Bills being discussed in the Legislature

As we started the second week of legislative session, things were still a bit unsettled.

By Wednesday, I could see where a theme was starting to form. Most of the bills that were being presented were what are called “agency bills.” The governor has asked for a law cleansing, or purge, of outdated language in Montana law. In some cases, the bills cut red tape or more clearly explain the original intent of the law. A good example would be a bill needing authorization every other year. This type of bill would be resolved by a simple date change from 2021 to 2023.

One bill we heard on the floor this week had to do with a grant program that had not received an application for funding in over 10 years. It seems the tax law has changed to where the funds received from the grant is not worth the time and effort to complete the application process.

Most of these bills are passing committees with very little or no opposition after the testimony is heard. The bills we have heard thus far in both committee and on the floor have been Senate bills. Starting next week, bills will start to pass between the Senate and House as they clear each floor vote and pass through to the other.

It sounds like there is a flavor for returning some of the $2.4 Billion state surplus dollars back to the taxpayers. Though, every week the number seems to change, and the “how” cannot be agreed upon. Some want the money to go back to property taxpayers, some want the money to go back to income taxpayers. Personally, I want the state debt paid first, then sort out the rest. Another idea is to put a good part of the surplus in the Coal Trust Fund. That fund has carried the state in the most trying of short years as it is set up to distribute money to many different agencies, grants and programs.

I hope next week we see some bills coming that I can talk about. Some headway has been made to map out the surplus and how to best utilize it. As always stay safe!

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Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, can be emailed at RussTempel@leg.mt.gov .