“If you don’t know how much money you have coming in, you don’t know how much money you can spend.”
State Director Riley Johnson reports from Helena on legislative activity up to March 8
As the 2019 Montana Legislature reaches its midway point this week, the focus is now, just as it was the first day on January 7—the budget.
All general bills, not the revenue or spending bills, had to be passed by one house of the Legislature and transmitted to the other house as of last weekend.
So far, a little more than 1,000 bills have been introduced. There are now some 700 bills still alive. Yet to come are bills drafting the budget for the next two years, new revenue bills, and other money bills. The deadline for these bills is March 26.
The lawmakers took all the past week off for the midterm break. They will gavel in again on Monday, March 11. Meanwhile, however, the House Appropriations Committee began work yesterday on the budget.
As Senate President Scott Sales (R) of Bozeman said before: “If you don’t know how much money you have coming in, you don’t know how much money you can spend.”
Budget Ax Falls
The first big ax to fall yesterday came from a discussion in the House Appropriations Committee when the committee proposed not to fund some 100 positions in the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). This would cut some $8.8 million dollars from Gov. Steve Bullock’s proposed budget for the agency. According to the head of DPHHS, Sheila Hogan, these positions were “temporary, belt-tightening measures” two years ago when revenues did not come into the state as expected. Most of the positions being proposed to permanently cut have been vacant for the past two years.
All told, the legislative budget bill would cut other agency budgets as it works its way through the House Appropriations Committee. It would appear that the proposed legislative budget will fall some $32.6 million short of what the governor’s budget proposes. This is a decrease of about 0.8 percent. The Appropriations Committee will hold more budget hearings on its budget. The plan is to have a committee vote on the legislative budget next week and move the bill to the House floor for debates in mid-March.
Medicaid
But important parts of the proposed legislative budget have yet to be introduced. These include a bill to address the Medicaid expansion plan. This bill would fund the expanded Medicaid program. Montana expanded Medicaid in 2015 with a sunset of June, 2019. An initiative on the 2018 ballot failed, so the lawmakers are trying to save the Medicaid expansion. Montana has two Medicaid programs. The first one is matched by the federal government with about 68 percent of its cost. The expanded Medicaid program is funded by 90 percent matching from the federal government and covers health care for low-income people that fall under 135 percent of the federal income level.
Infrastructure
Another costly addition to the budget is a bill designed to fund statewide infrastructure projects, such as waste-water programs, drinking water, public buildings and maintenance. This proposed infrastructure bill has failed to get funded for the last two sessions of the Legislature. The problem has been with using bonding to fund the program. The proposal now being considered by the lawmakers is one that uses some cash and some bonding.
Veterans Day, Employer Liability Bills Dead for the Session
In other action, two bills that NFIB has been following are House Bill 460 and Senate Bill 294. HB 460 by Rep. Daniel Zolnikov (R) of Billings would have required employers to give veterans in their employ the day off on Veterans Day. SB 294 would have revised laws for persons with a criminal record, making the employer not liable for wrongdoing by such employees. Both bills missed the deadline for passage to the next house that was last Saturday, March 2. They are both dead.
Ban the Box Bill Still Alive
Senate Bill 168 would ban employers from using any criminal information a job-applicant may have on early applications for hiring. This bill is commonly referred to as “ban the box”. NFIB opposed this bill, but it passed the Senate 28-21 and will be heard in the House Business Committee next week on March 14 at 8:30 am in room 172 of the Capitol Building.
Unemployment Insurance Appeals
Another hearing next week will be on Senate Bill 305 at 8:30 am on Wednesday, March 13, in Room 152 of the Capitol Building. SB 305 would revise the unemployment insurance appeals board membership to require the board to have at least one member appointed who is employed by a business with at least 10 employees, or is the owner of such a business.
Employee Communications
House Bill 547, which would allow employees to discuss and compare wage and benefits with other employees, passed the House last week 52-47 and is now in the Senate.
So, the fun begins Monday, March 11. Money and more money bills will be emerging from both houses, and we will see the fate of general policy bills as they come up in the opposite houses.
Get Involved
Getting involved in 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 those wanting more information on locating legislators, getting a personal e-mail address, looking to view committee meetings and floor sessions on television or over computers, and just to review all hearings and readings of the actual bills can go to www.leg.mt.gov and access everything electronically.
Previous Reports From the Capitol
