The state flag, coal trust and school trust lands

I have always admired the Montana State flag. It tells a story of Montana’s past and our assets as a state.

Currently in the Montana House, there are folks who feel we should either have a vote on whether we should keep what we have or redo the flag and vote on what will be offered. I have also heard the suggestion to just add some guns to what we have.

This is what I see when I look at our flag: the Big Sky, our state nickname and what makes us truly unique; mountains, the beautiful skyline attracting adventure-seekers and keeps our state remote; rivers, an enviable natural water resource; trees, a wood resource we are under capitalizing on; agriculture, the number one industry in the State of Montana; and mining, be it gravel, hard rock minerals, or coal. All these industries define our state and pay taxes to support it.

Somewhere along the way, coal emissions were leveraged and a severance tax was added to come up with a trust fund: $1,106,121,313 as of July 2020. It would be well worth your time to look at all things supported by the fund. Google ”Montana Coal Trust Fund.” Many state improvements, from water projects to housing, are supported by the Coal Trust Fund.

Back when Montana became a state, two sections of every 36 sections in townships were set aside for state school trust lands. The money produced from these acres was intended to be available to help support the schools. Back in 1910, when the federal government put together Glacier Park, some state land was traded for federal land to make Glacier all federally owned. These trades were from the eastern part of the state. Over the years, this unequal ownership of tax-exempt state lands has posed issues, though, for the most part, formulas for schools’ funding distribution of revenue works. The current total school trust comes in at $54,121,365, from which S12M is distributed to administration. This leaves $41M to support schools from the lands.

If you are interested in finding out more about the school trust lands, there is a breakdown on Office of Public Instruction’s website.

Judy and want to wish you a blessed Easter!

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Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, can be emailed at [email protected].