Health, schools and taxes on legislative agenda

From across the state, Montana’s citizen lawmakers are heading to Helena soon to debate a bevy of issues ranging from health care to higher education.

Montana’s 64th Legislature is scheduled to start Jan. 5. Republicans control both the state Senate and House of Representatives, but they’ll have to contend with Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock to accomplish anything of substance.

Job No. 1 will be funding state services for the next two years, but there’s plenty on lawmakers’ plates besides that. More than 1,900 pieces of legislation have either been introduced or are in the drafting stage. Here’s a rundown of some of topics you’ll hear more about during the 90-day session.

—————

Expanding health coverage

A plan to provide health care for some 70,000 of the state’s lowest-income people — something that failed in the last session — is back on the Legislature’s agenda.

Last session, Republicans blocked Gov. Steve Bullock’s proposal to expanded Medicaid to cover more Montanans. The federal government offered to pay most of the costs as part of the federal Affordable Care Act, but GOP leaders feared it would cost too much money for both the federal and state governments.

Bullock isn’t giving up. The expansion is included in his budget as part of its “Healthy Montana” plan. It’s modeled on the Healthy Montana Kids program that Montana has followed for almost 10 years.

“It’s the only proposal like it in the nation,” said Dave Parker, Bullock’s communications director.

The plan would allow the state to use hundreds of millions of federal dollars to contract with a private insurer to provide health insurance for low-income Montanans at negotiated rates.

Sen. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, likes that the plan is unique to Montana but said he wants to know more about how it would work. He also wants assurances that the system would not be wasteful or susceptible to abuse.

“We want to make sure that folks who can provide for themselves are doing that,” Buttrey said.

Crime and punishment

Electronic cigarettes have increased in popularity over the past few years, and Montana’s Attorney General Tim Fox wants the state to regulate them. John Barnes, Fox’s spokesman, said his office is considering a ban on sales to minors.

The state’s top law enforcement officer also wants to create a sexual assault prosecution unit. It would train county attorneys on how best to prosecute such cases and on how to treat victims with sensitivity.

The governor, meanwhile, is asking for more money to add parole and probation officers. The state’s public defender system is seeking more money, too.

Raising pay for deputy county attorneys is on the wish list as well. Mark Murphy, a lobbyist for the Montana County Attorneys Association, said raises would reduce the high turnover rate among deputy prosecutors.

Montana’s death penalty law is sure to come up for debate this session. In 2011, a bill to abolish executions passed the Senate with support from several Republican senators but died in the House.

ACLU lobbyist Niki Zupanic said abolishing the death penalty tops her group’s priorities list. She’s seeing growing support from Christian groups.

“We’re really encouraged with the response we’ve gotten from incoming legislators,” she said. “We’re cautiously optimistic.”

Barnes said the attorney general’s office would defend Montana’s death penalty statute.

K-12 schools

The stage is set for a tug-of-war over more money for Montana’s public schools, a big-ticket item in any legislative session.

Calling education “our greatest priority,” Gov. Bullock said he wants to continue what he describes as last session’s “historic investments” in public schools. He also wants $37 million to help school districts create or expand voluntary pre-kindergarten programs aimed at getting every Montana 4-year-old into preschool.

But not everyone is on board. Bob Vogel, president of the Montana School Boards Association, says his group and others are wary of Bullock’s pre-K program, hoping instead to preserve everyday funding for schools.

“Part of what we want to make sure of is not to lose other things in order to get early education,” he said.

For much the same reason, Vogel also said his group is bracing for a renewed fight over so-called “school choice” bills, which would allow for such things as tax breaks for those who donate to scholarships for private schools.

“We are adamantly opposed to that,” said Eric Feaver, the president of the Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers. “We already have a choice … to say we have no choice is not correct.”

The Montana’s American Civil Liberties Union expects be involved in that battle, too.

“We would like to make sure our public tax dollars are going to public schools that are open to all,” said the ACLU’s Niki Zupanic.

Sen. Robyn Driscoll, D-Billings, has introduced a bill to increase the high school dropout age to 18. That could prove difficult, however, because it would cost more money to keep students in school longer.

Hunting, fishing and access

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is facing a potential $5.6 million budget shortfall. Officials hope to make up the difference by bumping up resident license fees.

FWP is proposing a $3 increase on fishing licenses and an $8 increase on hunting licenses. FWP cut more than $1 million from its budget two years ago in wildlife and fisheries programs and in administrative costs.

Spokesman Ron Aasheim said raising license fees would prevent further cuts in those areas and in conservation. About 70 percent of the department’s conservation budget comes from license revenue.

Nick Gevock, of the Montana Wildlife Federation, said his organization would support FWP’s license proposal. His group also wants to increase penalties for landowners who block access to public roads running through private land.

A report issued by the Wildlife Federation and the Public Lands and Water Access Association listed examples of illegal road closures across the state and called the crime a growing problem.

Holding down tuition

The governor and Montana’s commissioner of higher education are looking to keep the price of a college education steady for in-state students by freezing tuition at its current rates.

Bullock is also proposing that 10 percent of state money going to the university system be based on the campuses meeting goals for retaining and graduating students, boosting dual enrollment programs for high school students, helping remedial students at two-year colleges, and increasing research and development efforts.

Kevin McRae, communications director for the commissioner’s office, said the governor’s plan would maintain current tuition levels for the next two years. The state would cover about 40 percent of tuition costs, with students or their parents providing the rest.

The university system also wants $15 million for research grant funding. The money would be available to all of the campuses for their research efforts.

Taxation

Property taxes may be a hot topic this session due to the recent statewide property reappraisal.

Montana property is reappraised for tax purposes every six years. What usually follows is a debate over how to keep rising land values from leading automatically to higher property taxes.

What’s different this time is that average value of residential property statewide dropped by 2.85 percent, something state officials say hasn’t happened in decades. Property in Montana’s oil-producing counties skyrocketed but dropped in most urban counties.

The effect that could have on local governments and schools, which depend heavily on property taxes, remains to be seen. Expect lawmakers to look for ways to soften the blow on taxpayers in areas where values have risen.

Meanwhile, Mary Ann Dunwell, a spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Revenue, said her department will ask lawmakers to shrink the reappraisal cycle from every six years to every two years.

“A two-year cycle is more helpful with respect to making sure the property taxes you’re paying are up to market value,” she said.  

The department also expects a request from factories to cut property taxes on equipment they were required to install to reduce pollution.

Glenn Oppel of the Montana Chamber of Commerce said Ash Grove, a Helena cement and construction company, was required to install equipment to limit carbon emissions, and was subsequently taxed on the value that equipment.

“Our rationale,” he said, “is that you shouldn’t be taxed on something you have to install.”

Effects of the oil boom

Last session, Eastern Montana’s oil-boom cities and counties were more than frustrated when Gov. Bullock vetoed additional money to help them keep up with the impact on roads, jails and other infrastructure caused by an influx of oil-workers and equipment.

“That killed us,” said former Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser. “I have $16 million in the infrastructure that needs to be taken care of.”

He’s not optimistic about this session, either. However, the Montana League of Cities and Towns is lobbying to give oil-rich communities more money for roads and buildings through something like the special taxes that help towns like Whitefish cope with the impacts of tourism.

“We want that tool for towns of all municipalities,” said David Nielsen, the league’s interim executive director.

More money for Bakken-area infrastructure is included in Gov. Bullock’s new $300 million building proposal. A combination of bond sales and cash would finance construction projects statewide.