A rare truce in the state Capitol

The Montana House of Representatives this week pulled off a remarkable vote, with all 100 representatives supporting a $9 billion budget with no amendments and little debate.
Not only was it unprecedented for Montana, where Democrats and Republicans famously spar over House Bill 2 every other year, but we would venture to guess that unanimous support for a budget bill may be unprecedented for most legislatures across the country.
The chamber was justified in giving itself a round of applause after the vote Tuesday morning.
Battle plans were in place for both parties prior to the vote, so this was not a foregone conclusion. Democrats were promising amendments that would force Republicans to vote against more spending for education, jobs and health programs, and Republicans were poised to put their majority in action by cutting more from programs favored by Democrats.
But the bloodletting never came to pass. Both sides recognized that the budget developed by the Appropriations Committee was palatable, by and large, and that protracted bickering over amendments would only make the budget worse than it was when it came out of committee.
Although there was reportedly no coercion from leadership in either caucus on how to vote, it’s likely that leadership did play a part in the outcome. And that’s a credit, partly, to Speaker of the House Mark Blasdel, a Republican from Somers, who has been praised by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Two years ago, Blasdel was chairman of the Appropriations Committee and it’s a good bet that he had at least some influence on the committee’s work this year.
In a statement, Blasdel pointed out that the budget is less than 2 percent larger than it was in the last biennium. In this era of rising entitlements, that’s also kind of staggering.
“Members of the Appropriations Committee — from both parties — did good work,” Blasdel said. “Bipartisan cooperation doesn’t mean agreeing on everything. It means a focus on results rather than scoring points. That’s what we’ve done today. More work and less politics.”
But partisan drama is not necessarily over regarding the budget. The Republican-controlled Senate is certain to have an influence on state spending over the next two years, and there will be plenty of opportunities for disagreement as the session draws to a close.
Still, the House vote is something rare to behold and appreciate.

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