Legislators face the final bills

The legislative session is drawing to a close. House Bill 2 and the stimulus bill have been transmitted to the Senate for review. They are in the process of reducing state spending to keep up with the declining revenue estimates in these difficult economic times.

Currently, the House of Representatives is dealing mostly with Senate bills that require acceptance, rejection or amending. Also, house bills sent to the Senate have been returned with amendments for approval.

Sometimes, either the House or Senate will change a bill to a different version from what was originally passed out of either legislative body. When this happens, the bill goes to a conference committee, where members of both houses deliberate to reach a settlement.

A case in point is HB 228, a bill to protect Montanans’ second amendment rights. This bill passed out of the House, but in the Senate, several changes were made. This bill went to conference committee to assure that our second amendment rights are protected.

In addition, it was very frustrating to see defeat of the effort to blast a number of pro-life bills out of committee. There were bills to give parents notification if their minor daughter was requesting an abortion and giving the state the authority to license and inspect abortion clinics, to mention a few. The Republican side of the aisle just could not get enough votes from the entire House to be successful.

Every 10 years, the state changes the boundaries of legislative districts. As you can imagine, it’s a pretty contentious process, since it plays a big role in the chances each political party has to win control of the Legislature.

The government needs to be accountable to the people and make sure that every step of the redistricting is completely transparent so that members of the public can provide input to the process.

Rep. Bill Beck, R-Whitefish, represents House District 6, rural Whitefish.