Montana’s welfare programs. This will make it harder for those individuals trying to take advantage of our system that was set up to provide support for the members of our communiti...
Moving of bills has been slow. We are required by law to have the Senate bills referred to the House at the end of the 45th day, March 3rd. Committees and the floor sessions will be long for the next 10 days. Little fun on the floor today. The State Tax Appeal Board (STAB) got Senate approval to become the Montana Tax Appeal Board. The Treasure State Endowment Program is now the Montana Coal Endowment Program. TSEP, now called MCEP is from the production of Montana coal. Fund is down $30M this year, but permanent balance is $1,106 B. $46M will...
February 8th was the 26th day of the 67th Montana legislature. Montana law says that we can meet for 90 days and must approve a balanced budget. Thanks to all of you who have reached out with phone calls or emails. I appreciate your input and will vote with my conscience, experience and most of all with God as an advisor. Committees have confirmed the director positions and governmental boards. In Senate Ag we confirmed, and await the final vote of the Senate floor, Mr. Mike Foster. Mr. Foster is from Townsend, served in the legislature and mos...
February 1, 2021 will be the 21st day of the 67th Montana Legislature. The legislature is progressing ahead in Zoom and Teams modes. In other words, we are drinking from the fire hose while we learn and communicate via electronic modes for committee, bill drafting and floor sessions. As you know there are dangers when electricity and water come together. Governor Gianforte presented a great State of States address this past week. His support of rural education, agriculture, businesses and sanctify of life were appreciated. It has been at least...
This was a busy week in the legislature. Both the House and Senate acted on large pieces of legislation. As we move toward the end of the 66th legislature, the budget is moving along. I sit on the Senate Finance and Claims Committee where were met one day for eight hours to review House Bill 2 – the largest part of the budget. There were great hearings on different sections of the bill. As I have always done, I am working hard with my colleagues to keep the Governor’s tax increase wish list out of the final version. Money, having enough to go a...
On January 7th, 2019 the 66th Montana Legislature will convene. I will be serving in my 4th session on the following committees: As a Senate Finance and Claims member we will analyze the following general government agencies: Department of Administration, Governor’s Office, Department of Labor and Industry, Department of Military Affairs, Secretary of State, Legislative Branch, Department of Commerce, Commissioner of Political Practices, Consumer Counsel Department of Administration, and Department of Revenue I will also serve as chairman of S...
While in Helena at the legislature, I work to pass legislation that encourages good paying jobs and a clean environment. I know that you do not have to choose one over the other. I-186 is proposing to jeopardize those good paying jobs, and possibly the tax dollars that pay to clean up the historical mining problems the proponents are touting. The Montana Legislative Services has said that I-186 has several ambiguous sections and undefined terms and contains conflicting legal standards that would lead to litigation and likely prevent mining....
Montana, and especially I, say thank you to the Montana 2017 special session House and Senate leadership for helping the legislature provide our state with $230 million to replenish the fire fund and provide dollars to shore up the budget problems. Like many situations, there are differences of opinions, but someone must make the final and best decision at the time. I feel the legislators for the 2017 special session did that. In times of trouble, we all must partake. The largest users of the tax dollars, DPHHS, education, and corrections, had...
Hello constituents of MT SD 17, from your State Capitol in Helena. The special session, called by the Governor, of the 65th Legislature will begin on Tuesday, November 14th. Our local papers will be printed after this letter was written. I trust we will be able to patch the revenue holes to our state budget. Five things are presently known: 1) Republicans do not want to raise taxes or revenue enhancements as they are being called; 2) Democrats do not want to reduce the bureaucracy of the government; 3) the Governor did not manage the costs of...
Big changes are occurring in the fields and prairies of Montana. For the first time since 2003, the state’s ranchers may be delivering their beef across the Pacific to China and the new agriculture secretary is taking the reins. With one eye on how these developments could enhance our future, we also can’t lose sight of what has got us to this point and is needed to sustain a strong agricultural economy today and in the future. Even the most experienced farmers struggle to anticipate the next challenge and need to have the best tools at the...
The 65th Montana legislature ended in late April by balancing a $10.3 billion-dollar- budget for the biennium of 2018 and 2019. My first session was in 2013 and we had about $550 million of general fund cash on hand. However, because spending was not curtailed and the revenue projections did not materialize, at the end of May 2017 only $76M remains in the general fund cash balance. A year ago at this time we had a balance of $343M. The budget is based on revenue and expenditure estimations. If estimations deviate then you are not balanced....
It is a well-known fact to Montanans that secondhand smoke is dangerous. The Montana Clean Indoor Air Act protects our residents from the harmful effects of the toxins in secondhand smoke by banning the use of cigarettes and combustible tobacco in public indoor spaces. Unfortunately, there is a new threat to our clean air: e-cigarette aerosol. People have been led to believe that the aerosol released by e-cigarettes is harmless water vapor. But, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, the aerosol contains nicotine Even more concerning than the...
The 2017 legislative session continues to heat up. The Senate is taking action on more legislation and the budget continues to be the main focus. With the Republican-led Legislature back in town we are doing the hard work of developing a conservative budget that funds essential services and works for all Montanans’. Innovative policy solutions are being crafted to get government out of the way so that the private sector can once again thrive. I wanted to provide you with an update on the legislation that I am working on in the Senate, SJ 10. N...