Republicans choose House Speaker

The opening week of the 59th Legislative Session was a first on many fronts. Each party met in caucus meetings Sunday night before session and discussed the upcoming week. Republicans had chosen Roy Brown as Speaker of the House during November meetings, when we thought the control would be in the hands of Republicans with Constitutionalist Rick Jore getting the nod in Lake County. Democrats chose Dave Wanzenried from Missoula as the Minority Leader, a post he held last session.

When the Supreme Court threw out some ballots from Lake County, however, a Democrat replaced Rick Jore, which gave an even split of both parties in the House of Representatives. The Montana Constitution says that the leader of the House must be the same party as Gov. Brian Schweitzer in the event of a tie, so we worked on strategy to have a more moderate Democrat in the lead position.

Newly-elected Secretary of State Brad Johnson was in charge of the House until a speaker was chosen. Dave Wanzenried, the caucus choice, was nominated first. That's when the real contention started. A Butte Democrat, Jim Keane, nominated Gary Matthews from Miles City for the lead position, which rankled many in his own party. In frustration and desperation, Democrats nominated several Republicans for the Speaker job, which every person declined. Since there were no rules in place for the upcoming session, the chair would not consider only one nominee, so it was time to vote.

We were then asked to push our red button for Wanzenried or a green one for Matthews. I pushed green with everyone else in my caucus plus three Democrats. We now have a House Speaker from Miles City. I believe the work of the House will run smoothly with him in charge. Gary and I worked together on the Energy Committee for two sessions, and I always found him pleasant, knowledgeable and nonpartisan. That's what we will need as we carry on the business of Montana in the upcoming weeks.

Committee meetings have been delayed because we had no rules to follow during the week. Those were hammered out in many late-night meetings with both parties finally coming to agreement. After the rules were settled, each party chose committees which they wanted to chair.

The Appropriations Committee was the first choice of the Democrats since it will be their job to assure that Gov. Schweitzer's budget is followed as closely as possible. Each committee must reflect the even makeup of the House, so it should be an interesting session as both parties need to convince one person on the other side of the aisle to bring the bill out for discussion on the floor of the House.

I will be serving on three committees during the session. The State Administration Committee will hear all of the election and retirement bills, while Natural Resources will decide on important environmental issues in the state. The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee should have some interesting bills, since a key piece of legislation will be the attempt to increase licensing fees.

Contacting me during the session will be similar to the last two. Write a letter to Box 200400, Helena MT 59620, call 444-4800 or e-mail me at repdee@yahoo.com

I will do my best to answer your questions and look forward to hearing from you.

Rep. Dee Brown, R-Coram, represents House District 3-Columbia Falls, the Canyon and the North Fork.