The school-funding bill that 'could'

A remarkable turnaround appears to be underway in the Montana Legislature.

It was only two years ago when state Sen. Llew Jones proposed a school-funding and property-tax reform bill that seemed to satisfy, well, no one. It was perceived in a way that pitted small schools against big schools, Eastern Montana against Western Montana, school advocates against property-tax-reform advocates. In fact there was an active campaign aimed at making sure the legislation didn’t pass, and it didn’t.

But Jones, a Republican from Conrad, didn’t give up on this extremely complex challenge. It appears he made the right adjustments in crafting Senate Bill 175, which offers property tax cuts, helps Eastern Montana school districts deal with oil boom impacts, and provides new money for school construction and maintenance and ways to track student achievement.

The state’s education community is backing it from Lolo to Billings to Malta. A spokesman for the Montana Contractors Association, of all groups, gushed that it is “one of the most important jobs bills” to be considered in years because of its property tax provisions. Only two people spoke against the bill in a committee hearing, one of them representing an environmental group that contends schools shouldn’t become reliant on fossil fuels for funding.

We would counter that schools shouldn’t be so reliant on highly regressive property taxes that are levied only on part of the population regardless of a property owner’s ability to pay. That’s why sorely needed school levies fail. The superintendent of schools in Lolo spoke in support of the bill, saying his district hopes to pass a $10.5 million bond issue to replace a 107-year-old school building that property taxpayers currently can’t afford.

Oil and gas production in Eastern Montana is bound to be around for years, and if some revenue from it can be put to use for schools in an equitable way, with a net cut in property taxes amounting to $23.6 million, then so be it.

That appears to be the thinking of the Senate Education and Cultural Resources Committee, which passed Senate Bill 175 on an incredible 10-0 vote last week.

But Jones himself acknowledges that the legislation must go through a long, uphill process with plenty of potential land mines along the way.

Montana lawmakers have talked about school-funding and property-tax reform for a long time, and it would be quite an accomplishment if they could finally deliver. Senate Bill 175 could very well be the vehicle to make that happen.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.