Montana legislature adjourns after passing money, tax bills

HELENA – With snow falling outside, the final gavel fell on Montana’s 61st Legislature Tuesday, as lawmakers gave final approval to the state budget, the federal stimulus plan and a bill that seeks to lessen the financial blow to taxpayers from the state’s recent property appraisal.

Republicans and Democrats fought this session over funding for children’s health care and K-12 schools, but legislative leadership said the level of civility this session allowed for more compromise than the last session.

“We did have a good working relationship between the Senate and the House and between the Republican and Democrat caucuses,” said Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City.

Both parties said they stuck to their priorities throughout the session, with Republicans pushing for less state spending and Democrats promoting more state funding of children’s health insurance and education.

“I think overall we have done the people’s business,” said Sen. Carol Williams, D-Missoula.

House Bill 2, the state budget, will fully fund the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, a voter-approved expansion of children’s health insurance funded by the state. The budget will also give K-12 education a 3 percent increase in funding with help next year from federal dollars.

Democrats demanded the full expansion for children’s health care and more school funding for most of the session, but Republicans argued the state did not have enough money to pay for a new program and still maintain state agencies.

In another effort to reduce state spending, Senate Republicans cut 2 percent from all state agency budgets, a move that left a bad taste in some Democratic mouths.

“This specifically targets jobs in state agencies,” said Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena.

The Senate voted 27-23 to approve the latest version of the budget, but several senators expressed reservations about overspending.

“I’m flabbergasted that this is what we call an austere budget,” said Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, after describing over $10 billion of spending, including federal stimulus dollars.

Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor, said revenues will probably not bounce back as quickly as the budget suggests, and Montana will be in a hole. “This (budget) is a compromise, but it won’t work,” he said.

The Senate’s budget chairman, Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, stood behind the budget he and his committee crafted, but also expressed doubts about avoiding a special session.

“I don’t know that we could’ve crafted a budget in these uncertain times (in which) everybody could’ve gotten what they wanted,” Bales said.

Some Senate Democrats voted against the budget because it temporarily reroutes funding earmarked by voters for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan into the general fund. They also disagreed with removing an amendment that would allow the Children’s Health Insurance Program to pay for contraceptives.

“In 2009, to be standing here trying to beg and plead about having contraception being taken care of so children will have a healthy opportunities ahead of them instead of unplanned pregnancy is just beyond my recognition of where we are as a people,” said Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula.

Sen. John Brueggeman also favored CHIP-funded contraceptives as a means of avoiding future abortions.

“I wish that everyone was living biblically moral lives,” Brueggeman said. “I wish that was the case but it is not.” He told Republicans that more abortions would happen because women could not access birth control.

“We all have to be clear with that,” Brueggeman said. “We all have to sleep with that.”

The House voted to pass the budget with a 56-44 vote and little discussion. House Appropriations Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said he worked with Republicans to craft an austere and prudent budget that also pays for children’s health care and education.

“I’m proud of the package that we present to you today,” Sesso said. “It’s a budget (that) we can say without a doubt is fiscally responsible.”

But the House would not stay quiet for long. The bill that seeks to lessen the sting of higher property taxes after reappraisal, House Bill 658, was hotly debated as several Democrats split with their leadership to denounce the bill.

Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, said the bill does not provide enough money to ease tax increases, saying some homeowners could be faced with 15 percent tax increases with little help for elderly or low-income residents. Rep. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, agreeing with Jopek, said the bill forces the poor to pay more of their wages toward property taxes than the wealthy.

But House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, said the bill needed to pass before the end of the day or a special session would have to be called.

“Right now, this is the best we can hammer out,” Bergren said. He said that if there were problems, the next session could adjust tax rates.

The bill passed with a 57-43 vote.

The 2007 session was plagued with bipartisan acrimony over spending a $1 billion surplus, which led to the Legislature’s failure to complete its one constitutional duty in a regular session: constructing a state budget.

Current lawmakers said they entered the 2009 session with that lesson learned. They said they were proud of the civility and openness between both houses and parties.

Before any of the work can officially be deemed complete, the bills have to be signed into law by Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The governor said he has yet to look over the details in the budget and stimulus bills, but hopes to avoid a special session to deal with any discrepancies.

“I’m pleased with the work of the Legislature,” he said. “This wasn’t an easy session for anyone. Let us hope that there isn’t something that we left behind.”

But Schweitzer also said he was not pleased with the work done on property-tax reappraisal mitigation because it gave too many breaks to subdivision owners and businesses.

The governor also said universities should be able to mitigate tuition increases despite cuts made to their budgets in HB 2.

“I would encourage the Board of Regents to cap tuition for another two years,” Schweitzer said.

Since fewer than 100 legislators voted in favor of the budget, Schweitzer retains the power to veto individual aspects of the bill. The governor would not say if this was a choreographed effort by Democrats, but did say there is always communication between his staff and Democratic legislators.

Bergren said there was talk about ensuring Schweitzer’s line-item veto power, but nothing official.

“There were some discussions in the hall, but there was no coordinated effort,” Bergren said.

Barring special session, the next Legislature will meet in 2011.

(Community News Service is produced by the University of Montana’s School of Journalism).