State chamber devises a road map for Legislature

The Montana Chamber of Commerce’s road map to get the state’s economy back on track touches on workers’ compensation, resource development, taxes and health care, among other issues.

That plan was shared at Tuesday’s meeting of the Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce by Webb Brown, president and chief executive officer of the Montana Chamber of Commerce.

Montana ranks No. 1 in several categories, Brown said, and not all are indicative of a positive ranking.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked Montana as the top entrepreneurial state in the country — a good No. 1 claim, he said. The state chamber has “worked hard to build a better business climate,” he said, and that work is part of the reason for that ranking.

Montana registered the top hotel occupancy rates for the summer, another good No. 1. Brown credited many of those hotel stays to the Glacier National Park centennial celebration and other tourist draws in the Flathead Valley.

But workers’ compensation rates in Montana are the highest in the nation, he said — not a good No. 1 place to be.

Those high rates affect everyone in the state, he said. And, that’s why the state chamber is working to make changes to the state law that would benefit both workers and employers.

Brown dismissed the position of many Montanans that the reason the state’s premiums are so high is the kinds of industry in Montana are more dangerous than in other states. The state with the lowest workers’ compensation rates is North Dakota, he said, a state with industries extremely similar to Montana.

“We know we’ve got work to do,” Brown said.

The worker safety record in Montana is poor as well, he said, another issue that needs to be fixed. The state ranks at the top of the list for workplace fatalities.

“We’re not going to take it any more,” he said, “we don’t want to be No. 1 in those things.”

One program he would like to implement to help businesses address safety is a peer-to-peer program where business people would share tips and suggestions with other businesses about improving safety-related issues.

Brown said those kinds of programs are better than a government official telling business owners or managers how to improve safety.

Montana’s workers’ comp system needs an overhaul, he said. The Montana Chamber plans to lead the charge on workers’ comp reforms during the 2011 legislative session, Brown said.

While unemployment remains high in much of Montana, particularly Flathead County, Brown said the state’s numbers are still better than the national unemployment rates.

Economic recovery has been slow to come, Brown said. He cautioned the group of business people though, that comparing the current economy to 2007 might not be the wisest comparison. 

2007 “was a bubble and I’m not sure we want to be on it again,” he said. Brown would prefer to return to the economic levels of 2004-05, when the state experienced “good growth, but not at a frantic pace that couldn’t be sustained down the road.

“We shouldn’t be betting the farm on when economic recovery will come,” he said.

Although the state has surplus funds, government officials spent more of the $1.4 billion surplus that Montana had four years ago than needed to be spent, Brown said. The results of last week’s election, when many Republicans were elected to the Montana Legislature, may indicate “there will be some restraint on spending,” he said.

The surplus is due to the level of oil and gas activity in Eastern Montana, he said.

During the legislative session that opens in January, state chamber leaders will remind lawmakers that business , not government, will lead the state to economic recovery, he said.

Health care will likely consume legislators’ time next year, Brown said. The state chamber plans to support free-market concepts in the debate and focus on the issues of affordability and wellness.

Another issue the state chamber includes in its map is responsible resource development.

Chamber leaders plan to support legislation that removes the legal roadblocks that prevent companies from investing in Montana and encourage legislators to take revenue from any new developments and put them toward education and tax relief.

The state’s medical marijuana law needs clarification, Brown said. The law already provides that businesses don’t have to accommodate employees with a prescription for medical marijuana, but many questions have arisen about employees who use their medical marijuana and then go to work or whose work could be impaired by their use of the drug.

Employers need more clarity in the law, Brown said, to ensure safe work environments.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.