GOP leaders make predictions for the state legislature

The two top Republican leaders in the Montana Legislature describe a fluid and developing picture for priorities and expectations in the legislative session that gets under way.

Senate President Jeff Essmann of Billings and Speaker of the House Mark Blasdel of Somers said in a recent interview at the Inter Lake that they are in a “waiting mode” to see proposals and appointments from incoming Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, and in organizing and preparing their own caucuses for the session.

Locally, State Rep. Jerry Bennett said the biggest item on the 2013 agenda would be job creation.

“We can do more work and less politics,” Bennett said. “Job creation is going to be huge.

A late call to Sen. Chas Vincent went unreturned.

Both Essman and Blasdel visited with Bullock for a discussion that focused mainly on changing the tone of the relationship between the Legislature and the governor after eight frequently combative years with Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

“It’s kind of like taking a step back. We have a new opportunity with a new governor,” Blasdel said.

Essmann added: “We intend to sit down and work constructively with the governor-elect.”

The House will be a new world from Blasdel’s perspective, with 39 freshmen representatives, a large number of sophomores and only eight four-term representatives.

It’s a learning experience, particularly in how to be effective, and Blasdel said he tries to help House members along.

“We’re following the same process in terms of surveying our members” on what priorities they would like to see, Essmann said about the agenda-setting process in the House and Senate.

Two years ago, Republicans were subject to some criticism for attempting to advance bills that were considered either unconstitutional or focused on peripheral issues.

Essmann said with term limits, leadership in both chambers has had more difficulty in steering members than leaders did in the 1990s before term limits were enacted. But he said there have been discussions aimed at keeping the session focused.

“We’ve both asked our caucuses to come forward with a limited number of bills,” Essmann said, acknowledging that sometimes legislators have commitments to constituents.

Blasdel and Essmann anticipate there will be differences with the new governor based on Bullock’s stated positions.

Republicans may pursue right-to-work legislation, but it appears Bullock will not. 

They said there will be differences in the details of how to further lower the state’s business equipment tax.

One of the more unpredictable issues is how the state will respond to the federal Affordable Care Act’s provisions providing for expanded state Medicaid enrollment. The federal government is committed to paying for expanded rolls for a few years, but after that it’s unclear how much of the cost must be covered by the states that choose to participate.

The decision on whether to participate is not Bullock’s because it involves future spending commitments that the Legislature must be involved with, the legislators said.

Essmann pointed out that $4 out of every $10 spent by the state of Montana comes from a federal government with a poor financial outlook. 

“I think that $4 out of $10 will be under a lot of stress at the Washington level,” he said. “Can Washington keep new promises when it can’t keep promises it has already made?”

Many Republicans have expressed an interest in delivering some form of permanent property tax relief, while Bullock wants to provide taxpayers with a $400 one-time rebate.

Essmann said he doesn’t think Bullock will get enough buy-in from Republican lawmakers for the rebate. 

Many legislators on both sides of the aisle have expressed an interest in addressing public employee fund liabilities that are estimated to be as high as $3.9 billion. Some would like to divert money from the state’s $490 million surplus.

Asked if he would support a diversion of any amount, Essman said, “I’d want to make sure that any pension plan that we have for our employees would be sustainable for the long-term first,” he said, referring to pension plan reforms supported by Republicans. 

Taxpayers, he added, probably will not support a series of “bailouts” for the pension funds under a system that is not reformed.

Republican lawmakers will pursue school choice legislation, and Blasdel said there should be opportunity to find “common ground” with Democrats because it is parents in the poorest areas who often support school choice programs.

There are areas where Republicans will not waver, Blasdel said.

“We won’t support any tax increases. We won’t support any increases in regulation,” Blasdel said. “One of the major things for us is creating predictability.” 

There will be a bill from a bipartisan interim committee calling for a change from a six-year state property appraisal cycle to an appraisal every other year, but it’s tough to predict how it will be received because it will require more Department of Revenue employees. A similar proposal died in the 2011 session.

(Some of the local information was added by Ryan Murray)