A close-up look at Montana politics
Those who attended the “Politics @ the PAC” forum in Whitefish last week got a good glimpse into just how dynamic and complicated politics in Helena can be.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer gave a compelling representation as the Democrat Party’s strongman, and three Republican lawmakers from the Flathead Valley capably shared their views on the recently concluded legislative session.
What was striking was how the speakers could make strong cases for their opposing views on many issues.
It was Schweitzer who got first shot at framing what he regards as the session’s greatest accomplishments, and we have to agree with him that workers’ compensation reform was the centerpiece legislation for job creation in Montana, which currently has the highest work-comp rates in the nation.
The legislation guided by Rep. Scott Reichner, R-Bigfork, and Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, is expected to reduce rates by about 25 percent this year and by a total of about 40 percent over the next few years.
It was a crucial accomplishment, because work-comp costs have been killing jobs in Montana. Businesses were leaving, businesses were avoiding Montana, and businesses weren’t hiring more or paying more because of rates that gave neighboring states a competitive advantage.
Schweitzer contends that legislation providing eminent-domain rights to electrical transmission developers was another major pro-job accomplishment. The concern is that it came at the expense of private-property rights, but at the forum it became more clear why there was an odd alliance of Schweitzer and Flathead Republicans supporting it.
The law was aimed at addressing litigation brought by a landowner who would be impacted by the Montana Alberta Tie Line from Great Falls to Lethbridge. Billions of dollars had already been invested in the job-rich project, which was in jeopardy without intervention. What Schweitzer made clear is that it might not be the only project in jeopardy.
With an adverse court ruling, who would invest in an oil rig in the middle of an Eastern Montana prairie not knowing if it would have access to power? The situation put Montana in the position of being a risky place for investment. The legislative solution is entirely imperfect, and those who supported it are correctly aware that the matter will need to be revisited.
Legislation addressing Montana’s medical marijuana law is also imperfect, in that it will severely clamp down on the industry and has drawn howls of protest from medical marijuana advocates. It’s frustrating that a finer balance couldn’t be found after months of deliberations among lawmakers, but Senate Bill 423 was the only option left at the end of the session.
The biggest disagreements between Schweitzer and Republicans throughout the session centered on budget matters, and defensible arguments were presented by both sides at last week’s forum. A constant theme in the budgetary sparring over the last few months came up again — the governor forecasting a much more optimistic financial reserve for the state than projections from legislative fiscal analysts.
Many of Schweitzer’s budget positions were based on his expected ending fund balance of $330 million.
The legislative fiscal analyst, however, is predicting a much lower balance somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million. Sen. Zinke noted that there might actually be considerably less money on hand in the future
because of litigation and liabilities that the state faces, along with a slow economic recovery.
There is no way to know which side in this battle is right until the biennium plays out. Likewise, with all political issues that are debated with honesty and integrity — you vote your conscience and hope you are right.