Governor asking for five increases in taxes and fees
State Director Riley Johnson reports from Helena on the Legislature’s opening week.
The 66th Montana State Legislature convened Jan. 7, 2019. In addition to the many organizational duties attended to, numerous joint sessions of the House and Senate were held to inform new and returning legislators on the rules and budget proposals from both lawmakers and Gov. Steve Bullock’s administration.
The Montana House of Representatives is composed of 58 Republicans, one less than were represented in the last two sessions in 2015 and 2017. Democrats have 42 members. In the Senate, Republicans hold 30 seats to the Democrats’ 20 seats. This is a two-seat difference from 2017 when the Senate was split 32 Republicans to 18 Democrats.
As he did in 2017, Sen. Scott Sales (R-Bozeman) will serve as president of the Senate. Mark Blasdel (R-Kalispell) will be the president pro tempore, and the majority leader will be Sen. Fred Thomas (R-Stevensville). On the Democratic side of the Senate, Jon Sesso (D-Butte) will be the minority leader.
Speaker Greg Hertz (R-Polson) will lead the House of Representatives, with E. Wylie Galt (R-Martinsdale) severing as speaker pro tempore. The Republican majority leader is Rep. Brad Tschida (R-Missoula). Democrats in the House will be led by Minority Leader Casey Schreiner (D-Great Falls).
Session Length
The session will be 90 working days in length, with an ending about the last week of April or first week of May. The Legislature does not count any days in which they did not formally meet in session. This will be a slightly longer session as far as dates because the Legislature did not start until the second week of January due to New Year’s coming on January 2.
A good part of the opening week was consumed by many bi-partisan speeches and commentary between the two political parties. It is yet to be seen if those words will reign within the halls of the Capitol for the next four months.
Bill Action
Only one bill of interest to NFIB has been introduced, so far. House Bill 148, would require a supermajority of each house to pass any new tax or fee or any tax or fee increase. That would mean to pass tax or fee would require 67 votes in the House and 34 votes in the Senate. No date for a hearing has been set yet.
Issues certain to arise include:
- workers’ compensation
- unemployment
- private property regulations
- business equipment tax
- income taxes
- health care
- minimum wage
- local-option sales taxes
- workforce training
NFIB will be following bills of concern and interest to its small-business members, of which there are some 5,200 within Montana. If time permits, NFIB send out special ballots on major issues to garner the membership’s feelings and opinions.
Governor’s Budget
NFIB had a chance to preview the governor’s proposed budget for this session. He is primarily interested in four major areas of interest; the expansion of Medicaid, funding infrastructure for local governments, public funding for statewide pre-school education, and raising taxes in four areas:
- by increasing investment advisors’ license fee
- by increasing the accommodation taxes on hotels
- by increasing the rental car tax
- by increasing the alcohol tax
- by increasing the tobacco tax $1.50 per pack of cigarettes.
Keep Up With the Legislative Action
Each week during the session, NFIB will produce a report on the legislative action affecting small businesses in the state. You can read them on the Montana webpage of NFIB at www.nfib.com/montana, and you can be notified of their posting through Twitter @NFIB_MT
Have a question? Send an email to Montana State Director Riley Johnson or call him at 406-443-3797.
Want to Get Involved?
Getting involved with the 2019 Legislature is easy. The best way to have your voice heard quickly is to phone 406-444-4800. Operators are on hand in the Capitol Building to take messages to up to five legislators on each call, and delivery is within a half hour.
For more information, go to www.leg.mt.gov where you can:
- locate legislators
- get their e-mail addresses
- read bills
- view committee meetings and floor sessions on television or over computers
- review all hearings.
