Special session? Why not wait?

It certainly is Gov. Steve Bullock’s prerogative to call for a special legislative session to deal with what he regards as priority issues, but this year, he may not get what he wants and he may get more than he asks for.

Bullock and some Democratic lawmakers have been conferring about calling a special session next month to consider expanding Montana Medicaid enrollment, and a plan to bond $45 million to help Eastern Montana with infrastructure needs as the region deals with heavy development spurred by the Bakken oil fields.

Good luck on both counts.

Speaker of the House Mark Blasdel says bonding legislation requires the support of a two-thirds majority, and many lawmakers will not support a borrowing plan when the state has an ample surplus. It should also be noted that the Legislature passed a bill last year that would have provided $35 million in infrastructure funding for Eastern Montana, but not through bonding, and Bullock vetoed that bill.

Medicaid expansion has long been one of the governor’s main causes. He wants the state to accept funding through the Affordable Care Act to extend Medicaid to about 70,000 low-income Montanans. In the last legislative session, a bill to do something along those lines never got out of committee in the House. The make-up of the Legislature, with Republicans holding a majority in both chambers, has not changed since then, and there are plenty of lawmakers who still have concerns about the long-term budgetary obligations that the state could face with a vastly expanded Medicaid enrollment if federal funding dries up down the road.

There also is the question of why the governor should rush ahead with a special session when it is widely expected that the Medicaid expansion issue will be on the ballot in November. Why not wait and see what the voters want?

Special sessions aren’t exactly cheap. According to Legislative Services, the last special session, which was held in 2007, cost $96,344 for the first day and $35,900 for each additional day.

There is no telling how long one might last this time around, considering the complexity of the Medicaid issue and the fact that Republicans might try to bring up some issues of their own. A simple majority of lawmakers can put other legislation on the agenda.

“I think there are some things that we would try to bring forward as well,” said Blasdel, mentioning tax relief as an example.

It seems a special session could turn out many ways other than the way the governor and his allies have in mind, and that in itself ought to be a good reason to just wait until January, when the new Legislature will meet in regular session.