Week 6 in the Legislature

The highlight of my week was that the Montana Association of Counties was in Helena for their annual meeting. Every session, county representatives come to Helena for their conference. I visited with commissioners, from both my district and some districts I had worked with in the past. Many hearings with bills that affect counties are scheduled the week MACo is in town. It gives the county folks the opportunity to weigh-in on whether to support the bill in question, which may benefit or hinder a county. I did have two commissioners come in to support a bill I carried.

Over the last 20-plus years that I have been involved in government, I have seen properties go from being taxed to being sold or transferred to not-for-profits and become tax exempt. Presently, there are over 26,000 exempt properties in Montana, with an average of near 200 more transfers each year moving to tax exemption. The amount of those taxes shift to the rest of the tax payers, including retired home owners, low income home owners, fixed income veterans and disabled home owners.

My bill asked for a 10-year hold on that shift, when the new non-profit owner would continue to be responsible for paying those taxes before the property become tax exempt. Unfortunately, Bill SB 211 ended in a tie vote in committee, so it was tabled.

A bill to allow crossbows to be used by elderly and disabled during bow season was a hot subject on the floor of the Senate, as many were very passionate about the subject on both sides of the matter. It was clear the law allows plenty of time for elderly and disabled folks to use these weapons to hunt during rife and shoulder seasons. I want to thank local bow hunter instructors for the information they passed to us. It was very helpful.

Again, have a great week!

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State Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, can be reached at [email protected]/.