Legislators facing more controversial bills

I am serving on the House Business and Labor Committee as vice chairman, and our committee has been hearing bills for the past two weeks. Most of the bills are what we call “nuts and bolts” or “housekeeping bills.” They deal primarily with agency requests to codify previous bills to comply with federal law or to add uniformity and clarity.

The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee heard House Bills 26 and 190. Both of these bills deal with the issue of public access to streams that are on private land. This is a complicated issue with good people on both sides. We all support access to streams and upholding property rights.

The Legislature and the governor’s office are working together to reach a fair and equitable solution. The main concern is where to place the control, either with the county governments or the Fish, Wildlife and Parks department.

The Republican leadership is pushing hard for a transparency bill in this session. We are requesting a Web site that details state spending. This bill would be dubbed the Taxpayers’ Right to Know Act. The proposed Web site would let people search for information about the state budget and would include details on appropriations by agency and source.

After three weeks of committee hearings, we’re starting to see some very controversial bills. The time for hard decisions is at hand.

The question of federal stimulus spending is on everyone’s mind. Congress is planning to spend a great deal of money to jump-start the economy and about $800 million may be coming to Montana. Of course, that number could change.

Many of my colleagues are not very fond of putting our grandchildren deeper in debt, which is what most of federal spending does. The money is coming regardless, so the Legislature is preparing to deal with it.

Any stimulus money received should be appropriated by the Legislature rather than leaving it to the executive branch to spend as they see fit. In addition, an ongoing citizens commission should be established to assure that the stimulus money is being spent effectively, efficiently and transparently.

A bill to ban pit bull dogs received a lot of attention last week. There were even threats of bodily harm received by some legislators, which increased security in the Capitol while the hearings were in session. The bill died in committee.

The House Judiciary Committee heard a bill to protect our gun rights. House Bill 228 establishes in law that every citizen of Montana has the right to defend themselves in the home or elsewhere.

In conclusion, the executive budget continues to be adjusted down. The Legislative Fiscal Division, which is responsible for forecasting revenue trends that have an impact on the general fund, have this week revised their revenue analysis to show an additional $85 million reduction below the general fund estimates, bringing the total reduction to $220 million since early December 2008.

The revenue estimates have been down in the primary components of the general fund, which are individual and corporate income taxes, property taxes, investment earnings and natural resource taxes. Almost 75 percent of total general-fund revenues are produced from these sources.

The Legislative Fiscal Division will submit another budget analysis around the middle of February, which will forecast a more accurate budget figure for the Legislature to work with in order to balance the budget. A number of state programs are on hold and should be until the Legislature can sort out this revenue puzzle.

If you have any concerns or wish additional information, please contact me by mail at P.O. Box 200400, Capitol Station, Helena MT 59620-0400 or by e-mailing rep.bbeck@centurytel.net.

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