Governor urges quick action on stimulus spending

HELENA – Gov.  Brian Schweitzer outlined his plan for the state’s share of federal stimulus money last week, saying lawmakers need to quickly appropriate the money to jump-start the timber industry, freeze college tuition and rebuild highways.

“The Montana Reinvestment Act will put Montana back to work,” Schweitzer said at a press conference Friday.

Schweitzer asked lawmakers to have the stimulus bill ready to go by April 3, a deadline that he said was set by the federal government.

“They have said use it or lose it,” Schweitzer said.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said it will be tight but the Legislature will get the bill out in time.

“We’ll adjust as necessary,” Sesso said. “If the federal government can get it done in 45 days, we’ll get it done in 22.”

Schweitzer’s plan for the stimulus money includes $42 million for a two-year tuition freeze at Montana colleges, $43 million to stabilize teachers’ retirement funds and $10 million for the struggling timber industry.

Sesso said the schedule for stimulus bill hearings has been moved up. It will still work in tandem with the state budget, Sesso said.

Senate rejects ban on using cell phones while driving

Montana's state Senate voted 31-18 last week to kill a bill that would have made talking or texting on a cell phone while driving a punishable offense.

Senate Bill 278, sponsored by Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, would have let law enforcement officers pull drivers over if they were doing anything on a phone that took their hands off the wheel or eyes off the road. Drivers in violation could have been fined up to $100.

While opponents agreed people should not be texting while driving, they said banning all cell phone use would be excessive.

“The cell phone adds a lot of productivity to small businesses,” said Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell. He also said the $100 fine was excessive, and using a cell phone should not be a primary driving offense.

Sen. Kelly Gebhardt, R-Roundup, said the bill would actually make driving more dangerous, because drivers would pull off the road to answer their phones and may cause accidents rejoining traffic.

Kaufmann said her bill would have helped remove some of the dangerous distractions drivers deal with.

“It’s as dangerous to be talking on your cell phone as it is to be driving drunk,” Kaufmann said

Ewer pans GOP bill for stimulus monitoring

A Republican plan to monitor Montana's use of nearly $800 million in federal stimulus money drew fire last week from Gov. Brian's Schweitzer's budget director, David Ewer, who called it unnecessary.

Senate Bill 460, sponsored by Senate President Robert Story, R-Park City, would establish a 13-person committee to monitor the progress of stimulus work in Montana. Voting members would include four legislators chosen by legislative leadership and four members of the public.

Non-voting members would include three chosen by Montana’s congressional delegation and two chosen by Schweitzer.

Story said the current oversight is too passive because the governor depends on people to report on their use of government money after the fact.

Though the committee would have voting power, Story said it would rarely have to vote on anything. Its purpose would be to oversee federally funded projects and give voice to any discrepancies they see.

Ewer stood as the bill’s only opponent at the hearing. He said an oversight committee is unnecessary given the legislative interim committees already in place.

Ewer also said the amount of stimulus money, nearly $800 million, should easily be handled by the same committees that deal with the $8 billion state budget. Most of the money will be funneled into existing programs anyway, he said.

Ceremony celebrates new names for old places

A large crowd gathered in the capitol Thursday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a state law that removed the word “squaw” from the names of many Montana land features.

Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, was touted by every speaker at the “Old Places – New Names” ceremony as the driving force behind the legislation.

“It’s been a wonderful, wonderful effort to make Montana a better place to live for our citizens by taking this ugly word off our beautiful mountains and streams,” Juneau told listeners.

Some of the renamed formations included Ch-paa-qn (Shining Peak) near Missoula, formerly called Squaw Peak; Stands Alone Woman Peak near Glacier, formerly called The Old Squaw; and Too-nah-hin Creek in Cascade County, formerly called Squaw Creek.

After House Bill 412 passed in 1999, a committee was formed to implement the law. Its members learned that 76 features required name changes.

School children, county commissioners and tribal leaders all helped locate features that should be renamed and also suggested new names. Now, 10 years later, some of the 76 names have yet to be finalized, Juneau said.

- CNS reporter Will Melton contributed to this report.