Montana lacks in funding for career education

On Thursday, March 14, the House spent the day reviewing House Bill 2, the budget for state government over the next two years.

The Democrats are the minority party. In such a role, several representatives presented amendments aimed at restoring funding, ostensibly within Human Services and Education. Knowing such amendments would fail, it was deemed important to stress the potential impact of such shortfalls upon our citizens.

I spoke on two issues near and dear to me; the funding for Flathead Community College and restoration of funds passed by the House for Vocation/Technical education in both middle school and secondary schools in the state. Under the umbrella of higher education, the three community colleges face potential cuts by a change in the multiplier that determines state reimbursements per student. FVCC serves students of all ages and from very diverse economic backgrounds. I wanted to remind my brethren that the budget might negatively effect my constituents access to higher education.

Montana provides a quality, comprehensive public school system. However, there is a need to allocate funds for career education. These are the high skilled, high paying jobs such as electricians, mechanics, and such that may require less than an university degree for certification. Montana lacks behind other states in opportunities for such curriculum in both middle school and secondary school level. Funding for these programs may be restored in the Senate. As we progress in the session there is the indication that projected revenues will improve.

The House passed several great bills in a bipartisan fashion. These include a state earned income credit. The federal companion credit was a favorite of President Ronald Reagan and proved to be an effective strategy to get cash in the hands of lower income folks who subsequently furnished their families with essentials and injected dollars into our local economies. The body also passed an apprenticeship tax credit for employers also passed the House by a wide margin. For the first two years this will target at veterans with an expansion planned afterwards. In addition the House passed a package of reforms put forth by the work of the Sentencing Commission aimed at reducing the prison population (and associated expenses), of non-violent offenders.

This week we will look closely at some infrastructure bills. The Appropriations Committee will examine state bonding bills to address an assortment of needs throughout the state. By the time you read this, a fuel tax increase may have come out of the House Transportation Committee. House Bill 473 seeks to provide the funding to hasten the pace of MDT projects, cost share projects at the county level, fund the Montana Highway Patrol and provide more transparency between the public and the Department of Transportation. Finally, a bill I’m sponsoring, HB 577 seeks to expand the resort tax to a local option tax at both the municipal and county level. The bill will designate 50 percent of the proceed towards infrastructure improvement and the remainder, minus administrative fees, for property tax relief. This bill had a good hearing in House Tax with an executive hearing possibly by this week’s end.

I encourage you to keep in touch by either email, Rep.Dave.Fern@mt.gov or call or text me at 212-0674.

Democrat Dave Fern represents House District 5.